Is it permissible for a Muslim girl studying pharmacy to taste and smell small quantities of medical alcohol (90 degrees) for the purpose of distinguishing it from water during an exam, and is it permissible to use alcohol for medical treatment in the first place?
If alcohol is not intoxicating, there is no harm in smelling it, tasting it, or using it for medicinal purposes, as long as it is not harmful. However, if it is intoxicating, it is (wine/intoxicant) and must be avoided. It is not permissible to use it for medicine or anything else, because Allah has not placed healing in it; rather, it is a disease. Treating oneself with forbidden substances is reprehensible both legally (in Islamic law) and rationally, and it is not appropriate to seek healing through them.
As for smelling khamr for the purpose of study, it is permissible when there is a need. However, tasting it is absolutely impermissible.
There are suitable alternatives that suffice for disinfection instead of alcohol. Muslim medical and pharmaceutical scholars must strive to eliminate the use of alcohol in medicines and pharmaceutical preparations and search for harmless alternatives.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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