Allah Says: \u201cThey ask you (O Muhammad) concerning alcoholic drink (intoxicants) and gambling, say: in them there are a great sins and some benefits for some people but the destructions they cause are greater than that of their benefits\u201d. Qur\u2019an: Ch 2, V. 219<\/p>\n
In the first place we must thank\u00a0 Ezikiel Nabieu for his\/her views on alcohol and its role in nation building and his observation that there are bars that go broke in the presence of the Holy Month Ramadan as a result of lack of customers. We also thank him for the income and employment the nation benefits from alcoholic businesses. <\/b><\/p>\n
But fails to realize that alcohol damages the human resources of any country including Sierra Leone. So what benefit can we boast of if our children, our future leaders are addicts to alcohol and drugs!\u00a0 Which is better; little resources and good managers or huge resources without level headed managers?<\/b><\/p>\n
Mr. Editor, please permit me to respond to this article in the same way it came to us in your widely read news paper so that our readers can have the choice in choosing their life styles for themselves.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n
It is a well known fact that Muslims don\u2019t drink alcohol. It is haraam<\/i>, forbidden. They don\u2019t eat foods with ethanol, they don\u2019t wear perfumes containing alcoholic ingredients and they stay away from all forms of intoxicating substances. This abstinence is a command from Allah (God), the law maker for Muslims\u2019 health and environment<\/a>. But why else is alcohol haraam<\/i> in Islam? Let\u2019s take a look.<\/p>\n Linguistically, khamr<\/i> (\u062e\u0645\u0631) Arabic for \u201cwine\u201d, is alcohol derived from grapes. This is what is prohibited by specific texts of the Quran (see 5:90<\/a>). Therefore alcohol is categorically unlawful (haraam<\/i>) and considered impure (najis<\/i>). Consuming any amount is unlawful, even if it doesn\u2019t create any drunken effects.<\/p>\n The Prophet Muhammad of Islam said, \u201cIntoxicants are from these two trees,\u201d while pointing to grapevines and date-palms. Alcohol derived from dates or raisins is also prohibited, again regardless of the amount consumed, as explained by prominent\u00a0 Islamic Scholars.<\/p>\n At first, a general warning was given to forbid Muslims from attending prayers while in a drunken state (Quran, 4:43). Then a later verse was revealed to Prophet Muhammad which said that while specifically alcohol had some medicinal benefits, the negative effects of it outweighed the good (Quran, 2:219).<\/p>\n Finally, \u201cintoxicants and gambling\u201d<\/b> were called \u201cabominations of Satan\u2019s handiwork,\u201d which warned people with self-consciousness to not<\/b> turn away from God and forget about prayer, and Muslims were ordered to abstain (Quran, 5:90-91).<\/p>\n The Prophet Muhammad also instructed his companions to avoid any intoxicating substances (paraphrased), \u201cif it intoxicates in a large amount, it is forbidden even in a small amount.\u201d<\/b> For this reason, most observant Muslims avoid alcohol in any form, even small amounts that are sometimes used in cooking.<\/p>\n Classical and contemporary Islamic scholars have helped explain why an alcohol zone can be as bad as drinking itself,<\/p>\n \u201cThe difference between [prohibitions in environment] and [prohibitions related to the end goals] is that while both are forbidden, the former is considered lesser in weight because it is related to causes, whereas the latter is related to an actual forbidden act. Thus, sitting at the table, although not the same as drinking, could lead to it whereas drinking in itself is absolutely forbidden\u201d,\u00a0 <\/i>Dr. Abdullah bin Bayyah Says<\/i><\/a>\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n All intoxicants were made haraam<\/i> in Islam\u2019s religious scripture at different times over a period of years.\u00a0Over the years, the list of intoxicating substances has come to include more modern street drugs and the like.<\/p>\n Islam prohibits the use of narcotics noting that \u201cevery intoxicant is haraam<\/i> (unlawful)\u201d.\u00a0\u2018Recreational\u2019 drugs have become the social culture and despite religious prohibitions, Muslims are just as susceptible to cannabis (marijuana), hashish, and the supposedly herbal \u2018hukkah<\/i>\u2018 (a tobacco smoking pipe).<\/p>\n Nonetheless, this drug abuse is also haram, not to mention encouraging illegal drug trade and addiction.<\/p>\n Without side-sweeping the nutritional value to alcoholic beverages, we must accept that wine in particular is not completely \u201cevil\u201d. Wine contains coronary benefits and according to a 2003 study on Wine Pros<\/a>, decreases the risk of peptic ulcers.<\/p>\n Hippocrates recommended specific wines to disinfect wounds, and even the great Islamic scholar Ibn Kathir noted wine\u2019s force for better digestion.<\/p>\n But did you know halal<\/i> wine exists too?<\/p>\n In the Quran is the promise of Paradise for people who conserve God\u2019s laws on Earth and leave it as they found it, or better. This Paradise contains rivers of honey, milk and wine which does not intoxicate (Quran 47:15<\/a>).<\/p>\n Some great entrepreneurs took this as inspiration, leading to the production of halal approved wines such as Halal Champ Wine<\/a>, and Australia\u2019s Patritti Wines<\/a> of Dover Gardens, which was accredited by the Islamic Council in 2003 in the UK.<\/p>\n According to a more lenient school of thought in Islam, creams and deodorants containing alcohol<\/a> are alright to use as it is invariably a synthetic alcohol and not wine (khamr<\/i>). In Saudi Arabia though, even\u00a0fuel containing ethanol is getting the <\/a>haraam<\/i><\/a> boot<\/a>.<\/p>\nAlcohol in Islam<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
Why Muslims Don\u2019t Drink Alcohol<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Muslims Don\u2019t Do Dope<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
Halal Wine?<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n