Can Muslims Drink Alcohol?
Short answer: No — the Qur’an prohibits intoxicants explicitly (5:90–91), and the Prophet ﷺ said "every intoxicant is khamr, and every khamr is haram" (Sahih Muslim 2003). This is one of the clearest consensus rulings in Islam.
How the Qur’an phased it out
The prohibition arrived in stages, meeting people where they were: first an observation that its sin outweighs its benefit (2:219), then a ban on approaching prayer while intoxicated (4:43), and finally the categorical verdict: "Intoxicants, gambling, altars and divining arrows are filth from the work of shaytan — so avoid it, that you may succeed" (5:90–91).
That gradualism is itself a lesson: Allah taught a society to let go of something woven into its life, one step at a time.
The sunnah closes the loopholes
"Every intoxicant is khamr, and every khamr is haram" (Sahih Muslim 2003) — so the ruling follows intoxication, not the ingredient list. Beer, wine, spirits, anything that intoxicates in quantity falls under it.
The Prophet ﷺ also said that whatever intoxicates in large amounts, a small amount of it is haram (Abu Dawud 3681, graded sahih) — closing the "just one glass" door.
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Is cooking with wine allowed since alcohol evaporates?
Cooking does not remove all alcohol, and most scholars advise avoiding food deliberately prepared with it. Trace, fully-transformed alcohol (like naturally occurring traces in vinegar) is treated differently — vinegar itself is halal.
What if I drank in the past?
Sincere repentance erases what came before — "Allah forgives all sins" (Qur’an 39:53). No past disqualifies you from starting today.