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[Muhammad Mahdi]

I remember in Iran they have this fruit flavored juice like drink, which is fizzy i think, but its packed like a bear bottle, i.e. it comes in a glass bottle and has a metal cap that opens with an opener. And i was quite amazed to see something like that there. Even the label resembled that of a beer. And we were wondering if having that would be halal or not... dont think it said malt, but cant recall now!

There are some "non-alcoholic" beers that have the undergone fermentation after which the alcohol is extracted. These beers may contain small amounts of alcohol. And I would be against consumption of such beverages.

From what I know of Azam malt though, such a process does not take place.

[qamar]

While we ponder over that...
Alcoholic drinks in arabic are called khamr.
Yeast is خميرة, khamira in Arabic (Hamira in kiswahili).

daaru in gujrati is alcohlic drink
daaram is fruit

[Muhammad Mahdi]

While we ponder over that...
Alcoholic drinks in arabic are called khamr.
Yeast is خميرة, khamira in Arabic (Hamira in kiswahili).

daaru in gujrati is alcohlic drink
daaram is fruit

Linguistically daaru and daaram do not share the same root word, Khamira and khamr do.

[Reyhana]

Though I dont know much on this subject but as yeast [khamira] is allowed for consumption by our ulemas,who of course are the most knowledgeable regarding the issues of haram and halaal, I think it pretty much clears the issue regarding it.

REF: Your questions answered [volume 3] by Sayyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi

Q92: IS YEAST HALAL?
I would really like to know if we Shias are allowed to eat yeast, because everything that is
baked over here contains yeast; and I really don't know what that is. They use it in bread
to make it rise.

A. There is no harm in using yeast.

[Muhammad Mahdi]

I don't want to divert from the main subject but let's keep in mind that all religious scholars are not versed in scientific issues. I doubt most ulemas even know about this chemical process

[abuali]

I don't want to divert from the main subject but let's keep in mind that all religious scholars are not versed in scientific issues. I doubt most ulemas even know about this chemical process

are you suggesting that their fatwa is given without investigating the 'chemical process'?

[Muhammad Mahdi]

Why would investigate if they do not suspect anything?

[qamar]

Linguistically daaru and daaram do not share the same root word, Khamira and khamr do.

Can you prove wat u r saying? Wats the root word of khamira?

[abuali]

Why would investigate if they do not suspect anything?

If you 'know' that yeast contains alcohol and if you claim that it is common knowledge that it contains alcohol, obviously it is suspect?

[Muhammad Mahdi]

It is not the yeast that contains alcohol. So you can eat a handful of it and it's fine.

The yeast respires and fermentation takes place that produces alcohol. This is common scientific knowledge and so any science student should know this. But ulema may not have gone to a typical science school...

Can you prove wat u r saying? Wats the root word of khamira?

It is difficult to explain as neither of us speaks arabic. You can ask your resident alim who will be better suited to explain.

[abuali]

So any tom, dick or harry who has done some science will know this, but the grand marjae who has spent 60+ years acquiring knowledge will be void of this 'common knowledge'?

[sadika]

u say that its gud so muslims have an alternative to alcoholic drinks n they can have flavoured drinks that taste like alcohol?

wat if they want muslims n kids to get used to taste of alcohol so its easy 4 them to then have it?

[Muhammad Mahdi]

So any tom, dick or harry who has done some science will know this, but the grand marjae who has spent 60+ years acquiring knowledge will be void of this 'common knowledge'?

True, Tom and his friends would know of this fact if they have done studied respiration. When it comes to the grand marjae though, I doubt respiration and gaseous exchange is in their coursework.

And for arguments sake, assuming they are aware of this fact, then that would suggest that small quantities of alcohol are permissible. Does that mean 0.5% = Halal?

[Muhammad Mahdi]

u say that its gud so muslims have an alternative to alcoholic drinks n they can have flavoured drinks that taste like alcohol?

Muslims already drink, whether we wish to admit this or not. This is an alternative since it is cheaper without the alcohol part of it.

wat if they want muslims n kids to get used to taste of alcohol so its easy 4 them to then have it?

Who do you mean by them?

[Fatimah Zahra Karim]

I have it from someone who drink alcoholic beer that the non-alcoholic kind is a crappy idea since it tastes nothing like the real thing and doesn't even give you the buzz.

As for bread, there is a hadith from Imam Ja'far Sadiq where he told his companion t respect bread. When asked what he meant, he said, "When bread is set before you, eat it; don't wait for any other food." Of course, I do not know if this was yeasty bread or the unleavened sort.

Going off on a tangent now, but how many of us know that the process of vanilla and mint extraction use alcohol as a solvent? This means many chocolates (all those made by Mars inc. including twix, snickers, bounty, the galaxy range, etc) and mints, contain small amounts of alcohol.