Can we use perfumes with alcohol?

Wa ‘Alaykumussalaam wa Rahmatullaahi wa Barakaatuh.

The general rule on the use of alcohol based perfumes/deodrants, etc is that if the alcohol has been extracted from grapes or dates their use will be forbidden since this is Najis (impure) and will thus make the body and clothes impure.

Further, it is mentioned in Muslim Food Guide (1420/200 edition) that Ethanol (ethyl alcohol) is also impermissible as it is generated from the fermentation of sugars from cane, forming the intoxicating element of all fermented liquors. (A-20)

If the deodrants/perfume is made from synthetic/chemical alcohol, extracted and manufactured from items besides grapes or dates, then the use of such products is permissible.

Hazrat Mufti M. Taqi Usmani Saheb, (A leading contemporary scholar of Pakistan) writes in his commentary of Sahih Muslim, “The majority of alcohol used in medication and perfumes is not manufactured from grapes and dates, it is extracted from grains, peels or petroleum etc.” (Takmilah Fathul-Mulhim Vol. 3 Page. 608)

Before using such products, it is advisable from the Shar’ee point of view to check with the manufacturers on the type of alcohol used. (i.e. whether natural or synthetic based).

Answered by Mufti Abdullah Patel http://www.gmwa.org.uk/qna/viewquestion.php?QuestionID=3&TopicID=10

And Allaah Ta’aala knows best.

Wassalaam.

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A. Z. Pandor