Dr Yusuf Al Qaradawi

DOHA • Prominent Muslim Scholar Dr Yusuf Al Qaradawi has said that drinks with very low alcoholic proportion are permitted, if the drink was made naturally from fermentation.

Speaking to a local Arabic daily, Al Qaradawi said there is nothing in Shariah (Islamic Law) which prohibits a very low proportion of alcohol, particularly if that portion is around one fifth of 1,000 of the whole drink's ingredients.

"For this reason, I do not think there is any forbiddance in having such drinks," he said, pointing out that if same portion was deliberately added to a drink then it is prohibited. In the last case, "the doer commits a sin", he explained.

This proportion (0.05 per cent) of alcohol is allowed to be added only when there is a medical treatment case, he said.