The Arabic word khamr signifies any alcoholic drink that causes intoxication. We would be stating the obvious if we were to discuss the harmful effects of drinking on the individual’s mind, health, religion, and work; or if we discussed the disasters that he brings upon his family by neglecting their needs and by not fulfilling his obligations, as the head of the family, toward his wife and children; or if we elaborated on the spiritual, material, and moral evils which proliferate in societies and nations due to the widespread consumption of alcohol.
A researcher in this area has rightly stated that:” Mankind has not suffered any greater calamity than that brought about the use of alcohol. If statistics were collected worldwide of all the patients in hospitals who, due to alcohol, are suffering from mental disorders, delirium tremens, nervous breakdowns, and ailments of the digestive tract, to which are added the statistics of suicides, homicides, bankruptcies, sales of properties, and broken homes related to the consumption of alcohol, the number of such cases would be so staggering that, in comparison to it, all exhortation and preaching against drinking would seem too little.”
The Arabs during the period of jahiliyyah were very fond of wine and drinking parties. This love of wine is reflected in their language, which has nearly one hundred names, and in their poetry, which celebrates the praises of wine, goblets, drinking parties, and so on.
Allah (SWT) adopted a wise course of education and training to eradicate this pervasive evil from society, prohibiting it in measured stages. First, He made it clear to them that the harm of drinking wine is greater than its benefits; next, He told them not to come to salat while intoxicated; and finally, He revealed the verse in Surah Al-Maidah which prohibited it totally and decisively:” O you who believe! Truly, intoxicants and gambling and divination of arrows are an abomination of Satan’s doing; avoid it so that you may be successful. Assuredly Satan desires to sow enmity and hatred among you with intoxicants and gambling and to hinder you from the remembrance of Allah and salat. Will you not then desist? (5: 90-91)
In these two verses, Allah strictly prohibited wine and gambling, linking them to idols and seeking omens through divining arrows, and declared them to be rijs (abominable or filthy), a term which the Qur’an reserves for extremely indecent and evil things. He ascribes them to the work of Satan, which indeed consists only of obscenity and evil, and commands the believers to abstain from them as the only way to attain success. Allah (SWT) then mentions the harmful effects of wine and gambling on society, namely, the breaking of relationships and ensuing enmity and hatred, in addition to the harm they do to man’s soul by causing him to neglect the religious obligations of remembering Allah and of performing salat. The verses end with a stern warning to abstain:” Will you not then desist?” And when the Prophet (SAW) had finished reciting these verses for the first time, the listeners answered with the fervent cry,” We have desisted, O Lord! We have desisted!”
The responses of the Muslims to these verses were remarkable indeed. At that time some people were drinking, with partly filled cups in their hands. As soon as they heard someone announcing, “Wine has indeed been prohibited,” they poured the remaining drinks upon the ground and broke the big clay pots in which other drinks were being fermented.
Many present-day governments throughout the world are convinced of the harmful effects of alcohol on individuals, families, and society. Some governments, such as that of the United States, have even tried to abolish alcohol by passing and attempting to enforce, laws prohibiting the drinking of alcohol. It is only Islam that has succeeded in combating and eradicating it.
The churchmen hold different opinions concerning the position of alcohol in Christianity. Some argue that the Biblical text permits drinking in small quantities since it is good for digestion. But if this should be true, even though a little wine may be beneficial to digestion, this little must be prohibited, as a small amount leads to large amounts and one glass to other glasses, until one becomes addicted to it.
For this reason, Islam’s stand in prohibiting alcohol and in blocking all avenues that lead to drinking is very clear and unequivocal.
Shaikh Dr. Yusuf Al-Qardawi
