Short answer
Any amount of an alcoholic drink. The Prophet ﷺ said that what intoxicates in a large amount is haram in a small amount, so one sip of wine, beer or spirits is haram. Natural traces that cannot intoxicate, as in bread, juice or ripe fruit, are not counted. The only exception is a life-saving need.
Wine from grapes or dates (khamr) is haram in any amount, and the fatwa follows Imam Muhammad that every other intoxicating drink is haram in any amount too. Traces that form naturally and cannot intoxicate are not counted. Khamr may be drunk only in dire necessity, such as to clear food stuck in the throat when no other liquid is at hand.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
Some people reason that a drink or two that does not make them drunk must be fine. The hadith closes that door: whatever intoxicates in large amounts is forbidden in small amounts. The four schools agree on this for alcoholic drinks. Imam Abu Hanifa originally limited it to grape and date wine, but the Hanafi fatwa follows his student Imam Muhammad, in line with the other schools.
This covers:
- wine, beer, cider, spirits, liqueurs, hard seltzer and hard kombucha, in any amount;
- a sip to taste, a toast at an office party or a beer shandy;
- alcoholic drinks cooked into food (see food made with wine or beer).
It does not cover traces of alcohol that form naturally and cannot intoxicate however much you consume: ripe fruit, fresh juice, bread, yoghurt, vinegar or soft drinks. Small amounts of non-grape alcohol used as a solvent in flavourings and medicines are a separate discussion (see vanilla extract and medicine with alcohol).
When is it allowed? Only in dire necessity. The Hanafi books give the example of someone choking on food with nothing else to drink, who may take enough to save his life. Drinking for social reasons, to relax or to fit in is never a necessity. And the Prophet ﷺ said wine is not a medicine but a disease. For the penalty and repentance, see punishment for drinking alcohol.
The evidence
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.
Commands avoiding intoxicants altogether.
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:173
إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْمَيْتَةَ وَٱلدَّمَ وَلَحْمَ ٱلْخِنزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ بِهِۦ لِغَيْرِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍۢ وَلَا عَادٍۢ فَلَآ إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌ ﴿١٧٣﴾
He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah. But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], there is no sin upon him. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
The only exception is real necessity.
Sunan Abi Dawud 3681
Graded hasan sahih... ما أسكر كثيره فقليله حرام ...
"Whatever intoxicates in a large amount, a small amount of it is haram."
Forbids even a small amount of an intoxicating drink.
Sahih Muslim 2003
Sahih... كل مسكر خمر وكل مسكر حرام ...
"Every intoxicant is khamr, and every intoxicant is haram."
Extends the ruling to every intoxicating drink, whatever it is made from.
Sahih Muslim 1984
Sahih... إنه ليس بدواء ولكنه داء ...
"It is not a medicine; it is a disease."
Rejects the excuse that wine is drunk for health.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Ashriba. Khamr is forbidden in any amount; the views on other intoxicating drinks.
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Ashriba. The fatwa follows Imam Muhammad that every intoxicating drink is forbidden in any amount.
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.