The
word alcohol is derived from the Arabic word al-kohl, which means
fermented grains, fruits, or sugars that form an intoxicating beverage
when fermented. Khamr or khamrah is the word used in the Qur'an to
denote a fermented beverage that intoxicates a person when he/she drinks
it. It is sometimes translated as "wine."
Khamr in Early Muslim History
Pre-Islamic
Arabs had harsh lives and felt that alcohol was an indispensable way to
cope with their problems. Among the troubles that the Arab people had
before Islam were: tribal warfare, excessive pride and competition,
prostitution, insecurity, broken homes, and female infanticide. Women
were treated as slaves, and children were deprived of affection, while
men were expected to be tough and competitive. These were all factors
that compelled people to drink.
Sale
of alcohol was so common that the name for merchant, tajir, became
synonymous with the seller of khamr. Khamr shops and bars were open 24
hours a day.
The first Qur'anic verse (chronologically) to deal with alcohol was revealed in Mecca before the hijra:
"And
from the fruit of the date-palm and the vine ye get out wholesome drink
and food: behold in this also is a Sign for those who are wise."
(16:67)
After
this verse, some Muslims started to wonder about the correctness of
taking khamr.Revealed in Madinah a few years later, was this verse:
"They
ask thee concerning wine and gambling, say: "In them is great sin, and
some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit..."(2:219)
Most
Muslims continued to drink but some began to abstain or reduce their
intake. Certain Muslims had been abstinent even in the pre-Islamic days,
most notably, Uthman Ibn Affan, who later was the third Khalifa. Uthman
said, "Al-khamr 'robs' the mind totally; and I have not yet seen
anything which when entirely 'robbed' or curtailed will come back in its
original intact form!"
Recent studies have shown that drinking alcohol can in fact cause permanent damage to memory and learning ability.
The third mention of alcohol by Allah (SWT) in the Qur'an occurred as follows:
"O ye who believe! Approach not prayers with a mind befogged, until ye can understand all that ye say, ..." (4:43)
Now
there was a great difficulty in being drunk, since a Muslim has to pray
five times a day. The Prophet (SAW) is reported to have said, "Prayer
is the pillar of religion. The one who performs it has erected religion
and the one who abandons it has ruined (his) religion." Since the
prayers are spread throughout the day, it is difficult if not
impossible, for a good Muslim to ever get drunk.
If
a Muslim failed to appear at the mosque in those days, his friends
would think he was ill. He would then feel guilty that really, it was
just his drunkenness that prevented him from coming. The religious
brotherhood of Muslims helped encourage abstinence from alcohol in those
days. It is still true today, that Muslims help each other be strong in
resisting such temptations. The Muslim who falls away from the rest of
the community becomes like a lost sheep among wolves, and risks being
engulfed by sinful ways.
Since
there were no drugs in those days to help ease the pain of withdrawal
symptoms, alcoholic Muslims began to slowly reduce their intake. Honey
was given to these alcoholics to help them restore vitamins to their
bodies and ease the detoxification process. These two techniques (slow
withdrawal and honey) have been shown in recent times to be effective
and helpful in treating alcoholics.
During this period of weaning from alcohol, khamr sellers also began looking for a new means of livelihood.
"...The
devil wants only to cast among you enmity and hatred by means of strong
drink and games of chance and to turn you from remembering Allah and
from prayer. Will you then desist." (5:90-91)
These
verses are the ones that declared total prohibition of alcohol to the
Muslims. After this verse was revealed, the Muslim citizens of Madinah
immediately began to spill their stocks of wine into the sand and
streets; so that the wine ran through the streets of Madinah.
Individuals who up till that moment were enjoying guiltlessly a glass of
wine, quickly emptied their cups on the ground and spit out the alcohol
from their mouths. They rushed to make ablutions in order to purify
themselves.
Alcohol harmful effects
Alcohol
is a central nervous system depressant, although in smaller amounts it
may appear to have a mild stimulant effect. The main psychoactive
ingredient in alcoholic beverages is ethyl alcohol, produced through the
fermentation of sugar by yeast. Alcoholic drinks vary in strength, e.g.
beer and alcoholic sodas (1-9% alcohol), wines (10-15%) and spirits
(35-55%).
Effects
The effects of alcohol vary depending on a number of factors including:
- type and quantity of alcohol consumed
- age, weight and gender
- body chemistry
- food in the stomach
- drinking experience
- situation in which drinking occurs
Short-term effects
Although
it varies between individuals, there is a relationship between the
concentration of alcohol in the blood (Blood Alcohol Concentration -
BAC) and its effects. Mild euphoria and stimulation of behaviour occur
initially with minor effects on performance which become more pronounced
as the concentration of alcohol rises. Unfortunately, people often
believe they are performing better rather than much worse.
In
a person of average build, one standard drink will raise the BAC by
approximately 0.01-0.03% in an hour, and as a rough guide it will be
broken down at a similar rate, i.e. one standard drink per hour.
Effects on Behaviour
|
Stages
|
BAC
|
Likely Effects
|
|
Feeling of well-being
|
Up to .05 g%
|
- Talkative
- Relaxed
- More confident
|
|
At-risk
|
.05-.08 g%
|
- Talkative
- Acts and feels self-confident
- Judgment and movement impaired
- Inhibitions reduced
|
|
Risky state
|
.08-.15 g%
|
- Speech slurred
- Balance and coordination impaired
- Reflexes slowed
- Visual attention impaired
- Unstable emotions
- Nausea, vomiting
|
|
High-risk state
|
.15-.30 g%
|
- Unable to walk without help
- Apathetic, sleepy
- Laboured breathing
- Unable to remember events
- Loss of bladder control
- Possible loss of consciousness
|
|
Death
|
Over .30 g%
|
|
Intoxication risks
Intoxication
is the most common cause of alcohol-related problems, leading to
injuries and premature deaths. As a result, intoxication accounts for
two-thirds of the years of life lost from drinking. Alcohol is
responsible for:
- 30% of road accidents
- 44% of fire injuries
- 34% of falls and drownings
- 16% of child abuse cases
- 12% of suicides
- 10% of industrial accidents
As
well as deaths, short-term effects of alcohol result in illness and
loss of work productivity (e.g. hangovers, drink driving offences). In
addition, alcohol contributes to criminal behaviour - in Australia over
70% of prisoners convicted of violent assaults have drunk alcohol before
committing the offence and more than 40% of domestic violence incidents
involve alcohol.
Long-term effects
Each year approximately 3000 people die in Australia
as a result of excessive alcohol consumption and around 65 000 people
are hospitalised. Long-term excessive alcohol consumption is associated
with:
- heart damage
- high blood pressure and stroke
- liver damage
- cancers of the digestive system
- other digestive system disorders (e.g. stomach ulcers)
- sexual impotence and reduced fertility
- increasing risk of breast cancer
- sleeping difficulties
- brain damage with mood and personality changes
- concentration and memory problems
In addition to health problems, alcohol also impacts on relationships, finances, work, and may result in legal problems.
Tolerance and Dependence
A
regular drinker may develop tolerance and dependence. Tolerance means
that they feel less effect than they used to with the same amount of
alcohol. Dependence means that the alcohol becomes central in their life
- a lot of time is spent thinking about alcohol, obtaining it,
consuming it and recovering from it. The person will find it difficult
to stop drinking or to control the amount consumed.
Withdrawal
Someone
who is physically dependent on alcohol will experience withdrawal
symptoms when they stop drinking or substantially reduce their intake.
Symptoms usually commence 6-24 hours after the last drink, last for
about 5 days and include:
- tremor
- nausea
- anxiety
- depression
- sweating
- headache
- difficulty sleeping (may last several weeks)
Alcohol
withdrawal can be very dangerous; people drinking more than 8 standard
drinks a day are advised to discuss a decision to stop drinking with a
doctor as medical treatment may be required to prevent complications.
The Mother of Every Evil
One
day, as he came out from his mosque, the Prophet Muhammad, may God send
praises upon him, noticed his cousin and son-in-law, Ali b. Abi Talib,
visibly upset. When the concerned Prophet asked Ali what was troubling
him, Ali simply pointed to the bloody carcass of his dearly cherished
camel - no ordinary camel, but the war-weathered camel that Ali would
mount in his valiant defense of the Prophet and Islam on the
battlefield. Ali told the Prophet that one of their uncles had been
responsible for the unsanctioned slaughter of his animal, and so the
Prophet went to ascertain his (i.e. the uncle's) side of the story.
Entering
in the presence of his uncle, the Prophet found him drunk with wine.
Upon seeing the displeasure in his nephew's face, the uncle knew at
once, despite his intoxication, that the Prophet had come to question
him about Ali's beast of war. With nothing good to say in his defense,
the guilt-ridden, drunken uncle blurted out to his nephew: "You and your father are my slaves!" The Prophet's only response to the blasphemous outburst was to exclaim: "Truly, alcohol is the mother of every evil!"
And
so, from the biography of the Prophet Muhammad we learn a weighty
lesson as regards the colossal and evil consequences of alcoholic
drink. Any one of the alcohol-inspired acts in this short episode from
the blessed Prophet's life would suffice the reader as an admonition:
whether it be the culling of Ali's camel, the drunken state of an uncle
of a Prophet of God - let alone His last and final messenger to mankind -
or the wicked insult he spewed out against him and his own deceased
brother, who was no less than the father of the Prophet of God. How
much worse then when we consider all these crimes together? Not to
mention the many evils indirectly resulting from the uncle's consumption
of the alcohol, such as the loss to the Muslim community of one its
battle-hardened steeds of war, or the pain, anguish and, perhaps,
embarrassment that Muhammad must have felt at this tragic family
affair. No doubt, it was precisely because the Prophet recognized that
it was the alcohol that gave birth to and nurtured all these foul sins
that he denounced it as: "the mother of every evil!"
Hence,
we find Islam completely forbidding the consumption of alcohol, whether
in large or small amounts. The Prophet Muhammad said:
"If a large amount of anything causes intoxication, a small amount of it is also prohibited." [Narrated by the Companion, Jaabir, and recorded in the collections of Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud & Ibn Majah]
In this one hadeeth
narration, we see the perfection of Islam as a religion, its
conclusiveness as a legal code, and its comprehensiveness as a way of
life. As one German convert to Islam noted:
"[Islam]
values the moral and spiritual health of a nation as much as its
physical well-being. It considers anything that interferes with the
normal working of the mind, numbs our senses, thereby reducing our level
of shame or responsibility, or clouds our perception as harmful (this
includes alcohol as well as other drugs altering the mind). And
recognizing that different people react quite differently to the same
stimulant, it does not leave the judgment, as to how much is acceptable
to them. Too many people thought they had control over their drinking
habit, yet ended 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." [Sahib M. Bleher, One glass too many. Pg. 199]
Yes,
there are some benefits to be derived from alcoholic beverages. For
example, alcohol can give one strength and confidence; it helps one to
relax and, in small quantities, is even good for the health of one's
heart. However, as the
Glorious Quran states, the harms associated with alcohol far outweigh
its benefits. As such, in the final analysis, alcohol is a foe, not a
friend of its consumer.
"They
ask you (O Prophet) concerning alcoholic drink and gambling. Say: 'In
them is a great sin, and (some) benefit for men, but their sin is
greater than their benefit.'" (Quran 2:219)
It
is only because Islam seeks the benefit and betterment of man that
Islamic law criminalizes the consumption, production, transportation and
sale of alcoholic drink.
["Allah
curses all intoxicants (alcoholic beverages); (He also curses) the one
who drinks it and the one who serves it, the one who sells it and the
one who buys it, the one who makes it and the one who asks that it be
made for him, the one who delivers it and the one to whom it is
delivered." (Abu Dawood)]
In
fact, the mere consumption of alcohol is a criminal pursuit so serious
that it carries with it a severe corporal punishment. As for the
Hereafter, the punishment is truly grotesque:
"Every
intoxicant is prohibited. God has made a covenant regarding those who
consume intoxicants to give them to drink the discharge (of the
inhabitants of Hell)!" [Saheeh Muslim]
To
conclude, it is perhaps useful to have the reader ponder over the
following well-known story; well-known at least to many a cautious
Muslim.
Once
upon a time, a bad woman invited a good man to bad deeds. The man,
fearing God, flatly refused. But, determined not to let her prey
escape, the woman offered him one of three choices, each one more
dastardly than the other: to consume alcohol, to commit adultery, or to
murder her child from a previous marriage. If the man refused, she
would cry rape. So, after having pondered his predicament, the pious
man chose what he reckoned to be the lesser of the three evils.
However, upon taking the alcohol, the man became drunk and then, under
the influence of his brain-killing beverage, he killed the child and
committed adultery with the wicked woman.
Ponder, and then consider how easily you yourself could degenerate as a human being if, that is, you too were to embrace "the mother of every evil."
Muslim Values Make Alcohol Unnecessary
Islam
instilled family values and gave security to the people. Thus, with
Islam, there is no longer a "need" to drink in order to relieve
unhappiness and stress by slipping into a fantasy world. One American
convert to Islam, who used to drink before in her pre-Muslim days,
comments, "I think that being Muslim has made me face up to a lot of
things, which is painful, but by working them out I feel much less need
to run away from my problems, and alcohol is basically the best way to
run away from problems."
The
fear of God helps Muslims keep away from not only alcohol, but all
other evils prohibited by the Qur'an, such as adultery, abuse of wives
and children, and gambling. Peer pressure (brotherhood) also helps
Muslims abstain from these sins.
Attempts
to abolish alcohol in America (during the Prohibition period) and drugs
(the "War on Drugs") were not successful, because the factors that
cause people in America to drink and use drugs have not been eliminated.
What
compels people to drink? A variety of factors, including people whose
jobs bring them into contact with alcohol, or who find themselves in
social settings where alcohol is available or even "pushed" on them.
Also, being able to afford the luxury of spending money on alcohol and
having the leisure time to drink it, as well as being beguiled by ads
which allure a person to think that drinking alcohol is a way to have a
good time, or appear sexy, rich, powerful and cosmopolitan. Finally, the
example of other drinkers, usually friends or family can lure a person
into thinking that it is okay to drink. Alcoholics (people addicted to
excessive drinking of alcohol) tend to want immediate gratification and
are addicted to this-worldly pleasure. They don't tend to care about the
long term consequences.
Sellers
of khamr in Madinah were given ample warning that they should find
another trade, so the change away from an alcohol-laden economy was
gradual and not disruptive. Today in America, much of the economy
revolves around the alcohol industry. The government, for example,
collects a hefty sum of money from taxes on alcohol. Do you think that
the U.S. government today could be serious about wanting to get rid of
alcohol? Companies which produce alcohol continue to spend grandly on
ads and TV commercials, and then donate a portion of their profit to
"help" some of the people whose lives have been ruined by consumption of
their product.
A
practicing Muslim will not touch alcohol out of fear of God. Those who
do usually feel much guilt on breaking a Qur'anic injunction. Many
drinkers will cease this activity during Ramadan. Sometimes, excessive
drinkers find themselves so changed by the experience of Hajj
(pilgrimage) that they never drink again.
In
a true Islamic State, a person is not likely to ever reach the point of
physical dependence on alcohol. Friends, family and neighbors will not
just look away while a person destroys himself and his family. Muslims
are supposed to be very involved in correcting wrongs that they see.
Islam is a very community-oriented faith. There is no place for an
individual to do what he wants to do, if it hurts others. And by hurting
yourself through drinking, you inadvertently hurt others.
Too
much guilt about drinking alcohol can make a person feel so bad that he
or she drinks just to smother the guilt. To balance feelings of guilt,
Muslims need to remember the mercy and forgiveness of Allah.
"And
those who, having done something to be ashamed of, or wronged their own
souls, earnestly bring Allah to mind, and ask for forgiveness for their
sins, --- and who can forgive sins except Allah? --- and are never
obstinate in persisting knowingly in (the wrong) they have done."
(3:135)
Modern
methods of curing alcoholics have not been very successful; many will
regress to drinking again. Among the new methods of "treating"
alcoholics is injecting the drinker with a drug like apomorphine, which
makes the victim feel sick and vomit as soon as the drink is taken. This
is done repeatedly over several weeks so that the drinker learns to
associate drinking with nausea and vomiting. Temporary paralysis via
scoline injection and electric shocks are other techniques Western
doctors use to try to get heavy drinkers to quit.
The Perspective of Islam and Christianity
Proverbs
31: 6-7 "" Give intoxicating liquor, you people, to the one about to
perish, and wine to those who are bitter of soul . Let one drink and
forget one's poverty, and let one remember one's own trouble no more.""
Genesis
9:21-22 "" And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was
uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the
nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.""
Genesis 9:24 "" And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.""
Genesis 19:32 "" Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.""
Numbers
6:20 "" And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the
LORD: this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave
shoulder: and after that the Nazarite may drink wine.""
Numbers
28:7 "" And the drink offering thereof shall be the fourth part of an
hin for the one lamb: in the holy place shalt thou cause the strong wine
to be poured unto the LORD for a drink offering.""
The Holy Quran, 5:90-91 "You
who believe! Intoxicants and Gambling, all are an abomination of
Satan's handiwork. Eschew such abomination, that you may prosper.
Satan's plan is (but) to excite enmity and hatred between you, with
intoxicants and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of God,
and from prayer; will you not then abstain?"
The Holy Quran, 2.219 "They
ask thee concerning wine and gambling. Say: "In them is great sin, and
some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit." They ask
thee how much they are to spend; Say: "What is beyond your needs." Thus
doth Allah Make clear to you His Signs: In order that ye may consider."
We,
Muslims, are ordered by Allah (swt), in the Koran, to believe in the
former Divine Messages which are intact, i.e. void of interpolation and
distortion. Do you believe that pathologists and physicians know better
than our Creator, the Omniscient about the bad effects of intoxicants on
the human body systems which are the "make" of God?
We,
Muslims, deny and absolutely reject such non-sense to be believed as
revelation of God in the Holy scriptures! It is man, not God, who added
that "Praise" of the intoxicants to the Holy Scriptures for human
selfish purposes, just as we see and read in our present time the commercial promotions
which try hard to convince the people about the wholesomeness and great
advantage the intoxicants give to the body and mind of man!
Adding for the benefit, the number one leading cause of death in
America is DWI, Driving While Intoxicated. In fact, Alcoholism is
responsible for more than 50% of crimes reported in the United States
alone.
Sources:
· Alcohol: The Devil's Deadly Disease. By Ben Adam
· Alcohol and Muslims. By Alyssa [islamawareness.net]
