Najasah in Liquidy Food

Sep 4, 2010 | Halal and Haram

Question

I have one question about najasah getting into food. According to the malakis and the shafi’is, if najasah gets into liquid food (i.e. milk, oil honey) the whole thing becomes najas. What is the hanafi position in regards to this?

This is very relevent in our days since some products have things like vanilla extract (which is 30 % alcohol). So, if they put that into the batter, the whole thing becomes najas according to the malakis and the shafi’is.

Answered by: Mufti Abdurrahman ibn Yusuf

Assalaamu alaykum

In the name of Allah the Inspirer of truth

Najasa in any type of liquid, edible or non-edible, will render the liquid impure if it is not in large quantity, as is the normal size of domestic food packaging nowadays. Hence, in this regard the Hanafi opinion is similar to the other schools.

Likewise, according to the opinion in the Hanafi school that the fatwa has been on until now (i.e. the view of Imam Muhammad) that even small amounts of alcohol, whether from grapes or artificial sources will render the liquid impure if mixed with it. However, some of the scholars are looking at the opinions of the Shaykhayn (Imam Abu Hanifa and Abu Yusuf) in regards to this type of issue where al-khamr al-haqiqi is not used. They say that it may be possible to exercise some flexibility in the case of synthetic alcohol, and it will not be considered impure unless it reaches an intoxicating degree. However, I have not reached a conclusion in this regard as yet. May Allah grant us this.

As you may be aware, the fatwa in the Hanafi school concerning the purity if industrial alcohol used in ointments, sterilizing and perfumes is that it is pure.

And Allah knows best.

Mufti Abdurrahman ibn Yusuf