What distinguishes the legal ruling concerning disputed intoxicants from other matters of jurisprudential disagreement (ikhtilaf)?

General Chapter

Al-Mughni

Book of Beverages (Intoxicants)

Book 53 · Issue 3 · Bab 1

Open in Qurani

Primary text

The difference between the ruling on disputed intoxicants and other matters of jurisprudential disagreement lies in two aspects. First, engaging with the disputed intoxicant is a gateway leading toward engaging in that which is unanimously forbidden, whereas engaging in other disputed matters diverts one from the genus of what is unanimously forbidden. Second, the established Sunnah from the Prophet has been widely reported regarding the prohibition of these disputed intoxicants, leaving no valid excuse for anyone to believe in their permissibility, unlike other matters derived from independent legal reasoning (*ijtihad*).