Ruling on flogging a person who insulted Allah, may He be exalted, when he was intoxicated
Question

                Is it permissible to flog a person who insulted Allah, may He be exalted, when he was in a state of intoxication?
Praise be to Allah.
    
    Firstly: 

    
    Consuming intoxicants is a major sin; intoxicants are the mother of all 
    evils and a means that lead to reprehensible deeds and sin. 

    
    Secondly: 

    
    The intoxicated person is not to be brought to account for what he says when 
    he is in an intoxicated state, because he is not in his right mind. 

    
    Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

    
    With regard to the intoxicated person, Allah, may He be exalted, says 
    (interpretation of the meaning):

    
    
    “O you who believe! Approach not As-Salat (the prayer) when you are in a 
    drunken state until you know (the meaning) of what you utter”

    
    
    [an-Nisa’ 4:43].

    
    No ruling can be applied to the words of one who is intoxicated unless he is 
    aware of what he is saying. Hence the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah 
    be upon him) instructed that the breath of a man who admitted to zina should 
    be smelled, to find out whether he knew what he was saying or not. And he 
    did not punish Hamzah for saying, when he was in an intoxicated state 
    [before the prohibition on intoxicants was revealed], “Are you any more than 
    a slave of my father?” And he did not denounce as a kaafir the one who 
    recited in the prayer when he was intoxicated, “I worship that which you 
    worship, and we worship that which you worship.”

    
    End quote from I‘laam al-Muwaqqi‘een, 3/87 

    
    Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

    
    The correct view is that if a person consumes intoxicants even though that 
    is forbidden, he is not to be punished with more than that which is 
    mentioned in sharee‘ah, which is forty lashes, or eighty lashes, or more 
    than that, depending on what will serve to deter people from drinking or 
    consuming these haram things. With regard to taking him to task for his 
    words or actions when he was not in his right mind, that is not possible. 
    End quote. 

    
    
    Ash-Sharh al-Mumti‘, 
    14/443 

    
    If a person insults Allah, may He be exalted – Allah forbid – in a state of 
    intoxication in which he does not know what he is saying, then he is not to 
    be deemed a kaafir. Shaykh Muhammad al-Mukhtaar ash-Shinqeeti (may Allah 
    preserve him) said: 

    
    The drunkard (or one who is in a state of intoxication) is not to be deemed 
    an apostate if, whilst in an intoxicated state when he is not in his right 
    mind, he says or does something that implies apostasy, because Allah, may He 
    be exalted, (interpretation of the meaning):

    
    
    “O you who believe! Approach not As-Salat (the prayer) when you are in a 
    drunken state until you know (the meaning) of what you utter”

    
    
    [an-Nisa’ 4:43].

    
    Here Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, explains that the one who is in 
    a state of intoxication does not know what he is saying, and the one who 
    does not know what he is saying cannot be taken to task for what he says. 
    End quote. 

    
    
    Sharh Zaad al-Mustaqni‘, 9/396 

    
    Thirdly: 

    
    If people come across someone who is in this state, they should not beat him 
    or flog him and so on, because carrying out the hadd punishments or 
    disciplinary punishments (ta‘zeer) are matters to be dealt with only by the 
    proper authorities. 

    
    Ibn Rushd said: As for who should carry out this hadd punishment – i.e., 
    flogging one who drinks or consumes intoxicants – (the scholars) are 
    unanimously agreed that it is the ruler who should carry it out, and this 
    applies to all the hadd punishments. 

    
    
    Bidaayat al-Mujtahid, 2/233 

    
    And Allah knows best.