|
by Shaykh Manzoor Nu'maani
LAWS REGARDING DRINKS
The Fundamental principle forbidding of articles of food and drink is what has been enunciated in the Qur'an in these words: “(The Prophet)....will make lawful for them all good things and prohibit for them only the foul." (Glorious Qur'an 7:157)
Thus, all drinks that are clean, refreshing, wholesome and beneficial, such as milk of animals whose flesh has been declared fit for food, fruit juices and soft-drinks, etc., all have been permitted in Islam. On the contrary, those that are foul and injurious have been forbidden.
THE PROHIBITION OF WINE
For the prohibition of wine, only this much is enough that under its influence a man, at least for some time, loses the faculties of reason and intellect which are very precious Gifts of the Almighty and a means of His Recognition, and he comes down to the level of animals who have been deprived by their Creator of intellect, reasoning and from the ability of His Recognition. Also this is a great oppression of man upon himself and the end point of his ingratitude towards his Creator.
Moreover, when a person is drunk, he often does most shameful and undesirable things and becomes a tool of Shaytaan. Intoxication, again, is sometimes the cause of wide-ranging mischief and calamities. For this very reason, it has been forbidden in all the canonical laws, and reformers and religious-minded men in all ages have kept strictly away from it and striven for its eradication.
Before we proceed with the relevant Traditions, it will be advisable to note that at the time of the advent of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam and perhaps long before it, wine was very popular among the Arabs, particularly the people of Madeenah. It was manufactured and drunk almost in every home and it had become a mark of advancement in culture. The rich used to spend lavishly in the state of drunkenness from which the poor and needy people profited, and it gave rise to the practice of looking down upon those who abstained from alcoholic liquors as mean and miserly.
The same case was with games of chance. Some specific forms of gambling were prevalent in Arabia. Generally, only the rich and open-handed people indulged in them and the winnings often went to the poor. Thus, gambling too was a dignified pastime of the well-to-do which went to the advantage of the needy. A distinct proof of it is available in the poetry and customs of the Age of Perversion.
It is perhaps this particular aspect of 'benefit' that has been alluded to in the verse of Surah Baqarah (2:219), which was the first to be revealed concerning wine and gambling. However, since drinking was very common among the Arabs in those days and they were greatly addicted to it and regarded it a virtue and a sign of social and cultural eminence, a tolerant approach was made in the beginning towards its prohibition and it was enforced by degree. When the ground had been prepared to the extent that it could be expected from the people to respond unreservedly to the command and give up the habit altogether, such a firm and uncompromising attitude was taken that even the use of vessels associated with it was forbidden. Other extremely stringent commandments followed that were aimed basically at creating a climate of aversion among the believers against intoxicants, and when the object was gained, the more severe laws were withdrawn.
It is related by Aboo Hurayrah radhiyallahu anhu that the forbidding of strong drink was enforced (gradually) in three steps. When the Apostle of Allah sallallahu alayhi wasallam came to Madeenah, the people of Madeenah at that time used to drink wine and eat of the money acquired by gambling. Consequently, they enquired from him about both the things, i.e. whether these were allowed or not. (The enquiry, perhaps, was made as right-minded persons felt that the two things did not accord with the spirit and general precepts of Islam.) The following verse of Surah Baqarah was then revealed, "They question you (0 Muhammad) about strong wine and games of chance. Say: In both is great sin, and (some) benefit for men, but the sin of them is greater than their benefit." (2: 210)
Some people, thereupon, said that (in this verse) drinking and gambling had not been forbidden positively. They went on drinking (wine thinking that it was permitted) till one day it so happened that a person from among the emigrants who was offering Salaah with a few of his companions (he was leading the service and was drunk) made some mistake in the recital of the Qur'an. Upon it the second verse regarding the forbidding of alcoholic drinks was revealed which was more severe than the first. "0 you who believe! Draw not near the prayer when you are drunken, till you (are in your senses and) know that which you utter." (4: 43)
Some, however, (still felt that wine had not been wholly and strictly forbidden and) continued to drink. (Of course as some other Traditions tell, they took care not to drink when the time for Salaah was near.) The following verses of Surah Maa'idah were then revealed which were more strict and explicit than the two earlier ones. "0 you who believe! Strong drinks (wine) and games of chance and idols and divining arrows are only an infamy of Shaytaan's handiwork. Leave it aside in order that you may prosper. Shaytaan seeks only to cast amongst you enmity and hatred by means of strong drink and games of chance and to turn you away from the remembrance of Allah and from Salaah. Will you then not abstain." (5:90-91)
When these verses were revealed they said, 'Our Lord! We abstain and now we have given them up altogether.' They then asked the Apostle of Allah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, 'What will be the sequel of those who have been martyred in the Path of Allah or died in their beds (of illness) and they used to drink wine and eat of the earnings from gambling and now Allah has condemned both the things as foul and Satanic? (What is going to be the fate of our brethren in the Hereafter who were guilty of both drinking and gambling and had died in trial state?)' It was in reply to them that the following verse was revealed, 'There shall be no sin (imputed) to those who believe and do good works for what they may have eaten (in the past).'(5:93) Ahmad
COMMENTARY: Comments have already been offered on it from place to place in the course of the translation. It is understood from this Hadeeth that in the beginning a graduated attitude was adopted about the forbidding of wine and finally total abstinence was decreed by characterising intoxication as only an infamy of Shaytaan's handiwork in the verse of Surah Maa'idah.
According to some reports this verse was revealed in 8 A.H.
Anas radhiyallahu anhu narrates: "Some friends had collected at the house of (my benefactor) Aboo Talhah Ansaari radhiyallahu anhu and wine was flowing and I was acting as the cup-bearer that the commandment of prohibition, i.e. the verse of Surah Maa'idah was revealed to the Apostle of Allah sallallahu alayhi wasallam forbidding completely the use of strong drink and calling it only an infamy of Shaytaan's handiwork. The Apostle of Allah sallallahu alayhi wasallam at once ordered a crier to proclaim it publicly in Madeenah. The crier went around calling out the announcement upon which Aboo Talhah radhiyallahu anhu told me to go out and see what it was about. I went out and (on return) informed that alcoholic drinks had been forbidden. Aboo Talhah radhiyallahu anhu then told me to go and throw out all the wine that was in the house. (1 did so and wine was thrown out
from other houses as well, as a result of which) the streets of Madeenah were overflowing with it. The wine being used that day was what is known as Fazeekh. Soon after, some persons were heard saying that many Bondsmen of Allah had been martyred in such a condition that wine was left in their bellies. (What will be their fate?) Upon it the following verse was sent down by Allah, "There shall be no sin (imputed) unto those who believe and do good works for what they may have eaten (or drunk in the past)." (5:93)
(Meaning those who had departed from the world before the commandment of total prohibition was revealed and led a life of faith and good-doing shall not be called to account for what they might have eaten or drunk earlier.) Bukhaari, Muslim
COMMENTARY: The liquor Fazeekh was brewed from half-ripe dates which were cut into small pieces. The pieces were then soaked into water and allowed to remain like that for some time till they had fermented. In those days it was considered a wine of an average standard and it was also easy to brew.
|
