Umar
delivered a sermon on the pulpit of Allah’s Apostle, saying; “Alcoholic drinks
were prohibited by Divine order, and these drinks used to be prepared from five
things, i.e. grapes, dates, wheat, barley and honey. Alcohol drink is that
which disturbs the mind”. (Bukhari). Islam does not stop just here though and
there are several other things, which one cannot do with alcohol.
As
the following hadith from Ibn Majah and Tirmidhi explains: “Truly Allah has
cursed the one who produces it, the one for whom it is produced, the one who
drinks it, the one who serves it, the one who carries it, the one for whom it
is carried, the one who sells it, the one who earns from the sale of it, the
one who buys it and the one for whom it is bought.”
The
blessed Prophet (SAW) informed us of the Muslim that drinks; Allah’s Apostle
said, “When… somebody drinks an alcohol, he is not a believer at the time of
drinking…” (Bukhari) The non-Muslim position for most of those outside the
Islamic faith, alcohol is considered a social necessity.
Figures
from the Medical Council on Alcoholism state that alcohol is associated with
good things and good times. Finished your exams… go out and get drunk. Got a
promotion, crack open the champagne.
Won
the lottery, Drinks are on the house etc. Historically, attempts to ban alcohol
have met with considerable resistance. In 1930s, America prohibition led to an
explosion of gang profits for people life Al-Capone and ultimately led to the
repeal of the law. People drink to feel at ease and relaxed, to forget their
problems and lose their inhibitions. Anyone who has heard the recounting of
what happened last night can’t really be in any doubt the later intention. You
know that “I never did, do I syndrome?
Furthermore,
recent evidence pointing to health benefit with moderate alcohol intake as lent
further credence to pro-alcohol lobby.
Does
this then invalidate the Islamic position? Far from it, because the Qur’an
recognizes that there are some benefits but these are outweighed by the
negative factor: They ask thee concerning wine and gambling. Saying; “in them
is great sin and some profit for men; but the sin is greater than the
profit.”(Al-Qur’an 2:219).
Medical
advantages
Some
recent studies have concluded that a person who drinks exactly two units of
alcohol a day has a reduced mortality. That means he will probably live longer
than a person who does not drink. However, if you drink more than this, you are
likely to die earlier than somehow who does not drink. This is the famous
j-shaped curve of its reduction in the incidence of heart disease, which is
there no matter how much alcohol one takes.
However,
as you increase the alcohol intake, the other medical problems dominate and
account for the reduction in life expectancy. Medical disadvantages: Liver
disease: the gravest influence of alcohol is that which it exerts on the liver.
The
liver is a sensitive laboratory, which regards each individual molecule of
alcohol as poison. The effects of alcohol on the liver are two folds: The liver
cells are occupied solely with the duty of eliminating alcohol, and neglect
their other duties. The chemical processes of the liver, each more sensitive
than the other, are disrepute by the unchecked interference of alcohol. As a
result, the liver has to repeat the same process many times wearing itself out
in the process.
These
effects lead to grave consequences for the liver. The most famous of these is
alcohol cirrhosis (permanent scarring of the liver), which is living proof that
the destruction of the liver has been completed. 10% of alcoholics go on to
develop cirrhosis.
Drinker
of alcohol should not find consolation if they don’t have cirrhosis because the
likelihood is that the alcohol will disrupt and destroy the function of the
liver one at a time. Chronic gastritis: Gastrointestinal bleeding in the
stomach can occur because of tears in the food pipe, bloated vessels which
burst open and bleeding ulcers. This is because alcohol dissolves the lipid
which from a protective coating against hydrochloric acid and prevent the
stomach from digesting itself.
Damage
to the nervous system: Chronic alcohol intake can cause destruction of the nerves,
with consequent loss of sensation and paralysis. Indeed the brain can also lose
its power to think and act quickly. Alcohol gradually inflicts severe damage on
various center of the nervous system. Amnesia and hand tremors are the
harbingers to this damage. Psychosocial problem: It is well-known how injurious
alcohol is to social order and stability.
Some
of the more note worthy effects are as follows: The touchiness caused by
alcohol draws the individuals in the societies into endless fights. Ceaseless
divorces annihilate the family structure and create anti-social children, which
shakes the very fabric of the entire society.
It
creates widespread apathy among individuals. As a result, national concerns,
social unity, and resistance against social problems vanish altogether. Satan’s
plan is (but) to excite enmity and hatred between you with intoxicant and
gambling and hinders you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer (Al-
Qur’an).
What
should we do?
Alcohol
is so ingrained into the society that it presents a serious problem to our
participation in this society. We can’t socialize even on a professional basis
because of the presence of alcohol at so many dinners and meetings.
We
appear anti-social and our career suffers unnecessarily. If we could confine to
purely social functions, then we will have done a great service to the society
and ourselves. Fortunately, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
The
Qur’an has cut off the problem of alcohol-which no society and no philosopher
has successfully been able to tackle- at its root, thus delivering the Muslim
society from this curse down through the centuries.
Maa
Salam
