Using empty wine bottles from a Sharee‘ah perspective

20-1-2014 | IslamWeb

Question:

Is it lawful to use empty wine bottles for drinking water at home?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

It is permissible to use empty wine bottles for drinking water if they are washed from alcohol, because all utensils are permissible to use, except those which are forbidden by Sharee‘ah. Also, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Drink from every utensil unless you drink intoxicants and other (intoxicating) materials.”

However, it is preferable to avoid using them and to get them out of your house, because when they are kept at home they might raise doubts about the residents, and it is better to avoid suspicion in order to maintain one’s religion and honor.

Muslims are required to avoid anything that brings accusation to them. This is evidenced by a Hadeeth where the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "Slow down. This is Safiyyah bint Huyayy." They said, "Subhaana Allaah! O Messenger of Allaah! (You are far away from any suspicion)." He said, "The devil circulates in a person like blood (in the blood streams). I feared that he might throw some evil thoughts into your hearts." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Allaah Knows best.