al-Ashriba li-Ahmad ibn Hanbal
- Author died
- 241 AH
- Editions
- ʿĀlam al-Kutub
al-Ashriba li-Ahmad ibn Hanbal (The Book of Drinks by Ahmad ibn Hanbal) is a specialized hadith and legal treatise compiled by the traditionist and jurist Ahmad ibn Hanbal (164–241 AH / 780–855 CE) , focusing on prophetic traditions, Companion rulings, and early legal opinions concerning intoxicants, fermented beverages, and drinking vessels .
Transmission and Date of Dictation
The work was transmitted directly from Ahmad ibn Hanbal by the traditionist Abu al-Qasim al-Baghawi (Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Baghawi), who recorded it in Baghdad in the year 228 AH from Ahmad's written book . The material was subsequently preserved and cited by Hanbali scholars through chains of transmission, notably by Abu Bakr al-Khallal in his compilation of Ahmad's legal and hadith legacy .
Content and Method
The treatise consists of chains of transmission (isnad) tracing legal rulings and narrative reports to the Prophet ﷺ, Companions such as A'isha, Umar ibn al-Khattab, Abd Allah ibn Umar, Abd Allah ibn Abbas, and Abu Hurayra, as well as notable Successors . Its primary objective is to substantiate the categorical prohibition of all intoxicants, regardless of their source or quantity .
The text documents rulings on various categories of drinks:
- Intoxicating drinks in general: It cites prophetic narrations establishing the general rule, including كُلُّ شَرَابٍ أَسْكَرَ فَهُوَ حَرَامٌ ("Every drink that intoxicates is forbidden") and مَا أَسْكَرَ كَثِيرُهُ فَقَلِيلُهُ حَرَامٌ ("Whatever intoxicates in large quantities, a small quantity of it is forbidden") .
- Specific types of fermented beverages: It details rulings on beverages made from substances other than grapes, such as crushed date wine (al-fadhikh), mead or honey wine (al-bit'), and fermented grain or barley drinks (al-mizr and al-ji'a) .
- Fermentation and drinking vessels: It records traditions regarding the prohibition or reprehensibility of steeping beverages in rigid, glazed, or tarred containers prone to rapid fermentation—such as hollowed gourds (al-dubba'), glazed clay jars (al-hantam and al-jarar), hollowed wood (al-naqir), and pitch-lined vessels (al-muzaffat and al-muqayyar)—in favor of flexible leather waterskins (al-asqiya) .
Legal Approach and Scope
In Kitab al-Ashriba, Ahmad strictly excluded reports containing dispensations (rukhas) for drinking potentially intoxicating fermented beverages (nabidh) . When questioned about why he did not record concessions in this work as he had done in his compilation on wiping over footwear (al-mash 'ala al-khuffayn), Ahmad stated that there is no authentic hadith granting a dispensation for consuming intoxicants .
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