SAEDNEWS: Grape Delster is a non-alcoholic malt beverage; this article examines its religious ruling and explains how it differs from beer and malt beverages.
According to Saednews, In recent years, a wide variety of flavored beverages have entered the consumer market, one of the most popular being “Delster.” Delster is essentially a non-alcoholic malt beverage available in several flavors, including lemon, orange, pomegranate, and grape. Among these varieties, grape-flavored Delster has attracted considerable attention because of its distinctive color and taste. However, alongside the popularity of this beverage, an important question has arisen for many religious consumers: Is drinking grape-flavored Delster permissible according to Islamic law?
One of the most common mistakes among consumers is treating Delster, beer, and traditional malt beverages as the same product. In reality, these drinks can differ significantly in their production processes and religious rulings.
Malt beverage: This is a drink made from barley extract in which alcoholic fermentation does not take place or is completely stopped during production. It is generally considered permissible, provided that it does not contain an intoxicating substance.
Beer: This is an alcoholic beverage produced through the fermentation of barley. Because of its intoxicating properties, drinking it is prohibited in Islam.
Delster: This is a non-alcoholic malt beverage in which a very small amount of alcohol may be produced during the manufacturing process, but the alcohol is subsequently removed. Its religious ruling depends on the amount of alcohol remaining and other relevant Islamic legal considerations.
Therefore, these beverages cannot be given the same religious ruling simply because they look similar or have similar names.
In Islamic jurisprudence, two important considerations in determining whether a beverage is prohibited are whether it is intoxicating and whether it has undergone fermentation or boiling under conditions that produce an intoxicating substance. A liquid that is inherently intoxicating, or becomes intoxicating through fermentation or boiling, is considered prohibited. By contrast, liquids that do not possess these characteristics are generally permissible to consume.
Accordingly, if grape-flavored Delster or another malt beverage is produced in a way that leaves it without intoxicating properties and no intoxicating fermentation or boiling has occurred, consuming it is not considered problematic from a religious perspective. This general principle forms the basis for addressing the question discussed here.
Based on the explanation above, the question “Is drinking grape-flavored Delster permissible?” can be answered as follows:
If the grape-flavored Delster has not been boiled, consuming it is not considered problematic. If it has been boiled to the point that two-thirds of the liquid evaporates and one-third remains, it is considered permissible.
