Can You Pray with Perfume On?

The nature of the impurity of alcohol

There is nothing wrong with using alcohol-based perfumes on the body and on clothes, and that does not affect the validity of the prayer. The scholars differed as to the nature of the impurity of alcohol : is it physical or metaphorical? 

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih Al-`Uthaymin (may Allah have mercy on him) said when he was asked about the impurity of alcohol and cologne: 

The basic principle is that things are pure unless there is evidence to indicate that they are impure. When there is no evidence to indicate that something is impure, then the basic principle is that it is pure. But it (alcohol and cologne) is evil (khabith) in a practical and metaphorical sense. However, the fact that a thing is forbidden does not necessarily mean that it is impure. Do you not see that poison is prohibited but it is not impure? Everything that is impure is prohibited, but not everything that is prohibited is impure. 

Based on that, we say concerning cologne and similar things: they are not impure, because alcohol in and of itself is not impure. There is evidence for the opinion that we have mentioned, so cologne and similar things are not impure either, and as they are not impure, the clothing does not have to be purified from them.” (Majmu` Fatawa Ash-Shaykh Al-`Uthaymin, 11/252) 

Shaykh Muhammad ibn `Uthaymin (may Allah have mercy on him) was also asked: 

If it is proven that a perfume contains alcohol, can a person put it on his clothing and go out to pray? 

He answered: 

“It should be noted that pure alcohol is not impure and it does not have to be washed from the clothing or the body. Once you understand that, you will know that perfumes that contain alcohol, even if the ratio is high, are not impure.” (Liqa’ Al-Bab Al-Maftuh, 176, question no. 4) 

And Allah knows best.