Khamar is forbidden because it contains alcohol that comes from the khamar industry and can be intoxicating. Likewise, sake drinks from Japan made from sweet potatoes, are illegitimately consumed. Then the biologists mentioned, glutinous rice tape and cassava tape, traditional foods that are very popular with the general public, also contain alcohol. Even many people deliberately ‘sipped’ the water tape. So, how exactly does the law eat the tape?
First of all, it is necessary to understand, according to scholars in the MUI Fatwa Commission, some alcohol is forbidden, and some are not illegitimate. Furthermore, khamar made and processed from grapes, asholah, as well as from those other than wine, such as tuak, a traditional drink in Sumatra, or sake in Japan, is explicitly and expressly forbidden in Islam. In the manufacturing process, starting from the beginning of processing, fermentation to the finished product, it is deliberately intended to produce an intoxicating drink, or khamar. In summary and emphatically, it is indeed an undertaking or an industry to make khamar. According to the rule of fiqhiyyah, the khamar is, many or few, the same law: haram. There is no doubt, nor is there any bargaining.
Some scholars, such as Imam Shafi’i argue that khamar is haram and unclean, based on nash ayat: which calls it “Rijsun”, meaning materially unclean. And this is the opinion of the scholars in the MUI Fatwa Commission, for ease in its implementation for the community, it is also easier to control. so that it will be avoided completely.
There are also those who argue that khamar is illegitimate but not unclean. This is the opinion of Imam Abu Hanifah. The reason is from nash the verse is also: “Rijsun min ‘amalish-syaithon”. The meaning is unclean with the understanding of being a satanic deed. So it means a heinous deed. His opinion is also based on the history that mentions when descending verses of the Quran that forbid khamar absolutely (meaning Q.S. 5: 90-91), the Prophet pbuh commanded the companions who had khamar to dispose of the khamar he had, but did not order to wash the container or vessel where the khamar was originally stored.
Next, Imam Abu Hanifah also argued that the khamar must have contained alcohol and was illegitimate; but alcohol is not necessarily a khamar. For example, the ripe durian fruit, it contains alcohol, so there are people who are not strong and then become drunk from eating it. Similarly ripe and juiced fruits, it contains alcohol. But none of the scholars forbid durian or fruit juice. Included in this category is tape. It contains alcohol, but not khamar. In reality, too, no one is drunk or deliberately willing to get drunk by eating tape. Imam Abu Hanifah referred to these foods/drinks containing alcohol as Nabidz, not khamar.
With regard to this Nabidz, Imam Abu Hanifah argued also, if the Nabidz could cause drunkenness, then he was illegitimate. But if it does not cause drunkenness, then it is halal.
