The liquor is called khamr, the verb form of which is khamara, which means: he covered, hid or concealed. Since liquor beclouds the intellect and obscures the moral sensibilities of a man, it is therefore, called khamr. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has laid down the principle:
"The small quantity of that, the large quantity of which intoxicates, is also forbidden." Muslim
It is a well-known fact that alcoholic drink causes intoxication. And when a man is intoxicated, his mind, body, health, religion, moral sense, divine spirit, refined behaviour, family life, business undertakings, social contacts are all at stake.
A researcher in this area has rightly stated that:
"Mankind has not suffered any greater calamity than that brought about by the use of alcohol. If statistics were collected worldwide of all the patients in hospitals who, due to alcohol, are suffering from mental disorders, delirium tremens, nervous break-down, and ailments of the digestive tract, to which are added the statistics of suicides, homicides, bankruptcies, sales of properties, and broken homes related to the consumption of alcohol, the number of such cases would be so staggering that, in comparison to it, all exhortation and preaching against drinking would seem too little." The lawful and the Prohibited in Islam—Yusuf Al-Qaradawi p.70. Hindustan Publications, Dehli.
The Arabs of the Age of Ignorance was so fond of wine that their language and literature are replete with wine and drinking parties. Allah, the Almighty wanted to uproot this evil but gradually through education and training. They were convinced to the depth of their hearts that it has more harm than benefit. At a later stage they were asked not to say prayer while intoxicated. And finally, it was totally prohibited. Allah the Almighty enjoined in the Holy Qur`an in the most decisive way:
"O ye who believe! Intoxicants and gambling, sacrificing to stones, and (divination by) arrows, are an abomination, of Satan`s handiwork: Eschew such (abomination) that ye may prosper.
Saran`s plan is (but) to excite enmity and hatred between you, with intoxicants and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of Allah, and from prayer: Will ye not then abstain?" Q. 5: 90:91
How the Muslims desisted from those evils can be well imagined by the fact that when this verse were revealed and an announcer made an announcement about the prohibition of wine, those who were about to drink, split it. Every jar of wine in a Muslim house was emptied and in most of the cases even the utensils in which wine was prepared and served were broken.
Bo worth Smith says:
"By thus absolutely prohibiting gambling and intoxicating liquors Muhammad did much to abolish, once and for ail, over the vast regions that owed his sway, two of the worst and most irremediable evils of European society; evils to the intensity of which the Christian Governments of the nineteenth century are hardly yet beginning to awake." Mohammed and Mohammedanism, p. 258
In the verses mentioned above wine, gambling and divination by arrows have been strictly prohibited. These things are rijs (abominable) in the sight of Allah, the Almighty which He reserves for the most hated indecent, filthy and evil things. It is only Satan, the accursed who entices the progeny of Adam to practice the wrong and indecent acts painting them to be the only source of success. Since man, basically, has an ingredient of greed in him, he runs after those things, which are supposed to lead to success and power. The Qur`an reveals in unequivocal words how wine and gambling affect adversely on human society; how relations are broken, enmity and hatred are created in human hearts, how religions and spiritual obligations such as that of remembering of Allah, the Almighty are neglected.
Islam adopts the methods of changing human heart by inculcating pleasure and displeasure of Allah, the Almighty in him and the result of seeking either of the two. Pleasure of Allah brings reward in the Hereafter; displeasure will incur His wrath resulting in severe and terrible punishment of Fire. Hence when the Holy Prophet (peace end blessings of Allah be upon him) recited the aforesaid verses ending with the words:
“Will you not then abstain; "his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) cried in distress, saying: "We abstain, 0 Lord: We abstain." This remarkable response from the Companions of the Messenger of Allah has no analogy in the history of mankind.
Governments, social organizations and sane individuals are crying for the abolition of alcohol throughout the world, but they have so far failed in their purpose. People, instead of desisting from alcoholic drinks, are indulging in this evil act more and more. Some governments, including United States, enacted laws to prohibit the evil of taking wine but they proved of no avail. We see in India that, inspire of public speeches, seminars, symposia, conferences and propaganda carried on through media, nothing fruitful has come out as yet. Combating machineries all over the world have been licking the dust. Islam alone has fought this baffle with remarkable success.
Governments, social organizations, individuals of understanding have failed on this front only because they do not believe in what they preach. They preach and propagate one thing at the top of their voice but try to find out some loopholes here and there. They have never made sincere efforts to eradicate the evil of drinking. Even the churchmen have made this point controversial. They differ in regard to Biblical injunction. Some of them are of the opinion that Biblical text does not object to drinking wine in a little quantity just for the sake of digestion. But Islam advocates to for total prohibition because it knows human nature without making an iota of error. It knows very well that a little evil expands into a big one; and hence one glass of, wine may go on multiplying day by day resulting in dozens of glasses everyday making the person addicted to it. Islam blocks all avenues and stands in the way of any drinking habit formed at any stage of life.
Islam strikes at the root of all evils. Here also, it has not only blocked all avenue of this evil by total prohibition but it goes to the extreme by declaring hararn everything that intoxicates. Now it is clear beyond doubt that what is prohibited is not the wine, in small quantity or big; it is the intoxicating nature of a thing that is prohibited. Once the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was asked about certain drinks brewed from materials like honey, corn, or barley etc. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) replied with amazing brevity.
"Every intoxicant is khamr and every khamr (liquor) is haram,." Muslim
Hadrat Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) declared from the pulpit of the Messenger of Allah:
"khamr is that which makes the mind confused and perplexed." Bukhari and Muslim
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