Islamic Fatwas

Question: Is it permissible to buy alcohol (which is an intoxicant) to use it in such a way by which it will be destroyed, such as using it as fuel or in some manufacturing processes? And is it permissible to sell it to people who one is certain will use it for such purposes?

Response: Selling alcohol or any other intoxicant is haraam. And it is obligatory for a person who has any of it to destroy it and not sell it, because of the general (meaning of the) statement of Allaah:

{And do not help one another in sin and transgression}, [Soorah al-Maa.idah, Aayah 2].

And with Allaah lies all success and may Allaah send prayers and salutations upon our Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) and his family and his companions.

The Permanent Committee for Islaamic Research and Verdicts, comprising -
Head: Shaykh ‘Abdul ‘Azeez ibn Abdullaah ibn Baaz;
Deputy Head: Shaykh ‘Abdur-Razzaaq ‘Afeefee;
Member: Shaykh ‘Abdullaah Ibn Ghudayyaan;
Member: Shaykh ‘Abdullaah Ibn Qu’ood
Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa.imah lil-Buhooth al-’Ilmiyyah wal-Iftaa., – Volume 13, Page 53, Question 4 of Fatwa No.5177

…
Published: 7 May 2001

Memos to human beings.

1. Your will receive a body. You may like it, or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time around. 

2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full time informal school called life. Each day in this school you have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think they are irrelevant and stupid. 

3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial and error and experimentation. The ?failed? experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately ?works?. 

4. A lesson is repeated until learned? A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go to the next lesson. Periodically, the lesson will be re- presented to see if you still remember it. 

5. Learning lessons does not end. There is no part of life that does not contain its lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learnt. If no lessons is being presented, it is likely that you are no longer alive. 

6. ?There? is no better than ?here?. When your ?there? has become a ?here?, you will simply acquire another ?there?. That will again look better than ?here?. 

7. Others are simply mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself. 

8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you make of them is up to you; the choice is yours. 

9. Your answers lie inside you. The answers to life?s questions lie inside you. All you have to do is look, listen and trust. 

10. You will forget all this. That fact is itself a lesson.