Wa `alaykum as-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

 

In Islam, it is unanimously held that all things are supposed to be deemed pure, and that it is not necessary that all what is declared forbidden is considered impure. This is because impurity is a legal ruling that needs evidence. For example, drugs and fatal poisons are forbidden, yet this by no means qualify them to be impure.

For this reason, some scholars including Rabi`ah, Al-Layth Ibn Sa`d, Al-Muzani (the companion of Ash-Shafi`i) and some other scholars hold that wine is pure regardless of its being unlawful, and that only drinking it is forbidden. However, the majority of jurists are of the view that wine is impure and forbidden.

Thus, we conclude that all that is impure is deemed forbidden, but not vice versa. This is because regarding something as impure is to forbid any physical contact with it, whereas regarding something as unlawful is not necessarily to forbid any contact with it. To illustrate, wearing gold and silk is unlawful (for men), yet they are considered pure by the consensus of scholars and thus can be touched by men.

Allah Almighty knows best.