At the time when the use of alcohol-based sanitisers has been considered as one of the safest ways to protect from the deadly Coronavirus, a prominent Islamic cleric at Dargah Aala Hazrat in Bareilly has asked all its followers and mosque heads to avoid using alcohol-based sanitisers.
Mufti Nashtar Farooqi of Sunni Markaz Darul Ifta, Dargah Aala Hazrat, said on Wednesday: “Alcohol is prohibited in Islam. Muslims should not use alcohol-based sanitizers. A mosque will become impure if alcohol-based sanitiser is used for cleaning the premises. We cannot make God’s home impure. Namaaz cannot be offered at an impure place. If the mosque is made impure knowingly, it will be a sin. I have appealed to Imams of mosques and mosques committees to refrain from using an alcohol-based sanitizer.”
He however said, “Instead of using alcohol-based sanitizer, Muslims should properly wash their hands and mosque campus with soap, detergent powder and shampoo.”
It may be noted that in Islam alcoholic beverages are considered haram, i.e., they are prohibited to be consumed by Muslims. But alcohol-based sanitisers does not mean they contain liquor. Here the term alcohol means a large group of chemical compounds. In chemical terms, alcohol means an organic compound that carries at least one hydroxyl functional group (−OH) bound to a saturated carbon atom. Not every compound termed as alcohol are alcoholic drinks.
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