Short answer
No, not to sit and socialise. The Prophet ﷺ forbade sitting at a table where alcohol is being drunk, and a pub or bar exists to serve drinks. Going in briefly for a real need, such as collecting someone, a quick delivery or an emergency, is allowed. For work drinks and nights out, suggest a cafe or restaurant instead.
Sitting in a gathering where wine is drunk is haram, and a person who is followed by others must not even attend. Entering briefly for a need, without sitting with drinkers, is permitted.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
The Prophet ﷺ said: whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should not sit at a table where wine is passed around. He also cursed alcohol, the one who drinks it, the one who serves it and others involved in it. Allah says that when you hear Allah's verses mocked, do not sit with them, or you would be like them. Sitting with people drinking, laughing along, is a quiet approval of what Allah forbade.
Imam Abu Hanifa was once invited to a meal where there was entertainment, and he said he had been tested with it once and bore it. The Hanafi scholars recorded the rule: if the sin is at the table itself, you should not sit; and if you are a person others follow, you should not even go in. A pub is a place whose main business is alcohol, so it falls under this.
Common situations:
- After-work drinks or a leaving do: politely suggest a cafe, lunch or a dessert place. If the event is at a pub, it is better to give a short, friendly excuse and congratulate the person another way.
- Pub quiz or watching football at a bar: not permitted, even with a soft drink.
- A restaurant with a bar area: eating in the dining area away from drinking is a lighter matter; avoid tables where people are drinking.
- Quick need: collecting a friend, dropping off a delivery, using the toilet in an emergency or asking for directions is fine.
- Working in a pub: see working where alcohol is served.
Being the one person not drinking can feel awkward, especially for converts with old friends. Keep the friendships, change the venue. The four schools agree on this ruling.
The evidence
Quran, Surah An-Nisaa 4:140
وَقَدْ نَزَّلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِى ٱلْكِتَٰبِ أَنْ إِذَا سَمِعْتُمْ ءَايَٰتِ ٱللَّهِ يُكْفَرُ بِهَا وَيُسْتَهْزَأُ بِهَا فَلَا تَقْعُدُوا۟ مَعَهُمْ حَتَّىٰ يَخُوضُوا۟ فِى حَدِيثٍ غَيْرِهِۦٓ ۚ إِنَّكُمْ إِذًۭا مِّثْلُهُمْ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ جَامِعُ ٱلْمُنَٰفِقِينَ وَٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ فِى جَهَنَّمَ جَمِيعًا ﴿١٤٠﴾
And it has already come down to you in the Book that when you hear the verses of Allah [recited], they are denied [by them] and ridiculed; so do not sit with them until they enter into another conversation. Indeed, you would then be like them. Indeed Allah will gather the hypocrites and disbelievers in Hell all together -
Believers do not sit where Allah's commands are being openly broken.
Quran, Surah Al-Maaida 5:90
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّمَا ٱلْخَمْرُ وَٱلْمَيْسِرُ وَٱلْأَنصَابُ وَٱلْأَزْلَٰمُ رِجْسٌۭ مِّنْ عَمَلِ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنِ فَٱجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ﴿٩٠﴾
O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.
Alcohol is defilement from Shaytan, to be avoided.
Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2801
Grading to be checked... فلا يقعد على مائدة يدار عليها بالخمر ...
"He should not sit at a table where wine is passed around."
Sitting where alcohol is being drunk is forbidden.
Sunan Abi Dawud 3674
Graded sahih... لعن الله الخمر وشاربها وساقيها ...
"Allah has cursed wine, the one who drinks it and the one who serves it."
Shows how widely the sin of alcohol spreads.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Karahiyya, issue of the invitation with entertainment. If the sin is at the table, one should not sit; a person who is followed should not attend at all.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.