Youve posed a very good question and Il be glad to try to answer it in a brief matter. The basic rule in islam is that everything is allowed except that which is mentioned as prohibited (which in clear english means that you can do/eat what ever you chose except that which is mentioned to be haram/illegal). As for alcohol, Allah(may he be exalted) mentions why we are forbidden to consume alcohol. In one of the verses it says (interpretation of the meaning): They ask you (O Muhammad) concerning alcoholic drink and gambling. Say: In them is a great sin, and (some) benefits for men, but the sin of them is greater than their benefit” (2.219) Even though there is an noticble benefit which -to a certain degree- can be extracted from the embellishment of alcohol, the danger it posses is far more greater. The terrible destruction alcohol brings to a society is crystal clear and I have no doubt what so ever that a girl of your character and thinking would find any befuddling about this if you only ponder it for a moment. Albeit, the prophet(peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) called it "the mother of all evils" and warned us that one may even commit incest with his one mother depending on the state of his consciousness (which has indeed happened severel times) hence its forbidden to drink ever little of it since all people can't restrain themselves. The poet said: "Do not think of a little as insignificant, because even the mountains are formed of small pebbles" This is even more true concerning alcohol as it was said: "A cup that is drunk for pleasure, and a cup that is drunk as a remedy for the first" Further more the World Health Organization(WHO) report on violent crimes in 30 countries including the US and the UK, where in it says that 86% of murders and 50% of rapes are carried out under the influence of alcohol. As for road accidents, the statistics are even more known. In 1965 there were 49,000 deaths on roads in the US, and 1,800,000 cases of permanent disability. These losses were valued at 8900 million dollars! In Chile for instance 70% of traffic accidents in 1966 were caused by drunkenness. Here in Sweden, the drinking of alcohol costs more than "the national defence, schools, research, culture together!! What kind of lives are we living here? Why have -many of us- become machines that work and consume constantly(without any real purpose or goal in life) and on holidays drink our selves stupid? People(this includes muslims aswell) should just wake up and realise that guidance is not found with a bottle but with an open heart. For surely it is not the eyes that are blind, but blind are the hearts which are in the breasts (Quran 22.46)
Thank you Adam, for explaining it so well I don't drink alcohol myself either, for the reasons you have posted above, but also because I think it limits your ability to stay in touch with God. I think God gave us reason to use it, and not to make it go to waist by getting drunk.
If alcohol is of Satan, and nothing of Satan will be in Heaven, why does the Koran talk of there being wine in Heaven?
Well alcohol is a drug. But the quraan mentions only alcohol. There are only 2 references to intoxicants in the quraan both specifically referring to alcohol.
As I said before, (one of the two) the verses that prohibited Alcohol mentions the fact that it may be beneficial to us in some ways but that the evils of it is far greater. The wine mentioned in the hereafter is one which "No after-ache will they receive therefrom, nor will they suffer intoxication" (56.19) fcuk, its also prohibited to kill/hurt your self according to the Quran
I am curious.. say by some twist of fate there was an epidemic of a deadly virus that could only be cured by drinking alcohol. Would not drinking alcohol, even though we knew it was the only cure, be considered killing/hurting ourselves? Would drinking alcohol be wrong, if the intention was not loss of control but simply healing ourselves? EDIT: Ok.. that probably sounds kind of arrogant, and it's a ridiculous question really. I apologise.. I know the answer anyway. I guess the reason I asked that is because of my own problems. I have a really hard time socializing/talking to people, in real life that is, due to various problems.. Sometimes I drink alcohol because it's the only way I can escape fear and actually talk to people. The way I look at it is, what's doing more harm, the alcohol or my fear? If I went mad due to lack of communication and lost control, would a temporary loss of control be more harmful than a total loss because I feared what the cure would do to me? I think Captialism and materialism is much more harmful.. but I guess that's for another thread.
I dont see any arrogance in that question and if you think your "unsocial" then welcome to the club. chameleon, In islam we are expemted from all actions which we cannot bear, the Quran says (interpretation of the meaning): "Allah does not impose upon any soul a duty but to the extent of its ability..." (K 2.286) I dont see any arrogance in that question and if you think your "unsocial" then welcome to the club. Thus, if your starving and cannot eat other than swine or your going to die if you dont drink that bottle of swedish whisky, then your exempted from the sin which would otherwise occur. And your way of thinking is correct when you say : "if the intention was not loss of control but simply healing ourselves" since one of the principles which actions in islam is bound to is the idea of actions being judged by their intention. The prophet (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) said in a authentic narration: "Actions are only according to intentions" if you intended something good but could not do it, you will be rewarded for it. Finally, the analouge is quitet twised I must say. Alcohol does not serve as a remedy, despite the claims of some psedudoctors! Furthermoore, our beloved prophet was asked if it could be used as a remedy and answered (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) : "No, for it is not a remedy, rather it is the disease itself"
"I think Captialism and materialism is much more harmful.. but I guess that's for another thread." Your a wise man indeed, materlism and capitalism has degraded man into being nothing more than a brick, fighting to be the fittest.
This is a very good question... We dont drink alcohol because of the follwoing reasons you will find in Islam and Alcoholic Drinks Enjoy!
Many of us drink without becoming alcoholics. Just as how we can look at a woman not covered from head to toe in a sheet and not immediately get enraged with the will to rape her. Just a thought.
