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Is Sugar Alcohol Halal?

06 February, 2025
Q I have a question about an ingredient in a food. I want to know what is alcohol and if it is Haram. I am a Muslim and I am very strict about the Halal food that all Muslims consume. This ingredient is mostly found in gum.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. 

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.


In this fatwa:

Sugar alcohol is generally considered halal in Islam. While intoxicants are forbidden, specialists confirm that sugar alcohol is non-intoxicating. Since it does not change the original permissibility of food, it is deemed permissible for consumption.


Answering your question, the Fatwa Center at IslamWeb.net, states:

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If this ingredient -sugar alcohol -is intoxicating, then it is alcohol and it is impure, and therefore it is not permissible to add it to food or eat the food which contains such an ingredient, even if it is only a small amount of it that is added.

Allah says: {O you who believe, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone altars [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.}[Al-Maโ€™idah 5:90]

Also, the Prophet (peace be upon him)) said: โ€œIf a large amount of something can cause drunkenness, any little amount of it is forbidden.โ€ [An-Nasaโ€™i, Abu Dawud, At-Tirmithi and Al-Albani]

Having said that, we have been informed by trustworthy people reporting from specialists in the matter that sugar alcohol (phenylaline) is not intoxicating.

Therefore adding it to any food does not render that food forbidden as the food remains in its original form (i.e. permissible).

According to the research of specialists in this field, only ethanol or ethyl alcohol is forbidden; other alcohols are not intoxicants.

The fatwas below provide further details:

Almighty Allah knows best.

Source: Islamweb.net