Is drinking "bhang" halal?

:s1:

this is interesting...is this really the view of Imam e Azam :ra: and of Imam Tahawi? What do Ibn Abidin and Ala Hadrat --the greatest Hanafi authorities of later times---have to say on this issue? :ra:

 

a nostalgic spliff/drop

Ah yes intoxicants...and the hanafi fiqh...that brings back the days of yore...

The position of the fuHool of the Hanafi fuqahaa' that permit non-wine intoxicants providing one doesn't get drunk or have the intention of doing so. Since khamr is only literally the fermented juice of grapes in 'arabiyyah

Says abul aswad al-Duali:

دع الخمر يشربها الغواة
فإنني رأيت أخاها مغنياً بمكانها

Leave thou wine to the quaff of the reprobate
For I see in her brother (a drink) amply adequate..


Imam Abu Ja'far al-taHaawi, in the sharH ma'aani al-aathaar, the book of beverages:

ثنا أحمد بن يونس قال : ثنا ابن شهاب ، عن أبي ليلى ، عن عيسى ، أن أباه بعثه إلى أنس في حاجة ، فأبصر عنده طلاء شديدا ، والطلاء : ما يسكر كثيره ، فلم يكن ذلك عند أنس خمرا ، وإن كثيره يسكر . وثبت بما وصفنا أن الخمر عند أنس ، لم يكن من كل شراب ولكنها من خاص من الأشربة

[...]
From iisa, whose father - a tabi'ii- went to Anas -b Malik's house on an errand. He saw that Anas had there a strong liquor, a liquor which would intoxicate if drunk in a large "enough quantity.​

Al-TaHaawi: Thus it is proved that khamr is not every drink (which intoxicates) but a specific sort of (alcoholic) beverage.

Ibn Abbaas: Hadeeth SaHiiH: "wine has been made Haraam in what ever quantity; but the intoxicating quantity of every other beverage."


، عن عبد الله بن شداد بن الهاد ، عن عبد الله بن عباس قال : حرمت الخمر بعينها ، والسكر من كل شراب . فأخبر ابن عباس أن الحرمة وقعت على الخمر بعينها ، وعلى السكر من سائر الأشربة سواها . فثبت بذلك أن ما سوى الخمر التي حرمت مما يسكر كثيره ، قد أبيح شرب قليله الذي لا يسكر

al- TaHaawi: Thus it is proved that except Khamr what is haraam only in other beverages is that amount which induces intoxication. Consuming a small quantity is allowed....

ونحن نشهد على الله عز وجل ، أنه حرم عصير العنب إذا حدثت فيه صفات الخمر ، ولا نشهد عليه أنه حرم ما سوى ذلك إذا حدث فيه مثل هذه الصفة . فالذي نشهد على الله بتحريمه إياه هو الخمر الذي آمنا بتأويلها ، من حيث قد آمنا بتنزيلها . والذي لا نشهد على الله أنه حرم هو الشراب الذي ليس بخمر . فما كان من خمر ، فقليله وكثيره حرام ، وما كان مما سوى ذلك من الأشربة ، فالسكر منه حرام ، وما سوى ذلك منه مباح

al-TaHaawi: we bear witness that Allah almighty forbad the juice of grapes when it becomes wine; we do not bear witness that He forbad (juices) apart from that which take on similar qualities to wine. Thus we bear witness that the actual beverage which Allah has prohibited is Wine....If the (beverage) is wine small or large quantity is prohibited. If it's non-wine intoxicant then only getting drunk is prohibited...."


Al-TaHaawi: This is the view of Abu Haneefah, Abu Yuusuf and MuHammad....

See also Al-Aini's refutation of Ibn Hajr's view that all intoxicant are prohibited in large or small quantities. He does a great job.


Cheers!

 

as-salamu alaikum

sidi could you perhaps elaborate on the book dur al mukhtar which itself is an explanation of Tanweer al Absar I believe

i believe the durr is by alauddin haskafi - a bit of info on him would be nice
also, I'm not sure who wrote tanweer al absar...

 

Ruling on use of ganja (Ahkam-e-Shariat):

http://www.alahazratnetwork.org/modules/products/item.php?itemid=152

 

many 'sufis' smoke ganja too

they got five on it

 

by the way, i did not say anything about the origin of the word bhang. yet, your assumption might be correct because it is also known as indian hemp.

even my memory is suffering these days. in a famous poem of imam shafiyi:

shakawtu ilaa wakiyin suu-a hifzi
fa arshadani ila tarki'l ma'aSi
wa akhbarani bi anna'l ilma nuurun
wa nurullahi laa yuhdaa li aaSi

i complained to wakiy of a failing memory
he advised me to abstain from sins
and told me that knowledge is light
and a sinner is not guided to the light of Allah

 

isn't it possible that the arabic word banj comes from the indian 'bhang' and not vice-versa?

 

thanks..the reason i asked was i am sure i've seen somewhere in one of ala hazrat's works [either malfuzaat sharif or ahkam-e-shariat] his speaking of it and calling it 'khabis shay' but not explicitly saying it is haram. maybe my memory is failing me?

 

every intoxicant is forbidden regardless of its quantity. that is from a hadith.

a long time ago, we had a lively discussion on the asfa forum where a participant restated the issue of nabeedh.

---
in a nutshell: hanafi jurists classify intoxicants as solids and liquids. liquid intoxicants are forbidden all quantities - even a small drop.

solid intoxicants are forbidden only when they are used in measures that can intoxicate. a case in point is poppy seeds. a large amount of poppy seeds is condensed to produce some of the most dangerous narcotics - cocaine etc. but still, very small amounts - a few pinches are used to garnish pastries and used in some mughlai qurmahs. some unani/greek medicines [halwahs and ma'ajuns] use it as an ingredient. i understand that some european bagels are also peppered with poppies. [but don't you ever get a trace of that into the gulf! in saudia, a body can risk getting beheaded for the crime of possessing poppies even as a decoration on sweets. and in the uae, there is a mandatory 4 year sentence.]

http://tinyurl.com/29zxzo
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7234786.stm

these are permissible in small quantities and as long as they are not used to the point of inebriation.

---
as for bhang - or banj in arabic, here is the fatwa:

in durr al-mukhtar it is said: 'it is forbidden to consume either banj or hashish.'

[aH: banj from arabic [mainly egyptian] is bhang in indian languages.]

ibn abidin in radd al-muHtar [kitab al-ashribah, vol.7;pg.13] explains:

[banj] it is a plant known as sheykraan in arabic. it intoxicates, causes drowsiness, stupefies and causes hallucinations as explained by shaykh dawud in at-tazkirah.

[fayruzabadi in] al-qamus adds: the worst is the red kind and then the blackish and the lightest is the white variety.

also in al-qamus:
as-sabt is the day of the week, saturday; and also a man who sleeps a lot. al-musbit is a stupefied person.

and al-quhistani said: it is a kind related to the species of plant known as cannabis [al-qinib]. it is explicitly forbidden [Haram] to consume it because it intoxicates and this is the preferential ruling in contrast to [the ruling about] other [solid intoxicants] like opium, which are forbidden only when used in quantities that can inebriate. this is what they meant in al-hidayah and other texts, when they said bhang is permissible [mubaH] as clarified in al-lubab.

i say: this is not conclusive [proof]. because any intoxicant is impermissible and forbidden without any doubt; so, how can one say that it is mubaH? rather, the correct opinion is - and that is probably the intention of the author of al-hidayah - it is mubaH to use it in very small quantities for medicinal purposes; and those who expressly insist on its being forbidden speak about using it in quantities that can intoxicate.

this is proven from the comment in ghayatu'l bayan: 'consuming [or eating] very small quantities of saqmuniya or banj is permissible for medicinal reasons, and anything more than that which can cause death or inebriation is expressly forbidden.'

​

bhang is made from the leaves; and in arabic is hashish qinib: grass.
charas is the bark and
ganja is from dried flower

Allah ta'ala knows best.

 

I've heard that there is a festival in India, when people exclusively make these 'bhangs' at their places....and the women in there house ask the men not to consume excess amount of bhang. There must be a reason for what they are stopping them.

Even in Hindi movies...the actors, when they consume a lot of bhang, are seen in a condition/state as if they have taken in alcohol(in a song usually). They are not in self-control. These characteristics are same as that of a drunkard.

But these are only seen during the festival that they celebrate. There is a possibility that they might add something to the original bhang.

 

Does it intoxicate? if so, then I'd say it is 'haraam!'
(something I learnt from usul Fiqh classes )

 

:s1:

Bhang is a popular drink in the north Subcontinent made.
Bhang (Punjabi: ਭੰਗ, بھنگ, /pə̀ŋg/, Bengali: ভাং, /bɦaŋ/) is a derivative of the leaf and flower of a female Cannabis sativa plant, consumed in northern India and Bangladesh. It is used for making beverages and sometimes is smoked.[1]
Bhang Ki Thandai (Hindi) is a drink popular in many parts of North India which is made by mixing bhang with thandai, a cold drink prepared with a mixture of almonds, spices, milk and sugar. (Wiki)



My question is: is it allowed in Shariah? It is especially available around many Sufi shrines too and many 'malangs' drink it. In Punjab it is v popular!