From left to right: (Click on a thumbnail to enlarge)
1. The word Qur’an derives from “recitation” or “reading”. “Recite”, said the angel Gabriel to Muhammad, “Recite in the name of thy Lord” [58]
2. A beautifully bound 1925 edition of the Qur’an translated into English by George Sale [57]

Islam

The prohibition of wine was not in Muhammed’s initial programme and in Sura XVI, 67, wine is praised as one of the signs of Allah’s grace to humankind. “And from the fruit of the date-palm and the vine, ye get out wholesome drink and food.”

The Sura as given in a Qur’an published in Lahare in 1938 [60]

However, overindulgence in wine resulted in drunkenness and became cause for scandal often associated with gambling (maysir). Together with gambling, wine incurred Muhammed’s condemnation.

The great temple at Mecca [57]

Commentaries on the Qur’an relate how Muhammed’s companions held drinking parties causing them to commit faults in ritual prayers. This led Muhammed to change his attitude to intoxicating drink and the first revelation giving vent to these feelings was Sura II, 219:

The Sura as given in a Qur-an published in Lahare in 1938 [60]

“They will ask thee concerning wine and gambling. Answer, in both there is great sin and also some things of use unto men: but their sinfulness is greater than their use.”

This first revelation was considered more of a recommendation than a prohibition, but as people did not change their custom, with continuing disruptions in the order of prayer at the Mosque, a new revelation was issued by Muhammed in Sura IV, 43:

The Sura as given in a Qur’an published in Lahare in 1938 - see the footnote 562 [60]

“ O true believers! Come not to prayers when ye are drunk until ye understand what ye say…”

But neither was this revelation considered as a general prohibition of wine, and an end to drinking was not declared until Sura V, 93 and 94:

The Sura as given in a Qur’an published in Lahare in 1938 [60]

“O true believers! Surely wine and maysir and stone pillars and divining arrows, are an abomination of the work of Satan; therefore avoid them that ye may prosper.”

A footnote in the Hadith on the origin of the word for wine [55]

Since then wine (khamr) and all intoxicating drink is forbidden in Islam. It is interesting to note that the Arabic word for wine, khamr, is derived from khamara which means “to cover or veil” something. Wine is so-called because it is deemed in Islam to veil or obscure the intellect.

The prohibitions of the Qur’an have been taken over and are now administered by the jurists. The Shir’ah (the canonical law of Islam) and the madhhabs (the four schools of Islamic jurisprudence) declare both wine and the wine trade “haram” (unlawful). The hadith – traditions relating to the deeds and teachings of the Prophet as related by his companions – also has many utterances on this theme.

Ritual prohibitions in Islam [53]