It is an Obligation Upon the Muslim to Avoid
Selling, Handling, Carrying and Drinking Alcoholic Beverages

Question :

A man who drinks alcoholic beverages intended to abstain from them and to repent, so he went from Jordan to Makkah by car, in order to perform the Hajj and repent. But on the way, he was tempted and he drank alcohol, saying: "It's the last time." What is the ruling?

Answer:

Drinking alcohol is forbidden by the Book (of Allah) and the Sunnah and the consensus of the Muslims; Allah, Most High says:
"O you who believe! Intoxicants (all kinds of alcoholic drinks), and gambling, and Al-Ansab, and Al-Azlām (arrows for seeking luck or decision) are abominations of Shaitan's (Satan's) handiwork. So avoid (strictly all) that (abominations) in order that you may be successful. Shaitan (Satan) wants only to excite enmity and hatred between you with intoxicants (alcoholic drinks) and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of Allah and from As-Salat (the prayer). So, will you not then abstain? And obey Allah and the Messenger (Muhammad), and beware (of even coming near to drinking or gambling or Al-Ansab, or Al- Azlam) and fear Allah. Then if you turn away, you should know that it is Our Messenger's duty to convey (the Message) in the clearest way.

It has been confirmed from the Prophet that he said:
"Every intoxicant is Khamr and every intoxicant is forbid- den.

The Muslims are in complete agreement over the prohibition of alcoholic drinks. The scholars have said that whoever rejects the prohibition of alcohol, then he is a disbeliever and an apostate. But if he is a new convert to Islam and ignorant of the prohibition of alcohol, he must be informed of the ruling. If he then rejects it, he is an apostate.

It is an obligation upon the Muslim to stay far away from it, neither selling it, nor buying it, nor carrying it, nor receiving it, nor drinking it, nor anything else. The wisdom behind its prohibition is clear to anyone who witnesses the evil con- sequences of drinking on a person's body and mind, and its results on society. Thus, wisdom and logic necessitate its prohibition, as the Islamic Law has ordered.

As for this questioner who drank alcohol for the last time, as he says, when he was on the road to Hajj, if his repentance is sincere, then Allah, Most High will turn to him in forgiveness and accept his repentance, no matter how great his sins.

Source:
Ibn 'Uthaimin
Fatawa Islamiyah, Vol. 6 Pages 202-203