Is it permissible to drink Alcohol-Free Beer?

Is it permissible to drink Alcohol-Free Beer? and What is Beer? and What is Beer Not?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Alcoholic beverages regardless of its kind are produced by the fermentation of fruit and cereals. The beverage does not consist of only alcohol. There is also water, sweet substances etc, in it. However, regardless of its kind, what actually gives harm to the body in an alcoholic beverage is the chemical called ethyl alcohol which makes one drunk.

Ethyl alcohol exists in different beverages in different amounts. For instance, while it is 5-7% in beer, 15-20% in wine, it is 45-50% in liquor, and 65-70% in vodka and whisky.

Alcoholic beverages do not contain beneficial substances for human body, such as minerals, vitamins, proteins and fats. For this reason, alcoholic beverages do not have a nutritious feature at all. The Prophet (pbuh) stated in one of his hadiths, “if a large quantity of something makes one drunk, little quantity of it is forbidden (haram) too.” (Tirmidhi, ashriba, 3). According to this judgment, everything which contains ethyl alcohol is forbidden in the religion regardless of its amount.

What is Beer? What is Beer Not?

1. Beer is produced by processing sprouted barley and fermenting it. It contains ethyl alcohol in an amount of 5-7%. It is certainly included in alcoholic beverages category.
2. Beer which is marketed as alcohol-free beer is indeed a kind of beer whose ethyl alcohol is reduced via vacuuming. It certainly contains ethyl alcohol in an amount of 1-1.5% (Gıda Bilimi ve Teknolojisi. AÜ Ziraat Fak Teksir No: 113, p.173, Ankara, 1983).

As it can be deduced from that information, beer contains alcohol no matter how much it has been reduced; therefore, it is not permissible to drink.

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