Islam and Psychedelics: An Essay on the Issues of Permissibility and Medical Utility
Theology and Science March 20, 2025 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1080/14746700.2025.2472125 via Semantic Scholar
Summary
Classic psychedelic medicines do not meet the defining characteristics of intoxicants as outlined in Islamic rulings. The paper compares behavior, neuroimaging, psychopharmacology, and conscious experience of subjects using psychedelics versus intoxicants, concluding that psychedelics do not veil the mind, intoxicate, or cause harm and enmity as intoxicants do.
Study at a glance
| Design | theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Classic psychedelic medicines do not constitute the characteristics of intoxicants according to Islamic criteria. |
Abstract
ABSTRACT Islamic rulings on intoxicants prohibit psychoactive compounds which : veil the faculties of the mind (khamr), intoxicate (Sakr), do harm and cause enmity between people (Quran 5:91). Psychedelic drugs, recognised by some as not being within this category of intoxicants [Ibn Taymiyyah on Henbane alFataawa al-Kubra, 3/423], are still deemed intoxicants by both the Muslim world and general society. This paper demonstrates that classic psychedelic medicines do not constitute the characteristics of intoxicants. It does so by observing the following characteristics of subjects taking both types of substances: Behaviour of subjects Neuroimaging and psychopharmacology Phenomenology of the Subjects i.e. the conscious experience produced.