One glass too many...

The Prohibition of Alcohol

By S. M. BLEHER

Everybody would admit that there are problems with alcohol. Drink driving for example. Or violent crimes in which alcohol abuse plays a part. Yet most agree that the moderate consumption of alcohol as is customary in our society does not do much harm. Let's take a hard look at the facts:

 
The Facts
Alcohol is a bigger problem than we tend to admit, and it starts at an early age. According to the government publications on the state of pubic health (1993)

20% of 9 to 15 year olds have had their first alcoholic drink by the age of 8, and

89% by the age of 15. 12% (more than one tenth!) of 11 to 15 year olds are regular drinkers.

And according to "Social Trends" ( HMSO 1994), almost a third of the males living in Britain consume alcohol above sensible limits (consumption above sensible limits is lower in women with 11% of the total). Besides clear convictions for drunkenness or drink driving, courts are kept busy with numerous offenses committed under the influence of alcohol, from domestic violence (including child battering) to serious vandalism or grievous bodily harm.
The government's health and safety executive jointly with the health departments and departments of employment had to publish policies on the "problem drinker at work", and the National Health Service spends large amounts of scarce resources on illnesses caused or exacerbated by alcohol.
Every Christmas there is a nationwide campaign against drink driving.
Governmental representatives lament the state of the nation's health and drinking habits, but they don't do much more: There is a great deal of tax revenue in the sale of alcoholic beverages.
 
 
The Islamic View
Islam takes a different view. It values the moral and spiritual health of a nation as much as it's physical well being. It considers anything that interferes with the normal working of the mind, numb our senses, thereby reducing our level of shame or responsibility, or clouds or perception as harmful (this includes alcohol as well as other drugs altering the mind).
And recognising that different people react quite differently to the same stimulant, it does not leave judgment, as to how much is acceptable to them. Too many people thought they had control over their drinking habit, yet endued up having "one glass too many".
Islam categorically states that if a substance can destroy the clarity of the mind in large quantities, it is harmful even in minute quantities. Islam, therefore, advocates a total prohibition of narcotic drugs, including alcohol. It forbids the use, not just the abuse of these substances.
 
Another Prohibition
Many would by now point to the prohibition period in America and how it utterly failed by driving the habit underground. As God is aware of human nature, Islam acknowledges how entrenched such habits can be in people and that they cannot be changes overnight. The gradual prohibition of alcohol has to go hand in hand with an educational campaign to build a moral awareness and spiritual identity in our society.
When Islam was first established over fourteen centuries ago in Arabia, continuing the Judeo-Christian tradition of prophets from Abraham over Moses, Jesus to Muhammad peace be upon them all, the harm that alcohol caused was well recognised, but it was not immediately eradicated.
In a first revelation, the Qur'an the Holy Book for Muslims, acknowledged the benefits of alcohol, (as now proven by modern medicine that small amounts of alcohol are beneficial to the body) but pointed out that it's harms out weighed those benefits by far. (Click HERE to read more about this)
Next, it forbade believers from praying whilst under the influence of alcohol, thus making it clear that spirituality and drunkenness don't mix.
Finally, many years later, was altogether prohibited as the handiwork of the devil. By the early Muslims who had lived through the spiritual and moral teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) had realised the harms of the drug as well as the benefits of the Islamic system of values as the foundation of a strong and caring society.
They happily spilled whatever alcoholic beverages was left in their possession, and the streets of Medinah were reported as having been awash with the stuff.
 
Saving Society
Modern society has come a long way since those days. We pride ourselves of great technical achievements. Yet we have also fallen back into the evils of drunkenness and the harm it does to so many people, because we have lost our moral conscience and sense of direction.
We forgot that there is more to human civilisation than material advancement. Drained of true humanity, many seek escape and consolation in drink and drugs.
However, this situation is not irreversible. Whilst the hypocritical approach of the American prohibition, where the law enforcement agencies collided with gangster syndicates, was bound to fail, Islam shows the way how a pure and content society can be built which need not be ashamed of its darker side and need not numb its senses in guilt and desperation.
Next time, before you tend to drown your worries in another glass, to be followed by another and yet another, put it down and find out about the Islamic alternative.

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Sahib Mustaqim Bleher was born in Germany into a protestant Christian family, and took a career in journalism and book publishing. He embraced Islam in 1980, and later moved to Britain. Currently he holds the position of general secretary of the Islamic Party of Britain.

Feedback:

Dear Sister Fareena
salaamun alaykum
I do not think the author has understood the translation correctly as no alcohol is allowed in any quantity. Grateful if you would kindly take note of the comments I received to whom I forwarded your message.
Hereunder if translation and commentary of Agha Pooya:
Chapter 2 : Verse 219
Tranlation: They ask you (O MOhammad) intoxicants and games of chance. Say: "In both of them there is great wrong and a means of (some) profit for men; but their sin is greater than their profit. And they ask you  (O Mohammad) as to what they should spend. Say: "What you can spare". Thus does Allah make the signs clear to you, so that you may reflect.
Commentary: Actions such as taking intoxicants, or seeking quick and easy wealth through gambling, draw us away from reality and dull our sense of comprehending and distinguishing things. Man's reason for existence is to grasp reality. All intoxicating substances have been defined by the Holy Prophet and the Holy Imams of his Ahl ul Bayt.
 
Abu Hanifa, the founder of the Hanafi school, says that any liquor, not prepared by grapes, is not prohibited.
Mawli Muhammad Ali, a sunni scholar, in his tranlation of the Quran says:
"Those who think that the verse under discussion does not contain a prohition have failed to understand the language of the Quran. When the harm of a thing is stated to be greater than its advantage, it is sufficient indication of its prohibition, for no sensible person would take a course which is sure to bring him a much greater loss than an advantage."
Even after the revelation of this verse some of the companions of the Holy Prophet used to drink non - grape wines and come to pray salat in the masjid, on account of which verse no 43 of al Nisa [O you who believe! Approach not prayers whilst you are intoxicated, until you know (well) what you say; nor when you are polluted, except when you are journeying, until after washing you whol body. And if you be sick, or on a journey, or (if) one of you comes from the privy, or you have touched women, and you do not find water, then take for yourself pure earth and wipe therewith your faces and your hands; verily Allah is pardoning, forgiving.] and verse 90 and 91 of al Ma-idah [Verse 90. O you who believe! Intoxicants, and games of chance, (dedication of) stones (for idol - worship), and (divination by) arrows, are an abomination, a handiwork of Shaytan, so keep away from them, so that you may be successful.] were revealed to prohibit intoxicants and gambling.
The Holy Prophet said:
"Curse of Allah be on liquor, its maker and he who assists him, bearer, loader, distributor, seller, purchaser, consumer and whoever uses its sale proceeds and profit."
Imam Ali ibna abi Talib said:
"If a drop of liquor falls into a well and a minar is built on ots nearby land I will not recite azan from it; and if it falls into a river and in its dry bed grows grass, I will not let my horse graze on ot."
Liquor in ummul khaba-ith, the mother of all vices. An intoxicated person ceases to be a human being, becomes a brute and loses the ability to distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong.
The effect of these verses worked wonders with the Arab Muslims. In the opinion of the social reformers who labour day and night to put an end to the drinking habits of non - Muslim communities it is a niracle. Drinking was second nature to the heathen Arabs. The Jews and the Christians were also sunk deep into this wicked addiction.
Yasara, the root of maysir, means to divide a thing into parts or portions. Maysir means a game of chance to seek quick and easy wealth, an unearned profit. Gain or loss is a matter of chance. This verse prohibits all games of chance and gambling.
Suggest you include this comment whereby people get better information.
Best regards / Karim