What is the ruling on eating cocoa powder — without additives — that has been prepared by fermentation, knowing that it undergoes a stage where sugar is converted into alcohol and then acetic acid, and that the Prophet, may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him, said: "That which intoxicates in large quantities is unlawful in small quantities"?

The cocoa tree is a plant from whose fruit chocolate and cocoa powder are made. The basic rule for plants is permissibility, as long as they are not intoxicants or harmful. The basic rule for foods is permissibility, unless religious law indicates otherwise, due to the Almighty's saying: "It is He who created for you all of that which is on the earth." If cocoa is fermented and develops a percentage of alcohol, then transforms into acetic acid, it becomes pure through transformation (istihalah). Doubt about food is not to be heeded, because the basic rule for foods is permissibility unless proven otherwise.