Is wine a matter of dispute, or is it forbidden, despite the consensus of scholars on its prohibition, and that some imams used to drink it?

Scholars have agreed on the prohibition of wine made from grape juice, whether in small or large quantities. As for nabidh (fermented drinks) made from other than grapes, they differed regarding small quantities that do not intoxicate, while they unanimously agreed on the prohibition of intoxicating quantities thereof.

The majority of jurists in Hijaz and the hadith scholars are of the opinion that both small and large quantities of intoxicating nabidh are forbidden. However, the jurists of Iraq, including Ibrahim al-Nakha'i, Sufyan al-Thawri, and Abu Hanifa, believe that what is forbidden concerning nabidh is intoxication itself, not the substance itself. They assert that the wine whose small and large quantities are forbidden, for which the Hadd penalty is applied, and whose permissibility leads to disbelief, is specifically that made from grape juice. As for other nabidh, its drinker is not subject to the Hadd penalty unless they become intoxicated by it.

It has been reported that Waki' ibn al-Jarrah and Sufyan al-Thawri drank nabidh without reaching the point of intoxication, and this was based on their independent legal reasoning (ijtihad).