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Saudi muslim scholar calls ethanol fuel use a Sin


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sako97

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In the Koran the Prophet Mohammed set out clear rules for Muslim interaction with alcohol, forbidding the use, purchase, sale, service, transportation or even manufacture of the substance. And that's the basis a Saudi Muslim scholar is using to call ethanol use by Muslims a sin.

Setting aside the obvious motivation to preserve oil use and production, the religious case against ethanol is a strong one. Fuel ethanol is, by chemical definition, nearly pure alcohol. And it is the same type of alcohol used recreationally the world over.

A scholar at the Saudi Islamic Jurisprudence Academy, Sheikh Mohamed Al-Najimi, is the source of the warning - he's been careful not to call it a fatwa - about the use or involvement with ethanol fuel, reports MarketWatch. The story began with the scholar warning students traveling outside Saudi Arabia not to use ethanol powered vehicles.

Far from a final decision on the matter, however, Najimi has proposed further study on the matter, though he stands by his interpretation. There does remain some room for interpretation, as the scriptural basis for the prohibition appears to be rooted in the intoxicating nature of ethanol, not as a general proscription against its molecular structure.

For instance, ethanol is a necessary element in the production of vinegar, which the Koran notes was a seasoning favored by Mohammed.

Regardless of whether the fuel is contraband for Muslims, however, many other reasons not to use ethanol have been cropping up over the past year. Taking away valuable crop sources, pollution due to fertilizers, harm to the soil, and the lack of a sustainable production model have all come to weigh against the use of crop-based ethanol.

Other methods of production, such as the bacterial sources espoused by Coskata and Mascoma, on the other hand, may yet prove viable, especially as they learn to convert inorganic waste products - trash - into fuel, tapping into a plentiful resource that no one will miss.

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I can tell that this will turn into a huge debate in the near future.
 
Fatwa call? I always prefer Gasoline as a fuel & never used E-85, however, I'd avoid it in future being safe! :)

Before I share my thoughts on this topic, I'd like to know the source of this news, interesting call though! :t-cheers:
 
More on this Story................

A prominent Muslim scholar in Saudi Arabia has warned that those using alcohol-based biofuels in their cars could be committing a sin.
The warning was issued by Sheikh Mohamed Al-Najimi, a member of the Islamic Fiqh Academy, an institute that studies Islamic jurisprudence for the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, an international group with a permanent delegation to the United Nations. According to the Al Arabiya News Channel, an international news outlet based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Mr. Najim directed his warning to Saudi youths studying abroad.
Al Arabiya notes that Najimi stressed that this warning was not an official fatwa, or religious edict, just his personal opinion. Najimi added that the issue “needs to be studied by the relevant religious bodies.”
Ethanol, a common type of biofuel, is made of the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, and its production is similar to that of hard liquor. Plant matter is fermented using yeast, and the result is distilled to increase the concentration of alcohol.
Fuels with high concentrations of ethanol – the most common being E85, a gasoline blend with 85 percent ethanol – can be used in flex-fuel vehicles, which make up of the roughly 250 million passenger cars and trucks on America’s roads. Most gasoline sold in the United States contains about 10 percent ethanol. The fuel is more common in many Latin American countries, particularly Brazil.
In addition to beverages and biofuels, ethanol is a widely used in industry for its properties as a solvent and an antiseptic. It’s a common component of perfumes and paints. The chemical is also necessary in the production of vinegar – one of the Prophet Muhammad’s favorite seasonings.
The Koran prohibits consumption of alcohol in three separate verses that were written over a period of several years. The first mention occurs in 4:43, in which Muslims are told that they must not pray while intoxicated. A verse written later – 2:219– says that in wine and gambling “is great sin, and some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit.” Finally, in, intoxicants and gambling are called “an abomination” and “Satan’s handiwork”:
Satan’s plan is (but) to excite enmity and hatred between you, with intoxicants and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of Allah, and from prayer: will ye not then abstain?
​
This admonition is waived in the hereafter, apparently: Many passages in the Islamic holy book describe heaven as having rivers of wine.
Ironically, it was Muslim chemists who introduced distillation to the West. The process of distilling pure ethanol from wine was perfected by 8th- and 9th-century Persian chemists, who used it to create perfumes and eyeliner. Their writings were translated by European scholars in the 12th century, and the process was used to make potable spirits. The word “alcohol” is itself of Arabic origin.


Source:Saudi Muslim cleric warns that biofuels could be sinful | csmonitor.com
 
It is a sin to me aswell but not as in the way he claims..
to me its a sin cause it makes food prices rise and poor ppl even miserable..

there are way better alternate fuels..
:)
 
The 2nd generation ethanol fuel will be extracted from waste materials so there won't be such problems anymore.
 
o_O... I assume chugging petrol directly from the bloody pump is a popular past-time in Saudi Arabia...

Actually, come to think of it, doing that isn't necessarily going to kill you, considering Saudi petrol is almost always diluted with water... It's horrendous stuff... ;)

I guess I should apologize on behalf of all Muslims for this pathetic bull.. but I blame Bush: as the article clearly shows, he invaded the wrong country.. :D

It is a sin to me aswell but not as in the way he claims..
to me its a sin cause it makes food prices rise and poor ppl even miserable..
Click to expand...

^ How very true... Regardless of what politicians would have us believe, IC engines are going to be with us for a long time still.
 
Well i am a Muslim and all i can say this is loads of BS!!

First GOD is the one who says not to drink alcohol not the prophet,secondly what is he even talking about???!!!! it's not like i'm having all the alcohol down my throat and driving around killing or hitting people...seriously!!

That is just hilarious:rofl:
 
Very interesting thoughts. I can understand where he is coming from, and the risk it poses. There are some reservations in both the US and Canada where alcohol, paint thinners, glue and some other substances are prohibited due to substance abuse cases.
I think we should resist the temptation of labelling him as a lunatic or whatever, but ensure that we have safeguards to address his concerns.

Of course some part of the holy books are open to varied interpretations and hence controversies.
 
Tarek said:
Well i am a Muslim and all i can say this is loads of BS!!

First GOD is the one who says not to drink alcohol not the prophet,secondly what is he even talking about???!!!! it's not like i'm having all the alcohol down my throat and driving around killing or hitting people...seriously!!

That is just hilarious:rofl:
Click to expand...


Well Tarek I quite thought that you are a christian egyptian (Coptic). thats news to me :D
 
Well, im a Muslim as well, And you know i never looked at it the way that scholar looked at it, makes for an interesting religious Conversation, but i think that it would be ok 2 use the Ethanol, as you are not consuming it, and alcohol is allowed for medicinal use, so i would think it would fit a similar category.....definitely something 2 look at in depth...
 
The properties used to make Ethanol (corn) is probably the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of. Especially since there are soo many other alternatives. And yet the policy makers propose millions of dollars for more corn based ethanol production in the mid-west???? Creating clean fuel and getting off of foreign oil is one thing but why are we doing with a staple crop that feeds millions upon millions of poor people around the world??

Anyway, that's my rant on Ethanol, not based in any religious ideology.
 
Being a Muslim, I'll avoid the debate over something I don't know much about! Imo, alcohol was prohibited to drink & that's it! :eusa_thin

I think it can be political, as Saudia-Arabia will lose the gasoline sales upon development of alternative fuels! :t-crazy2:
 

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