Is Chocolate Liquor Halal?

As a chocolate addict, I have always wondered if the chocolates we eat are halal in Islam and what if accidentally we are all making a mistake of having chocolates that aren’t permissible. To get some knowledge I researched the topic and found out that we often confuse chocolate liquor with chocolate liqueur.

Chocolate liquor doesn’t contain any alcohol. Chocolate liquor is made from the beans of the cocoa tree and then solidified to make chocolate and is totally halal.
On the contrary, the chocolate liqueur is made from whisky or vodka and is haram.

What is Chocolate Liquor?

Chocolate liquor is a paste produced from cocoa beans. Every bar of dark chocolate on the market begins with chocolate liquor. It is a crucial component of all milk chocolate and is deliberately changed to produce white chocolate.

The term “liquor” is not used to refer to alcohol, but rather to the word’s earlier meaning of “liquid”.

Wikipedia on chocolate liquor:

It is produced from cocoa beans that have been fermented, dried, roasted, and separated from their skins. The beans are ground into cocoa mass (cocoa paste). The mass is melted to become the liquor, and the liquor is either separated into cocoa solids and cocoa butter, or cooled and molded into blocks of raw chocolate. Its main use (often with additional cocoa butter) is in making chocolate.

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Is Chocolate Liquor Halal?

Approved by: Mufti Shabbir Ahmed and Mufti Muhammad Tahir:

The ‘Chocolate Liquor’ ingredient used to make chocolates is not a reference to alcohol, it is simply pure cocoa and is Halal. It is called ‘Liquor’ because it is liquid cocoa beans. It is also called cocoa mass, cocoa paste or unsweetened chocolate. This has been confirmed with some manufacturers.

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I found out that usually, Muslims tend to get confused between chocolate liquor and chocolate liqueur.

Chocolate liquor doesn’t include any alcohol and the name liquor means fluid or liquid, hence it’s halal.

Chocolate liqueur on the other hand literally means that chocolate is produced from alcohol (vodka or whisky) and of course isn’t halal.

How is Chocolate Liquor Made?

The process of making chocolate liquor starts with fermenting, drying, and roasting cocoa beans.

This technique is used to get rid of the mushy, fruity pulp that surrounds the beans and separates beans from their shells.

The smooth thick chocolate fluid is released from the processed beans through grinding which is called chocolate liquor.

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FATWA on Chocolate Liquor

As I searched the net I came along a site islamweb.net on which a Muslim asked about chocolate liquor and they answered:

There is no harm in consuming this drink unless it contains alcohol or is proven to be harmful to one’s health. The basic principle is that all kinds of food and beverages are lawful unless proven unlawful with sharee’ah evidence, according to the scholarly consensus. Hence, it is permissible to consume all kinds of food and beverages except for what is detrimental to one’s health or what contains impure ingredients. In his book Az-Zaad, Al-Hajjaawi may Allaah have mercy upon him said in the chapter about food, “The basic principle is that all kinds of food are lawful as long as they are ritually pure and do not cause harm.

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This fatwa also contains Quranic verses which tell us that it’s okay to consume all the foods and drinks which won’t harm our bodies. This serves as a general rule for Muslims to decide whether something is halal or haram.

Although if anything contains alcohol ruling will be changed as the buying, selling, and consuming of alcoholic products is not allowed for Muslims.

Does Chocolate Liquor have Alcohol?

The alcoholic beverage “chocolate liqueur,” which has a chocolate flavor, is different from chocolate liquor.

Chocolate liquor is merely a liquid form of chocolate; it includes NO ALCOHOL.

But chocolate liqueur is a sweet alcoholic drink with chocolate flavor.

The word usually gets people to misunderstand the ingredients of chocolate. Liquor doesn’t mean alcohol, it’s just used as its old meaning liquid. Chocolate liquor is halal and all the chocolate bars nowadays in the market are made from chocolate liquor.

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FAQ

Final Thoughts

After my research, I have come to the conclusion that chocolate liquor is indeed halal. Most of the chocolate bars we have in the market today are produced from chocolate liquor and it doesn’t contain any alcohol. It’s safe to say that chocolate liquor is halal.

People confuse chocolate liquor with chocolate liqueur. Chocolate liqueur is made up of alcohol and can get you drunk, hence not allowed in Islam.

And Allah Knows Best.