The Qur’an: A Miracle Beyond Time- A Study of Its Miraculous Nature (Part 14)
An Example of a Legislative Miracle
The prohibition of wine in the Holy Quran is one of the most prominent examples of the “legislative miracle of the Holy Quran”, which demonstrates the unparalleled wisdom of Islam in changing deep social beliefs and behaviors. In the society of ignorance, where drinking wine was an inseparable part of people’s culture and daily life, Islam moved towards a complete and definitive prohibition of wine in a step-by-step manner, taking into account the psychological and social readiness of Muslims. This educational path was followed in four thought-provoking stages, each of which is a solid step towards purifying the soul, refining the soul, and forming a pure and committed society.
Comparing with contemporary legislation
The United States government also banned wine at one time and prepared to fight it throughout its country. This government used all the facilities of contemporary civilization to discredit wine drinking and express its harms and corruptions; including magazines, newspapers, speeches, pictures and cinema.
It is estimated that the US government spent more than “sixty million dollars” on propaganda against wine. What was published in the form of books and pamphlets in this regard amounted to “ten billion pages”.
The costs incurred for implementing the wine prohibition law over a period of “fourteen years” were no less than “250 million pounds”. During this period, “300” people were executed, “532,335” people were imprisoned, fines reached “16 million pounds” and property worth “404 million pounds” was confiscated.
But despite all these efforts, nothing was achieved except that the American people became more attached to wine and showed more stubbornness in consuming it, to the extent that the government, in the year “1933”, was forced to repeal the prohibition law and allow the drinking of wine completely and freely within its territory.[1]
Allamah Imam Abu al-Hassan Nadvi writes: Among the amazing examples of “quick and immediate obedience” is what happened when the command to prohibit alcohol was revealed, as narrated from Abu Buraidah on the authority of his father, who said: While we were sitting and drinking alcohol, and there was a vessel of alcohol with us, and we considered alcohol to be lawful and drank it, I got up to go to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and greet him. At that moment, the verse prohibiting alcohol was revealed: “يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ إِنَّمَا ٱلخَمرُ وَٱلمَيسِرُ وَٱلأَنصَابُ وَٱلأَزلَٰمُ رِجسٞ مِّنۡ عَمَلِ ٱلشَّيطَٰنِ” Translation: “O you who have believed! Intoxicants, gambling, idols, and divination are abominations and are the work of Satan.” [Al-Ma’idah: 90]
to the extent that it says:“فَهَل أَنتُم مُّنتَهُونَ” Translation: “Will you (now) desist?”[Al-Ma’idah: 91]
I returned to my companions and recited these verses to them until I reached this sentence:”فَهَل أَنتُم مُّنتَهُونَ”[Al-Ma’idah: 91] “Will you (now) desist?”
The narrator says: Some of the people present had cups of wine in their hands, they had drunk some of it and some remained in the cup. Immediately, they held the rim of the cup under their upper lips, like what a cupping therapist does (i.e. they stopped drinking) and poured out all that was left in their container and said: “انتهينا ربنا. انتهينا ربنا” Translation: “Our Lord, we have given up! Our Lord, we have given up (this act)!” [2]
The Four Stages of the Prohibition of wine
Next, we will examine these four stages to see how the Quran, with wisdom and prudence, removed deep-rooted habits from within the Islamic society, without creating a sharp repulsion or a cultural divide.
The prohibition of wine in the Holy Quran took place in four stages:
The first stage: It only states the fact that alcohol is an unpleasant phenomenon in itself, where it says: “وَمِن ثَمَرَٰتِ ٱلنَّخِيلِ وَٱلۡأَعۡنَٰبِ تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنهُ سَكَرا وَرِزقًا حَسَنًاۚ” Translation: “From the fruits of dates and grapes you obtain intoxicants and also good sustenance.” [Al-Nahl: 67]
In this verse, intoxicants are placed opposite to “good sustenance”, and this is while it is not possible that what is opposite to “good sustenance” itself is a good and desirable thing; therefore, this verse refers to the unpleasantness and badness of alcohol.
The Second stage: Expressing the fact that there is a harmful sin in wine, and if this is the case, while all human thoughts and divine religions admit that something whose harm is greater than its benefit will be prohibited and forbidden, because the criterion of sanctity, permissibility, and desirability in many cases is the same benefit and harm.
Therefore, what has more benefits is desirable and what has more harm is undesirable. On the other hand, it should also be noted that Allah Almighty created phenomena in which benefit and harm are often mixed with each other, and there is no such thing as pure benefit or pure harm, and for this reason, desirability or undesirability is based on the excess of one of these two means benefit and harm over the other, and also, depending on the difference in its benefit and its smallness or excess, its demand will have different degrees of obligation and desirability, and depending on the difference in its harm, it will have different degrees of prohibition.
The verse of the Holy Quran: “يَسـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلخَمرِ وَٱلمَيسِرِۖ قُل فِيهِمَآ إِثم كَبِير وَمَنَٰفِعُ لِلنَّاسِ وَإِثمُهُمَآ أَكبَرُ مِن نَّفعِهِمَاۗ» Translation: “They ask you about wine and gambling. Say, “In them is great sin and [yet, some] benefit for people. But their sin is greater than their benefit.”[Al-Baqarah: 219], implied the prohibition of intoxicants; however, this implication was not explicit and clear, and for this reason, Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) constantly prayed, “Our Lord, send down to us a clear and complete explanation regarding intoxicants.”
The third stage: Educating people to give up wine in such a way that people are gradually accustomed to abstaining from wine at certain times of the day and night and at the five times of the day, so that when the complete prohibition is revealed, everyone will be ready and able to completely abstain from it and separate themselves from it. It was at this stage that the following verse was revealed: “یا أَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لَا تَقرَبُواْ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَأَنتُمۡ سُكَٰرَىٰ حَتَّىٰ تَعلَمُواْ مَا تَقُولُونَ” Translation: “O you who have believed, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated until you know what you are saying.” [Al-Nisa: 43]
Since prayer is the pillar of religion and Muslims must perform it, and on the other hand, this obligation is spread out at different times of the day and night, people are forced not to drink wine in the morning in order to be fully alert for the morning prayer. In this way, people were forced to give up wine in the morning; during the day, it was also time for work and effort, and there was no room for fun and wine. And when noon approached, they had no right to defile themselves with wine because the time for prayer was approaching. The same problem existed during the afternoon, which came an hour later, and the time for the Maghrib and Isha prayers followed, and at that time they were also forced to give up alcohol, and in this way they also gave up the evening wine, and the only time left for them was after the Isha prayer, and this time was also the time for sleep after the fatigue and hardships of the day.
In this way, Muslims were forced to abstain from drinking alcohol almost all the time, or at least most of the day and night, in order to be alert in prayer.
The fourth stage: The complete and definitive prohibition of wine. This was despite the fact that Muslims had already realized that this phenomenon was an unpleasant and bad phenomenon, and in addition, they had become aware of its harms, which outweighed its benefits. They had trained themselves to abandon it and not need it after a period of being accustomed to wine and after it had become part of their lives.
It was at this stage that the following verse was revealed: “يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ إِنَّمَا ٱلخَمرُ وَٱلمَيسِرُ وَٱلأَنصَابُ وَٱلأَزلَٰمُ رِجس مِّن عَمَلِ ٱلشَّيطَٰنِ فَٱجتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تُفلِحُونَ» Translation: “O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than God], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.” [Al-Ma’idah: 90]
It is clear that the prohibition stated in this verse is a definite prohibition because the reason and philosophy of the prohibition are also based on the fact that wine creates hatred and enmity among them.[3]
In conclusion, it can be said that the legislative miracle of the Holy Quran is a living proof of its revelation, the order that the Quran presents in human life has been formulated with such precision, comprehensiveness, justice and wisdom that no human being or human intellectual system can come up with anything like it, this miracle is still alive and current and responds to the needs of man in every age. [4]
Taken from the book “Tanqihat” by “ Abul-Ala Mawdudi” quoted in the footnote (What has the world lost with the decline of the Muslims, p. 79).
Tafsir Ibn Jarir, in the commentary of verse 90 of Surah Ma’idah, What has the world lost with the decline of the Muslims, p. 100.
Tafsir Al-Munir – Al-Zuhaili (2/271-270)
Taken from: Discussions in the Sciences of the Quran – Mana’ al-Qattan (pp. 284-289) and the book “Legislative Miracles in the Quran”, by Muhammad Ismail Ibrahim, translated by Abdul-Latif.
