AL-KHAMR

Is Wine an Impurity?

In the opinion of the majority of the Jurists wine is a  najasat(impurity) for Allah, the Exalted has Himself said :

 “Wine and games of chance, ungodly shrines and divining devices, are abomination of Satan’s work; so avoid  them.”(5:90)

A section of Jurists believes in the cleanliness of wine and take the word  rijs (abomination) appearing in the Verse for  rijs-ul-Ma’navi i.e., abstract abomination for the words “ game of chance”, “shrines” and “divining devices” and some of these things has at all been qualified with real impurity.   Allah, the Exalted says :

         “Avoid the filth of idols.” (22:30)

            The word “Authan”(idols) here implies the abstract filth and nobody becomes defile by touching idols for another Verse gives its interpretation that it is a “ handiwork of Satan.”

            In Subul Al-Salam, we find that the truth is that the substances in their origin are clean and their unlawfulness does not necessarily imply their impurity.  For instance, hemp is unlawful but at the same time it is clean.  Contrary to it, impurity (najasat) and unlawfulness go hand in hand.  Therefore every impure thing is unlawful but every unlawful thing is not impure for law regarding impurity is the prohibition of touching it under all circumstances.  Allah has declared garments of silk and gold unlawful for men whereas both the things are not impure.  If you have followed the point, the unlawfulness of wine proved by the tenets of the Qur’an and  Ahadith  does not necessarily imply its impurity.

            The rent of a building, the wages of a worker,  the hiring charges of an animal, a vehicle, a boat or the utensils and the machinery engaged in the production of wine or its sale are totally unlawful and there is no difference of opinion among the Jurists on this point.  Allah, the Exalted has in unambiguous terms declared:

               “O ye, who believe! surely, wine and games of chance (ungodly) shrines and divining devices are abomination of  Satan’s work ; so avoid them. (5:90)

            The  Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

              Verily, Allah has cursed ten persons : one who squeezes it ; one who is engaged for squeezing it ; one who drinks it; one who carries it ; one to whom it is carried; one who serves drink ; one who sells it ; one who devours its price ; one who purchases it and one for whom it is purchased.(Ahmad,Ibn Hibban, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, and Ibn Maja)

Again, Allah, the Exalted has said:

      “And forsake the outwardness of sin and the inwardness  thereof.”(6:121)

“And help not one another unto sin.”  (5:2)  

            Hadrat ‘Uthman(Allah be pleased with him), the third Caliph of Islam, delivered a Sermon upon the pulpit of the Holy Prophet(peace and blessings of Allah him) and said :

        “Avoid wine for it is the fountain-head of evils.  There lived a man before you who had devoted himself to worship and withdrew himself from people.  A dissolute woman came to live with him.  He sent his slave-girl to bring him some information about her.  He entered the room with her and as he entered the door the slave-girl shut it till he reached another beautiful woman who had a boy and mug of wine.  She said : “By god, I have not invited you to divulge any information.  Instead, I have invited you to have illicit relation with me or to kill this boy or to drink this mug of wine.  He took a mug of wine and said : “Give me more wine .“  Thus he continued to drink till he committed fornication with her and murdered the boy.  So shun wine for wine and Faith never go hand in hand but either of the two hastens to expel the other.”   (Baihaqi)

            Ibn Abi Dunya says :

    “I saw drunkard in some street of Baghdad.  He was drinking urine and wiping his face with his urine and was saying ; “Our Allah, make me of repentants and make me one of the reighteous.”

            Hadrat ‘Abdur Rahman prepared some food and wine and invited some Companions of the Holy Prophet(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) when drinking wine was not yet banned.  They ate and drank till they were intoxicated and the time of sun-set prayer became due.  One of the companions left for prayer and he recited Sura  “The Disbelievers”(al-Kafirun) wrongly as thus :  “Say : O’ Disbelievers, I worship not that which ye worship and we worship that which ye worship.”

            The history is replete with hundreds of strange stories about drunkards that are sufficient enough to exhort every body having faith in religion and endowed with wisdom and manliness to avoid wine and other intoxicants.  Allah, our Great Master, is true in saying:  “Verily, it (wine) is an abomination of Satani-work; si avoid it that ye may prosper.”(5:91).  The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also termed wine as “ a fountain-head of evils.”

            We should, therefore, raise our hands before Allah and make humble supplication to Him: Our Allah, bestow upon us Thy fear that is a barrier between us and Thy disobedience and bestow upon us to be thy obedient that should lead us to Thy Paradise and enrich us in Faith that should make the calamities of the world weigh light upon us.”

            “Our Allah!  have mercy on us in forsaking sins as long as we live ; and have mercy on us lest we should undertake some painful tasks that are not beneficial to us ; and bestow on us an excellent look that pleaseth Thee.  Our Lord, take us not to task it we forget or commit error.  Our Lord, impose not on us that which we have not the power to bear; pardon us, absolve us and have mercy on us.  Thou art our Protector, grant us victory over the disbelieving folk.”

            “Our Allah, let our religion suit us for the chastity of our work; and let our world suit us, in which lies our livelihood and let our Hereafter suit us wherein is our Next world; and let (our span of life) prolong in every good ; and let our death be a relief for us from all evils.”