Living The Quran
From Issue: 571 [Read full issue]
Total Ban on Wine
Al-Maidah (The Table Spread) Sura 5: Verses 90-91
"O Believers! Wine, gambling, sacrificing to idols and the divining arrows are abominations devised by Satan. Therefore, turn away from them so that you may be successful. Satan seeks only to stir up enmity and hatred among you by means of intoxicants and games of chance, and to turn you away from the remembrance of God and from prayer. Will you not, then, desist?"
The total ban on wine was enacted by the Quran in the month of Rabi al-Awwal, the fourth year after Hijrah (Migration to Madina). Before that, the Muslims were only ordered not to pray when drunk, until they knew what they were saying.
It is quite significant that the philosophy of social change advocated in this verse is not a revolutionary one, rather it is a gradual one, even in matters crucially touching the basic issues of conduct and ethics. Wine drinking, and gambling are serious moral ills, with profound adverse effect on society, yet the Quran allowed their perpetuation in the Muslim community until the fourth year of Hijrah. This reflects the Quranic preoccupation with changing people's ideas, and winning their emotional alliance first. In so far as conduct is conditioned by convictions, then it is both rational and wise to work to change people's minds and hearts first.
Compiled From:
"War and Peace In The Life of the Prophet Muhammad" - Zakaria Bashier, pp. 134, 135