Mufti Qavi is back with another controversy. The religious scholar, who was previously involved in controversies with Qandeel Baloch and Hareem Shah, now says that the consumption of alcohol is ‘Halal’. Qavi, who had featured prominently in the days leading up to the death of social media star Qandeel Baloch, recently told an interviewer from a web-based information portal that alcohol derived from minerals, such as spirits, petrochemicals and other substances, ought to be halal, in his view. “In my opinion, any drink that contains 100% alcohol but extracted from minerals is totally halal, forget 40%,” remarked Qavi. “I got various calls from Europe a few days ago and some youngsters told me that Saudi ulema had deemed those beverages halal which contain 40% or less alcohol in them,” he added. Karachi’s Jamia Binoria chief Mufti Naeem, however, disagreed with Mufti Qavi’s perspective and said that his comments about alcohol are wrong and in contradiction to every other sect’s beliefs. “Even a single drop of alcohol will render impure an entire pot full of clean water, and all the ulema have unanimous view on this,” he said. He also lashed out the cleric, describing him as a man with a notorious reputation and dismissing his views as not in line with the views of scholars of any other sect. “His [Mufti Qavi’s] scandals with Hareem Shah and Qandeel Baloch are well known,” Mufti Naeem said, noting that Mufti Qavi was also allegedly involved in the murder of Qandeel Baloch. His latest comments have ignited a fresh wave of criticism and various reactions are pouring in on social media: New rules of drinking in #Islam by Mufti Qavi in #Pakistan, less than 40% alcohol is halal. Who will save #Islam and society from such religious leaders? pic.twitter.com/Dm8bWtxR0t — Muttalib Abdul (@TheLionofAllah) May 6, 2020 Here you go. Mufti Qavi again. https://t.co/z5emY51YpE — Ahmed Siddiqui (@ahmadtajwer) May 6, 2020 Drink containing less than 40% alcohol is halal: Mufti Qavi. 🙄 pic.twitter.com/MN6kG9kVi3 — Naila Inayat नायला इनायत (@nailainayat) May 6, 2020