Chapters on Drinks

This is another concise wording of the general prohibition of intoxicants.

The second clause links the prohibition of a small quantity to the fact that a large quantity of the same thing intoxicates.

The sentence directly links the prohibition of a small quantity to the intoxicating effect of a larger quantity.

The report gives the same general ruling as the preceding narration, through a different chain.

Nabīdh is a drink prepared by soaking fruit; the wording here prohibits combining the two named fruits in each preparation.

Busr refers to unripe dates, while ruṭab are fresh, ripe dates.

The second paragraph is a chain note by al-Layth ibn Saʿd, preserved separately from the main report.

أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ نَهَى أَنْ يُنْبَذَ التَّمْرُ وَالزَّبِيبُ جَمِيعًا وَنَهَى أَنْ يُنْبَذَ الْبُسْرُ وَالرُّطَبُ جَمِيعًا ‏.

The verb nabhadha refers to preparing a soaked fruit drink, but the report does not state the preparation details or duration.

What exact preparation method is intended by preparing nabīdh from the named fruits?

Nabīdh is a drink prepared by soaking fruit. The report instructs that the two kinds of dates be prepared separately.

قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ ‏ "‏ لاَ تَنْبِذُوا التَّمْرَ وَالْبُسْرَ جَمِيعًا وَانْبِذُوا كُلَّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا عَلَى حِدَتِهِ ‏"‏ ‏.

The first fruit is called tamr (dates), while the second is busr (unripe dates); the text does not specify a more precise degree of drying for tamr.

Should tamr here be understood specifically as dried dates, in contrast to unripe dates?

Zahw refers to dates at an earlier, partly ripened stage; the source distinguishes them from fully ripe fresh dates (ruṭab).

Nabīdh is understood from the instruction to prepare the fruits separately in the context of soaking them for a drink.

أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يَقُولُ ‏ "‏ لاَ تَجْمَعُوا بَيْنَ الرُّطَبِ وَالزَّهْوِ وَلاَ بَيْنَ الزَّبِيبِ وَالتَّمْرِ وَانْبِذُوا كُلَّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا عَلَى حِدَتِهِ ‏"‏ ‏.

Zahw names a stage of date ripening, but the report does not specify its exact appearance or degree of ripeness.

What precise ripening stage is meant by zahw in contrast with ruṭab?

The report describes the fruit and water being steeped in a waterskin; it does not state how long the drink could be kept beyond the morning/evening cycle.

The final timing is explicitly introduced as Abū Muʿāwiyah’s variant wording and is kept separate.

‏ وَقَالَ أَبُو مُعَاوِيَةَ نَهَارًا فَيَشْرَبُهُ لَيْلاً أَوْ لَيْلاً فَيَشْرَبُهُ نَهَارًا ‏.

The added wording attributed to Abū Muʿāwiyah restates the timing as day/night rather than morning/evening.

Is this simply a paraphrase of the preceding morning/evening schedule, or does it mark a distinct timing variant?

The report gives a three-day period and says any remainder was discarded; it does not specify the ingredients or preparation method here.

قَالَ كَانَ يُنْبَذُ لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فَيَشْرَبُهُ يَوْمَهُ ذَلِكَ وَالْغَدَ وَالْيَوْمَ الثَّالِثَ فَإِنْ بَقِيَ مِنْهُ شَىْءٌ أَهْرَاقَهُ أَوْ أَمَرَ بِهِ فَأُهْرِيقَ ‏.

The report lists the same day, the following day, and the third day, then says any remainder was poured away; it does not specify the time of day for these points.

Does the three-day count begin on the day the nabīdh is first prepared?

The Arabic names a vessel made of stone (tawr); it does not specify its size or exact shape.

قَالَ كَانَ يُنْبَذُ لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فِي تَوْرٍ مِنْ حِجَارَةٍ ‏.

Tawr denotes a stone vessel or basin, but the report does not describe its shape.

What kind of stone vessel is meant by tawr?

The report names four traditional vessel types: naqīr (a hollowed palm trunk), muzaffat (a vessel coated with pitch), dubāʾ (a gourd vessel), and ḥantamah (a type of jar). The exact forms and materials of some historical vessels can vary in descriptions.

Nabīdh is a drink prepared by soaking fruit.

قَالَ نَهَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ أَنْ يُنْبَذَ فِي النَّقِيرِ وَالْمُزَفَّتِ وَالدُّبَّاءِ وَالْحَنْتَمَةِ وَقَالَ ‏ "‏ كُلُّ مُسْكِرٍ حَرَامٌ ‏"‏ ‏.

The report lists four historical vessel names; although naqīr, muzaffat, and dubāʾ have commonly described forms, the exact vessel meant by ḥantamah is uncertain.

What precise type of vessel is intended by ḥantamah here?

Muzaffat is a vessel coated with pitch; qarʿ here refers to a gourd vessel. Nabīdh is a drink prepared by soaking fruit.

These are names of traditional vessels. Dubāʾ refers to a gourd vessel, and naqīr to a hollowed palm trunk; ḥantam is a historical jar type whose exact form is uncertain.

قَالَ نَهَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ عَنِ الشُّرْبِ فِي الْحَنْتَمِ وَالدُّبَّاءِ وَالنَّقِيرِ ‏.

The report names three historical vessels; the exact type meant by ḥantam is uncertain.

What kind of vessel is intended by ḥantam in this report?

The report names the vessels elliptically without repeating ‘drinking from’; that sense is supplied from the immediate context of the chapter on drinking vessels.

Dubāʾ is a gourd vessel; ḥantam is a historical jar type whose precise form is uncertain.

قَالَ نَهَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ عَنِ الدُّبَّاءِ وَالْحَنْتَمِ ‏.

The report names the dubāʾ and ḥantam without stating the action being forbidden; the chapter context indicates drinking from them.

Is drinking from these vessels the action understood from the elliptical wording?

The report refers back to earlier restrictions on vessels without naming them here.

The text permits preparing nabīdh in the vessels while explicitly retaining the instruction to avoid every intoxicant.

عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ ‏ "‏ كُنْتُ نَهَيْتُكُمْ عَنِ الأَوْعِيَةِ فَانْتَبِذُوا فِيهِ وَاجْتَنِبُوا كُلَّ مُسْكِرٍ ‏"‏ ‏.

The report says ‘the vessels’ without identifying which vessels; this wording appears to refer back to earlier restrictions.

Which vessel restrictions are being lifted in this report?

The wording contrasts the vessel with its contents: the vessel itself does not render anything forbidden; the decisive prohibition is on every intoxicant.

The phrase ‘nabīdh of the vessels’ refers to preparing the drink in vessels, but no vessel is named here.

أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ ‏ "‏ إِنِّي كُنْتُ نَهَيْتُكُمْ عَنْ نَبِيذِ الأَوْعِيَةِ أَلاَ وَإِنَّ وِعَاءً لاَ يُحَرِّمُ شَيْئًا كُلُّ مُسْكِرٍ حَرَامٌ ‏"‏ ‏.

The phrase ‘a vessel does not make anything forbidden’ is concise; its contrast with the following clause suggests that prohibition concerns intoxicating contents rather than the container.

Does the statement mean that no container itself makes its contents forbidden, while intoxicants remain forbidden?

The Arabic itself uses the placeholders ‘such-and-such’ twice rather than naming the other vessels; these are preserved as given.

The report states an exception for vinegar but does not further explain its relation to the listed vessels or preparation.

أَنَّهَا قَالَتْ أَتَعْجِزُ إِحْدَاكُنَّ أَنْ تَتَّخِذَ كُلَّ عَامٍ مِنْ جِلْدِ أُضْحِيَّتِهَا سِقَاءً ثُمَّ قَالَتْ نَهَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ أَنْ يُنْبَذَ فِي الْجَرِّ وَفِي كَذَا وَفِي كَذَا إِلاَّ الْخَلَّ ‏.

After naming jars, the report uses two explicit placeholders (‘such-and-such’) instead of identifying the other items, and then gives an exception for vinegar.

Which additional vessels or preparations were intended by the two placeholders, and how does the vinegar exception apply?

The report names jars generally and does not specify their material or type.

The verb yanisshu describes the drink undergoing fermentation or fizzing; ‘fermenting’ is used here without specifying its stage.

The command is to dash or throw the drink against the wall, i.e. discard it; the wording is kept vivid.

قَالَ أُتِيَ النَّبِيُّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ بِنَبِيذِ جَرٍّ يَنِشُّ فَقَالَ ‏ "‏ اضْرِبْ بِهَذَا الْحَائِطَ فَإِنَّ هَذَا شَرَابُ مَنْ لاَ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ ‏"‏ ‏.

Yanisshu describes a change in the drink that may be fermentation or fizzing; the report does not specify its stage or process.

Does the verb refer to active fermentation, visible fizzing, or both?

The instruction to place a stick across a vessel is retained literally; mentioning Allah’s name is expressly linked to this precaution.

Al-fuwaysiqah literally means ‘the little mischief-maker’ and is commonly understood here as a mouse; the report says it can set a household’s home on fire.

عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ أَنَّهُ قَالَ ‏ "‏ غَطُّوا الإِنَاءَ وَأَوْكُوا السِّقَاءَ وَأَطْفِئُوا السِّرَاجَ وَأَغْلِقُوا الْبَابَ فَإِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ لاَ يَحُلُّ سِقَاءً وَلاَ يَفْتَحُ بَابًا وَلاَ يَكْشِفُ إِنَاءً فَإِنْ لَمْ يَجِدْ أَحَدُكُمْ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَعْرُضَ عَلَى إِنَائِهِ عُودًا وَيَذْكُرَ اسْمَ اللَّهِ فَلْيَفْعَلْ فَإِنَّ الْفُوَيْسِقَةَ تُضْرِمُ عَلَى أَهْلِ الْبَيْتِ بَيْتَهُمْ ‏"‏ ‏.

Al-fuwaysiqah is a diminutive epithet meaning ‘little mischief-maker’; the report does not name the animal directly, though it is commonly understood as a mouse.

Should al-fuwaysiqah be translated as ‘mouse’ or more literally as ‘little vermin’?