IRRESPECTIVE OF THE PERCENTAGE (%) ALCOHOL STANDS HARAM IN ISLAM

By Ibrahim Teslim, Abdullahi

Wine-drinking, taking of alcohol or any intoxicating drug used is forbidden (Haram) in Islam. The word for an intoxicant used in the Qur'an is Khamar which is derived from Khamara meaning the covered or veiled thing. Thus it will mean any fermented juice of grape, barley, dates, local herbs, dry-gin or any other thing which may make one intoxicated after drinking. It may also include any liquor or thing which has the same property.

 Gradual Prohibition Introduced In Islam

 Drinking wine or the taking of an intoxicant is a great sin in Islam although there may be possibly be some benefit in drinking it, but the harm, according to the Qur'an guidance, is greater than the benefit, especially when one looks at it from a social as well as an individual point of view. The Arabs, even after they had accepted Islam used to drink wine. They used to ask the Prophet (SAW) many questions about it when the following verse was revealed:

 "They ask thee (O Prophet SAW) concerning wine and gambling. Say: In them is a great sin, and some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit." (Qur'an 2:219)

 The above verse only pointed out the evils of wine-drinking but did not prohibit it. Later, the Divine Revelation forbade its use partially as they were asked not to pray when they were drunk:

 "O you faithful, do not pray while you are drunk until you come to your senses and know what you say". (Qur'an 4:43)

 The above verse is also part of the due-process stage Allah used to reduce the addictive habits of the early Arabs from drinking of alcohol.

 Final Rule

 Allah states in Suratuh Maidah chapter 5:93-94 thus:

"O you who believe, wine and games of chance and idols and divining arrows are only an abomination, a handiwork of Satan. Leave it aside in order that ye may succeed. Satan seeketh only to cast among you enmity and hatred by means of wine and gambling, and would keep you from remembrance of Allah and from prayer; will ye not then desist?"

 The Jahiliyyah Arabs before the advent of Islam were victims of these two vices. While intoxicated, they used to commit many a horrible crime which are recorded in the Books of history. They continued drinking after the advent of Islam until the Hijrah from Makkah to Madinah in the year 632 A.D. Gradually, they were weaned away from this vice. The above verse contains the injunction on final prohibition of wine or alcohol drinking in Islam. 

Drinking: The Mother Of All Evils

 The Prophet (SAW) said: "An intoxicant is a mother of all vices. Whosoever drinks it, his prayers (salat) will NOT be accepted (by Allah) for forty days. If he died and there is wine in his stomach, he has died the death of the Jahiliyyah (the period before the advent of Islam)" [Agreed Upon]

 The prayers (salawat) save a man from evil thought and action. By doing this evil (of drinking alcohol), a devotee stands to lose not only guidance from Allah but will lose the blessings and acceptance of his prayers for forty days and will move nearer to Shaytan and fall in his net again and again.

 This is the reason why, wine-drinking once started, quickly becomes a habit and becomes difficult to get rid of. The Prophet (SAW) has also called it an embodiment of all the sins:

 "The Prophet (SAW) said: "The wine is an embodiment of all the sins". (Muslim)

 
 The Holy Prophet (SAW) has described a drunkard as a cursed man:

 "The Prophet (SAW) said: "A drunkard or an alcoholic is a cursed man". (Bukhari)

 The wine and Iman (faith) cannot go together in one person and he is not a faithful (Mumin) while he drinks wine as mentioned in the following Hadith: 

"The man who drinks wine, wine and Iman can never remain together in the heart of the same person". (at-Tirmidhi)

 "All intoxicants are unlawful of whatever thing a large quantity intoxicates, even a small quantity is prohibited."

 From the above Hadith, it is clear that hemp, hashish, opium, marijuana and other drugs are equally Haram. The Hanafi jurists, call the hemp smokers 'irreligious innovators' (zindiq mubtadi) The Messenger of Allah has said that:

"Allah has cursed wine or an intoxicant, and the person who drinks it, the person who serves it, the person who sells it and buys it, the person who brews it, the person who gets it brewed and extracted, the person who carries it and the person to whom it is carried." (Ahmad)

 All the jurists of the four schools have a consensus that a drunkard must be punished through flogging. The Maliki, the Hanafi and the Hanbali jurists say that the hadd punishment for wine-drinking will be eighty lashes, but the Imam Shafi' says that the punishment will be forty stripes only.

 The above are the standards laid down in Shari'ah as regards alcohol. No matter how small the percentage of the wine might be or how beautiful the name might sound like red-label, champagne, brandy etc it is still forbidden in Islam. Remember a drop of it equivalent to one loosing the blessings of his Lord in salat for 40 Days and Nights.

 Ramadan has always been a month of turning point, which has worked for so many people. Kindly repent, reflect and finally desist from drinking alcohol or having anything to do with intoxicants. May Allah make it easy for alcohol addicts to finally let go of this hideous habits which at the same time make them dishonourable before Allah. May this year Ramadan 1436/2015 be a huge turning point for you to defeat this self desired evil, ameen.