Compulsion to Drink Wine as Medicine, in Thirst or in Fear (Taqiyah)

“Once I was with abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) when the mother of Khalid al-‘Abdiyah visited him (the Imam). She said, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause. I have a growling condition in my belly [I asked a women with such condition about it and she said] the physicians of Iraq have prescribed for her al-Nabidh with sawiq; but I have learned and I know that you dislike it and I like to ask you about it. He (the Imam) asked, ‘What stops you from drinking it?’ She replied, ‘I have taken upon myself to follow your instructions in matters of my religion so upon my meeting with Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, I will be able to tell Him that Ja‘far ibn Muhammad commanded and prohibited me.’ He (the Imam) asked, ‘O abu Muhammad, do you hear this woman and these issues? No, by Allah, I will not give you permission, not even for one drop of it and you must not taste even one drop of it because you, otherwise, will regret when the soul reaches here’, pointing to his throat, ‘Did you understand?’ She replied, ‘Yes, I understand? He (the Imam) then said, ‘A small amount of it (wine) that can hardly moisten an applicator of kohl (eyeliner) to the eye can make a whole hub (a large water container) filthy? He (the Imam) said it three times?”

“I once wrote to abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), and asked about a man to whom a medicine for curing hemorrhoid gases is sent to drink in an amount that in the form of hard al-Nabidh makes one drunk. He does not drink it for pleasure but as medicine? He (the Imam) said, ‘No, not even one sip of it is lawful? He (the Imam) then said, ‘Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, has not placed any cure as medicine in what He has prohibited?”

“My father has informed me that he once was with abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), when a man said to him (the Imam), ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, (I suffer from the) gases of hemorrhoids. Nothing suits me except drinking al-Nabidh? He (the narrator) has said that he (the Imam) said, ‘What do you have to do with what Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, and the Messenger of Allah have made unlawful?’ He (the Imam) said it three times. He (the Imam) then said, ‘You must use this immersed (dates) which is immersed in water in the evening to drink in the morning and immersed in the morning to drink in the evening? He said, ‘This causes bloating in the belly? He (the Imam) said, ‘I can guide you to what is more beneficial than this. You must pray because it is cure for all illnesses? He (the narrator) has said that we then asked him (the Imam), ‘Is all of it, small and large quantities unlawful?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Yes, it is unlawful in large quantity as well as in small quantity?”

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about a medicine which is made in dough with wine. He (the Imam) said, ‘No, by Allah I do not like to look at it, so how will I use it as medicine? It is like the fat of pork or flesh of pork. Why then certain people use it as medicine?”’

“I once visited abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), during the days that he had come to Iraq. He (the Imam) told me to visit ’Isma‘il ibn Ja‘far because he complains and see what kind of pain has made him suffer then describe for him (the Imam) the pain he feels. I then left him (the Imam) to see Tsma‘il and asked him about his pain that he felt. He explained it to me and I prescribed a medicine in which al-Nabidh existed. Tsma‘il said, ‘Al-Nabidh is unlawful and I belong to a family who do not use unlawful things as medicine.’”

“A man once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about a medicine which is made into dough from alcohol to be used as Kohl (eyeliner) for the eyes. Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), said, ‘Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, has not placed cures in things that He has made unlawful.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘If one uses intoxicating things as eye medicine with an applicator of medicine to the eye Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, will apply as such with an applicator of fire.’”

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about al-Nabidh which is placed in medicine. He (the Imam) said, ‘No, it is not proper for one to seek cure from unlawful things.’”

“I once asked my brother, abu al-Hassan ‘Alayhi al-Salam, about kohl made into dough with al- Nabidh; if it is proper. He (the Imam) said, ‘No, it is not proper.’”

“Once abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), was asked about a medicine which is made into dough with wine. He (the Imam) said, ‘I do not like to look at it or smell it; so why should I use it as medicine?”’

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘There is no Taqiyah (maintaining caution because of fear) in the case of al-Nabidh (wine).”’

“I once asked abu Ja’far (a.s.), about wiping on slippers because of Taqiyah (caution due to fear). He (the Imam) said, ‘There is no Taqiyah (caution because of fear) in three things.’ I then asked, ‘What are they?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is drinking wine,’ or he said, ‘Drinking intoxicating liquor, wiping on slippers and Mut‘ah (advantage) of al-Hajj.”’