AL-KHAMR

The Background to Revelation of Verses on the Unlawfulness of Wine

            Ibn Mardawiya reported that Hadrat Sa’d b. Abi Waqqas (Allah be pleased with him) said: (The Verse concerning) unlawfulness of wine was revealed in my favour.  A person from amongst the Ansar (helpers) prepared a  meal and invited us to it.  People attended the function and drank till they were intoxicated by the consumption of wine-this incident occurred before the unlawfulness of wine was revealed.  They vied, in boasting, with one another.  The Ansar (Helpers) said:”Ansar”are the best.” The quraishites said, “ The qurashites are excellent.” Thereupon, a man stretched his hand towards the bit of a camel and struck at its nose and cut it.  I came to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and mentioned it to him.  Upon this the Verse of Suta Ma’ida concerning the prohibition of wine was revealed.

            ‘Abdullah b. Husnaid, ibn Jarir, Ibn Mundhir, Baihaqi and Ibn Mardawiya have rported Ibn ‘Abbas(Allah be pleased with him) as saying :Verily the (Verse concerning) unlawfulness of wine was revealed in favour of two tribes of Ansar who had drunk wine.  As they were intoxicated they scoffed at one another.  On regarding their senses, one of them began to realise the sign (of nonsense) on his face, head and beard.  He said:  “That person has done this nonsense with me.  By god, had he been kind and merciful he would not have done this with me”, till rancour against one another took root in their hearts.  On this Allah revealed this Verse of  Sura al-Ma’ida. (5:90,91)

            It is also reported that Hadrat ‘Abdur Rahman b. Auf (Allah be pleased with him) arranged meal and wine and invited some Companions of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), when wine was not yet prohibited.  They ate and drank.  When they were intoxicated and the time of sunset Prayer approached, one of them left for Prayer and racited Sura al Kafirun (Disbelievers) wrongly thus : “Say : O’ disbelievers , I worship not that which you worship and we worship that which you worship.”  Upon this the Verse was revealed and drinking wine at the time of Prayer was prohibited.  They took wine at  night till the main Verse of Sura al-Ma’ida pertaining to unlawfulness of wine was revealed.

            It should be borne in mind that in the first tradition, it was Hadrat Sa’d b. Abi  Waqqas (Allah be pleased with him) who had reported the trouble that had occurred to him.  The second tradition, however, furnished a report of an incident that instead of Sa’d b. Abi Waqqas, occurred between the people of two tribes of Ansar.  In both the traditions one and the same incident has been reported.  This discussion resolves the inconsistency between the two traditions. As far the last tradition, it reports an event that was common amongst the people which attributed to the revelation of the Verse containing the Divine command about the unlawfulness of wine.

            Among all these factors leading to the prohibition of wine was the prayer of Hadrat ‘Umar( Allah be pleased with him):  “Our Allah , furnish unto us a manifest verdict about the (legal status of) wine.”  

            It was very difficult for the Arabs to give up drinking wine.  Therefore, the Islamic Shari’ah adopted a gradual course in declaring wine as unlawful.  The prohibition of  khamr came in several stages.  The first Qur’anic Verse in which there was a mention of alcoholic intoxicants was revealed late in Mecca, before, the Holy Prophet(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) emigrated to Medina.  It only touched the problem lightly.  The Holy Qur’an says :

             “And of the fruits of the date-palms and grapes, ye obtain from them intoxicants and goodly provision.”  (16:67)

            Many interpretations of this Verse have been offered.  According to one of the various commentaries the word Sukr(state of intoxication) implies Khamr(all kinds of intoxicants).  This Verse was revealed before wine was declared unlawful.  Later on this Verse was superseded by the Verse of Sura al-Ma’ida, (5:90,91)

            There is another interpretation of this Verse according to which Sukr  implies  nabith which is not considered wine according to the opinion of some of the Hanafite scholars and that is prepared by cooking the juice of dates and grapes till one-third of the ingredients is left.  For this reason, the said Verse of Sura al-Nahl has not been abrogated.

            According to still another interpretation Sukr means wine but the word Sukr  is used vis-à-vis “excellent providence”(al-rizaq-ul-hasan).  Moreover providence has been characterised as excellent in the Verse but  Sukr  has been left un-defined.  This furnishes an informidable argument to those who believe in the abrogation of the Verse and hold Sukr unlawful because Sukr contains no excellence and is devoid of good and every thing of this nature is abominable.

            This Verse implies that the juice of the fruits of date-palms and vines contains two things.  One is that which is pure and wholesome food for man and the other is that which turns into alcohol after it becomes rotten.  But it has been left to the choice of man to obtain pure healthy food from this providence or to drink it as intoxicant wine to excite him and make him lose his self-control.  This also contains a hint as to the prohibition of wine.

            Intoxicants are spoken of here in contrast with goodly provision in the  early revelations.  The verse speaks of strong drink as something different from good nourishment.  For some sensitive Muslims like ‘Umar ibn al –Khattab (Allah be pleased with him), this Verse was enough to raise suspicion about the wisdom and purity of the intake of  Khamr.  ‘Umar(Allah be pleased with him)  himself had been well-known  for his heavy drinking and his drunken aggressive episodes during his pre-Islamic life and as such he was probable very sensitive to its evils.

            Some of these perceptive Muslims went out of their way to ask the Holy Prophet(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)  about the righteousness of continuing to take khamr.  A few of them must have started to reduce their rate of drinking or even to begin their abstinence efforts in spite of the fact that drinking was still not forbidden religiously.

            In the second stage the issue was treated in a more direct yet cautious manner.  The Qur’anic Verse was revealed in Medina and it came as an answer to the questions which these Muslims had raised about Khamr and games of chance.  The Holy Qur’an says : 

         “They ask thee (O Prophet) about khamr(intoxicants) and games of chance (gambling).  Say :  In both of them there is great harm although there is some advantage as well in them for men, but their harm is much greater than their advantages.” (2:219)

            At this stage, people continued to drink wine for its petty benefit while a majority of the people abandoned it for  its being a great sin.  Undoubtedly every thing that entails a great sin and promise little benefit, is harmful and hence unlawful.  In this Verse a mere disapproval of alcoholic and intoxicating drinks was pronounced  to serve as preliminary to their final prohibition.  It clearly gives support to the people whose acquired refined piousness had made them perceive a great sin in khamr even before they were told about it.  However, because this verse had not prohibited the intake of Khamr, the majority of Muslims continued to drink, particularly in the morning and late afternoon or evening as the custom dictated.  But, as one would expect many more people would have started to reduce their daily consumption and many more would have developed some guild feeling towards drinking something which had sin.

            Allah, the Exalted, has declared murder, concealing evidence and slander as sin but none of these sins has been treated as a great sin except the sin of drinking and polytheism because polytheism has been defined as a great sin:

        “Whosoever ascribes partners to Allah hath indeed forged a tremendous sin." (4:48)

            There is no room for any doubt that this Verse is an authority on the unlawfulness of drinking wine in the sight of wise and prudent persons.

            When the Muslim society was ready for the next morsel, the third step came with still greater restrictions.  At this stage Muslims were prohibited from coming to Mosque while drunk.  The Holy Qur’an says :

           “O ye who believe! Draw not near unto Prayer when you are in a state of intoxication until you know that you utter.”  (4:43)

            The earlier Commandment(2:219) was that drinking is an evil thing and Allah does not approve of it.  Accordingly some of the Muslims began to refrain from it since that time.  The majority of them, however, did not give it up and often offered Prayer in a state of intoxication and they muddled and faltered in their recitation.  Probably this Commandment came in the beginning of 4 A.H. and prohibited the offerings of Prayer while one was drunk.  As a result of this, the Companions changed the timings of their drinking to avoid clash with the timings of prayers.

            The Verse was revealed after one of the Muslim emigrants (from Mecca), who had been leading the evening Prayer as an Imam, had been unable to recite correctly the Qur’anic Verse he had read aloud in Prayer.  He had been too drunk recite correctly.

            Drunkenness was now placed face to face in a direct encounter with Prayer, Islam’s most important act of worship.  The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings Allah be upon him) says:  “Prayer is the pillar of religion.  The one who performs it has established his religion and the one who abandons it has ruined (his) religion.”  That is why some Muslim theologians consider a person who discontinues saying his prayers as a renegade (Murtad).

            On the revelation of this Divine injunction, the Muslims abandoned drinking at the time of Prayer.  The hours of daily five Prayers mostly fall in day time and partly at night.  Therefore, whosoever holds back his hands from drinking near Prayer hours, will definitely avoid intoxicants during the whole time lest the Prayer hours should arrive while he is in a state of intoxication.

            Now the pioneer Muslim city state was ready for the final step in hierarchy of collective abstinence.  Most of its addicts and heavy drinkers had overcome their withdrawal symptoms  and had developed the more sober habit of social drinking .  Many became  abstinent.  The few who continued to have sporadic bouts of heavy drinking were now a tiny minority which harboured the shame and guilt of missing prayers in the Mosque whenrever they were drunk.  Such a minority was however psychologically ready to comply with a Commandment which completely banned khamr.  This would terminate the conflict and vacillation in which they lived and end their guilt.  And so came the final Commandment about total prohibition of  Al-Khamr:

        “O’ believers ! surely wine and games of chance, (ungodly) shrines, and divining devices, are an abomination of Satan’s work.  Avoid them, that ye may prosper.  Only would Satan sow hatred and strife among you, by wine, and games of chance, and trun you aside from the remembrance of Allah, and from Prayer: Will you not, therefore, abstain from them ?”  (5:90,91)

            Thus the remarkable quick response of “ We have desisted O’ Allah,” came after three years of gradual social and ethical control collective moral and spiritual “reciprocal inhibition” of drunkenness.  Whenever the spiritual and moral influence of one step reached its climax, the  Muslims were moved to the  next step until the miracle of collective abstinence became a reality.  So  each stage in the collective hierarchy revealed to the whole nation was like a set of many graded steps to the individual.

            Individual difference among Muslims caused some of them to plunge into immediate abstinence from the very first step and others to postpone it till the last prohibition, but they were all ready to accept whole-heartedly the final Commandment of prohibition.

            The final Commandment with respect to the prohibition of wine spread fast from house to house and as the Call, “Surely  Al-Khamr  has been forbidden”  echoed through the corners of Medina, pots, jars and leather skins full of liquor were broken or emptied in every house till liquor flowed in the lanes of Medina.

            In the Mosque of Medina, the Prophet(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was reciting the verses of the Holy Qur’an proclaiming to humanity the banning of all types of  Khamr.  A large group of the faithful listened attentively in transcendental silence.  When the Holy prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) finished his recitation the group of faithful listeners replied to the Qur’anic Revelation with one determined voice, “We have desisted, O’ Allah,” “we have desisted, O’ our God”.

            The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) then walked with his beloved Companions Abu Bakr and ’Umar(Allah be pleased with them) to a pre-designated part of the city where other groups of people were told to bring their store of  Khamr.  “Do you know what this is?” The Prophet Muhammad(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)  asked the crowd, pointing to the skins and large leather pots full of alcoholic drink.  “Yes, O’ Messenger of Allah,” the crowd chorused, “this is Khamr!” “You said the truth,” the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) proclaimed (his famous Hadith), “Surely Allah has cursed al-Khamr  and cursed the one who brews it and the one for whom it is brewed, the one who drinks it and the one who serves it, the one who carries it  and the one for whim it is carried,the one who buys and the one who consumes(profits from) its price.”

            The Holy Prophet(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) then ordered for a sharp knife with which he cut open the cool glutted skins and leather containers so that the liquid burst out and flooded the soil.  He refused to accept the assistance offered by ‘Umar(Allah be pleased with him) in piercing the leather skins and insisted on doing the whole job with his blessed hands.

            One of his Companions said that those leather skins and containers might be of use in keeping liquids other than Khamr and urged against their destruction.  The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) however, continued cutting open the skins and replied with a tinge of emotion in his gentle rather husky voice,” Yes, they may be of some use but I surely do this to express my abhorrence against something that Allah has cursed.”

            Wine merchants who brought their commodity to Medina from places as far away as Syria, submitted to the new Commandment.  They condemned their precious drink.  They could neither sell it, nor drink it, nor even give it away.  It had been banned and cursed and as practicing Muslims,  who had already made heavy financial sacrifices to follow the new religion, found no psychological resistance in destroying or throwing away what Allah had forbidden.

            In a matter of hours the whole city-state had become abstinent.  The most successful campaign that had ever been launched by man against alcohol dependence was miraculously achieved.  Can history furnish such example of cheerful submission to the Command of the Master?  With one announcement, the use of liquor was prohibited in the society where it had become almost a second nature with a large majority of the people.  Not only the Muslims had abstained from the use of intoxicants with this proclamation, but they entertained great fear for what they had practiced earlier.  Thereupon, Allah told them in the following Verse that they should be careful in future and strictly refrain from its use.  Allah would not punish them for its use in the past.  Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, revealed:

 “There shall be no sin (imparted) unto those who have believed and done good works for what they may have eaten as long as they fear (Allah) and believe and do good works. (5:93)

            While making unlawful the wrong ways of “ignorance”, the Holy Qur’an usually ends the instructions with much wholesome words such as : “though what has happened in the past is excepted.”  It means no action will be taken in regard to those wrong things that one did in ignorance, provided that one mended one’s ways and gave up those wrong things in future, after the receipt of a particular Commandment.

            Some Commentators of the Holy Qur’an have also alluded to the fifth Verse and given precedence to that over all other Verses dealing with the unlawfulness of drinking wine.  The Verse reads as thus:

“Say: Verily My Lord forbiddeth indecencies, such of them as are apparent and such as are within, and sin and wrongful oppression without any justification.” (7:33)

            This Verse was revealed in Mecca and sin was declared unlawful in manifest terms and it was demonstrated that drinking wine entailed a great sin (2:219).  Here Allah has not defined as to what a sin is, just as silence has been observed in the Divine Word : “And of the fruits of date palm, and grapes whence ye derive strong drink.” (16:67)

            Hdrat ‘Umar b. al-Khattab(Allah be pleased with him) is reported to have said in one of his Sermons from the pulpit of the Holy Prophet(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him):

 “O people, the prohibition of Khamr(wine) has been  revealed and that is made of five things : Grapes, dates, wheat, barley and honey : and  Kahmr is what covers intellect.”                                                     (Bukhari and Muslim)

            Undoubtedly  the saying of Caliph ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with him) that wine is a drink that covers intellect is an irrefutable explanation and exposition of the reality of wine.

            In Musnad Ahmad, Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi it is transmitted that Hadra ‘Umar b. al-Khattab(Allah be pleased with him) used to supplicate to Allah like  this :  “Allah, manifest unto us a sufficient word about wine.”  When Verse 2:219 was revealed the Holy Prophet(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) recited this Verse before ‘Umar(Allah be pleased with him) but he continued to pray to Allah to send a decisive word about wine.  Similar was his reaction on the revelation of the Verse 4:43, but as Verse 5:90,91 were revealed, he was summoned by the Holy Prophet(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and then the said Verses were recited to him.  When the words “Will ye not abstain “, appearing in the Verse, arrived Hadrat ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with him) exclaimed “we have abstained ; we have abstained.”

            In this way Allah, the Exalted declared wine unlawful gradually.  This process made people to accept the ordinance about the unlawfulness of wine with open heart and keep it at an arm’s length. Had wine been declared unlawful in one istance, it would have created hatred against the entire body of Din(Islam) in the hearts of the Arabs and drinking wine would have more firmly ingrained in them.