Sometimes alcohol isadded during the process of making some medicines and drugs, is it permissible to use it if it is prescribed as a treatment for a certain illness? Drugs in which some amount of alcohol is added fali into two categories - those meant for external use and those meant for internal use. As regards those meant for external use such as balm or even alcohol that is applied to a wound as a disinfectant, Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen said: "...there is no harm in it due to the pressing need for it, and there is no clear evidence of its prohibition."
This is also the view of Shaykh Ibn Taymeeyah who drew a similitude in his fataawaa [Majmooal-Fataawaa, vol. 24, p. 270]: "Seeking treatment (remedy) by eating the fat of pork is not permissible. As for the treatment which involves smearing the body with it and then washing it afterwards, this is based on the permissibility of applying the an-Najaasah (the impurity) externally [on the body] outside the time of Salaah (the Prescribed Prayers).
And in it is a well-known controversy, but what iscorrect is that it is permissible due to a necessity, and what is allowed due to a necessity, treatment with it is permissible." The wisdom here is that, if it was permissible to smear the body with the fat of pig (which is an impurity) for medical reason then alcohol has a greater right to be so applied because it is not an impurity according to the most authentic view.
Regarding oral and injectable drugs in which some amount of alcohol is added. Some scholars permit it based onthe amount of the alcohol that is added into the drug which is too insignificant to cause any intoxication, What is prohibited is whatever intoxicates. Allaah says: "0 you who believe! Verily, intoxicants (khamr), gambling (mayseer), animals sacrificed at altars and in the name of idols (ansaab), and diviningarrows for seeking luck and decision (azlaam) are.....
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited