Wine / Khamr:-                       


        When one studies the Hadiths of Bukhari and Muslim, one will come across scores of stories associating Muhammad with the pleasures of drinking wine for almost 15 years before the alleged 'prohibition verse was revealed'.

       It is very important to note, that it was Umar ibn al Khattab who pestered Muhammad about such a prohibition because Arabs were going to the mosque fighting drunk. As usual, a MADE to ORDER 'revelation' was 'descended'.

       The following verses and stories from the Ahadith point to such a conclusion.

       In the Quran wine is called Khamr and is mentioned explicitly in the following four verses only:

2: 219"They ask thee concerning wine [khamri] and gambling.  Say: "In them is great
sin  [ithmou] and some profit [manfa'] for men; but the sin [ithumouhuma] is greater than the profit [naf'ihima]." They ask thee how much they are to spend; say: "What is beyond your needs."  Thus doth Allah make clear to you His Signs: in order that ye may consider"

              *** It must be pointed out that the adjectives used above to describe the usefulness or harm of drinking intoxicants and of gambling are in the form of admonitions, advice, and not as direct and unambiguous commands to desist from either of them.

       If Allah had wanted them prohibited, then the verse should have been a command/ order and not advice and the word for this would have been HARAM/PROHIBITED such as is used in verses 2:194,217; 4:23; 6:151;16:118.

           Moreover, it does not make sense to use the adjective Sin - a moral concept- in contradistinsction to Profit - an economic concept.

       In fact Manfa' should have been translated to Benefit and not Profit and the opposite should have been to Harm instead of Sin***

       Khamr is also mentioned in 2:36,41 (the story of Joseph); 47:15 (rivers of wine in Paradise for the believers).

       In 76:5 (wine is implied - not mentioned - mixed with Camphor);

83:25 (mis-translated 'Rahiq = Nectar' for wine).

4: 43        O ye who believe! approach not prayers with a mind befogged [sukara] until ye can understand all that ye say nor in a state of ceremonial impurity (except when travelling on the road) until after washing your whole body if ye are ill or on a journey or one of you cometh from offices of nature or ye have been in contact with women and ye find no water then take for yourselves clean sand or earth and rub therewith your faces and hands.  For Allah doth blot out sins and forgive again and again

       *** The word sukara means intoxicated. The verse does not prohibit the drinking of wine. It is pointing out to the believers that they should not attend prayers while under the influence.

       It was in the later verses, because the believers were not following this instruction, that Muhammad had no choice but to prohibit it totally through conveniently 'revealed' verses from Allah ***

5: 90        O ye who believe! Wine [khamru] and gambling (dedication of) stones and (divination by) arrows are an abomination of Satan's handiwork: eschew such (abomination) that ye may prosper.

       *** Yet again, abomination means detestation/repugnance and the verb used is 'eschew' to 'avoid' which is a warning but not an outright prohibition***

12: 36        Now with him there came into the prison two young men.  Said one of them: "I see myself (in a dream) pressing wine [khamra]." Said the other: "I see myself (in a dream) carrying bread on my head and birds are eating thereof." "Tell us" (they said) "the truth and meaning thereof: for we see thou art one that doth good (to all)….. 41        "O my two companions of the prison! as to one of you he will pour out the wine [khamra] for his lord to drink: as for the other he will hang from the cross and the birds will eat from off his head.  (So) hath been decreed that matter whereof ye twain do enquire..."

16: 67        And from the fruit of the date-palm and the vine ye get out wholesome drink [Sakara] and food: behold in this also is a Sign for those who are wise.       

       #2096        There are wholesome drinks and foods that can be got out of the date-palm and the vine: e.g., non-alcoholic drinks from the date and the grape, vinegar, date-sugar, grape-sugar, and dates and grapes themselves for eating. If sakar is taken in the sense of fermented wine, it would refer to the time before intoxicants were prohibited, for this is a Makkan Sura and the prohibition came in Madinah. In such a case it would imply a subtle disapproval of the use of intoxicants and mark the first of a series of steps that in time culminated in total prohibition#    
                                                                            
       *** Yet once more, the interpreter of the Quran distorts and convolutes the Arabic language - and chemistry - to fit his agenda and that of the Quran.

       The word SAKARA means INTOXICANT in every Arabic lexicon. The Ahadith are full of stories associating date-palm and vine with the production of intoxicants and wine. Even Muhammad, for almost 15 years before the 'prohibition' was 'revealed', used to love and enjoy drinking wine as mentioned in the Hadiths of Muslim and Bukhari.

        If drinking is caused by Satan, then Muhammad was under his influence all these years. In this verse, Allah is commending its use as a benenfit to humans and not as harmful.

       One should ask the relevant questions as to why Allah - if he were the Almighty, the All-knowing - needed to prohibit the drinking of wine in stages after having approved of it in the first place?

       Why did not  Allah prohibit it forthwith from the beginning?

       How is it possible to imply that Allah did not realise that the followers of Muhammad could not remain sober after drinking wine?

        These questions need very SOBERING answers ***

47: 15         (Here is) a Parable of the Garden which the righteous are promised: in it are rivers of water incorruptible: rivers of milk of which the taste never changes; rivers of wine [khamr] a joy to those who drink; and rivers of honey pure and clear.  In it there are for them all kinds of fruits and Grace from their Lord.  (Can those in such Bliss) be compared to such as shall dwell for ever in the Fire and be given to drink boiling water so that it cuts up their bowels (to pieces)?

       *** The SAME word, WINE is used to describe the the liquid of the third type of rivers.

        The verse DOES NOT elaborate that this wine is NON INTOXICANT.

       It was the later followers of Muhammad who had no choice BUT to suggest that they were, to deflect attention from the FACT that the Quran PROHIBITS its followers from everything that is PLEASANT in LIFE but are REWARDED by the same ONLY in DEATH ***

83: 25        Their thirst will be slaked with Pure wine [rahiq] sealed [makhtoom]:

       *** In fact the translation of this verse is wrong since the Quran is mentioning 
" Yasqoon min Rahiqi Makhtoomin" which literally mean " Slaked (their thirst) with Nectar (from) sealed (jugs)" where in the Arabic word Khamr denoting wine is not used.
      
       Hence, in the whole of the Quran, there are only FIVE instances where in the word is used explicitly and only in 2:219 is it frowned upon but NOT PROHIBITED***

Al-Muwatta Hadith  Hadith 42.2 The Hadd for Drinking Wine
Yahya related to me from Malik from Thawr ibn Zayd ad-Dili that Umar ibn al-Khattab asked advice about a man drinking wine. Ali ibn Abi Talib said to him, "We think that you flog him for it with eighty lashes. Because when he drinks, he becomes intoxicated, and when he becomes intoxicated, he talks confusedly, and when he talks confusedly, he lies." (80 lashes is the same amount as for slandering) Umar gave eighty lashes for drinking wine.

Al-Muwatta Hadith  Hadith 42.13 General Section on Wine being Made Haram
Yahya related to me from Malik from Ishaq ibn Abdullah ibn Abi Talha that Anas ibn Malik said, "I was serving wine to Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah and Abu Talha al-Ansari and Umayy ibn Kab. The wine had been prepared from crushed ripe dates and dried dates. Someone came to them and said, 'Wine has been made haram.' Abu Talha ordered me to go and take the jugs and break them. I stood up and went to a mortar of ours and I struck them with the bottom of it until they broke."

Al-Muwatta Hadith  Hadith 42.11 Wine Made Haram
Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from Abdullah ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said "Whoever drinks wine in this world and does not turn from it in tawba, it is haram for him in the Next World."

       *** Contrary to the contorted logic of the Muhammadans, the above tradition speaks of the same wine [khamr] whether on Earth or in Heaven.

       It does not distinguish between the two specifically since the implication is that it would deprive the subject from exactly the same effects in life or on death.

        There is no explicit or implicit distinction that the wine on Earth is intoxicating while that in Heaven is not***

Sunan of Abu-DawoodHadith 3666        Narrated byAbdullah ibn Umar
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Allah has cursed wine, its drinker, its server, its seller, its buyer, its presser, the one for whom it is pressed, the one who conveys it, and the one to whom it is conveyed.

      *** According to the Quranic verses, wine is not cursed but is advised against drinking it because it intoxicates. Verse 16:67  actually compliments it ***

Sunan of Abu-DawoodHadith 3668        Narrated byAn-Nu'man ibn Bashir
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: from grapes wine is made, from dried dates wine is made, from honey wine is made, from wheat wine is made, from barley wine is made.

Sunan of Abu-DawoodHadith 3662        Narrated byUmar ibn al-Khattab
When the prohibition of wine (was yet to be) declared,
Umar said: O Allah, give us a satisfactory explanation about wine.

So the following verse of Surat al-Baqarah revealed;
"They ask thee concerning wine and gambling. Say: In them is great sin...." Umar was then called and it was recited to him. 

He said: O Allah, give us a satisfactory explanation about wine.
Then the following verse of Surat an-Nisa' was revealed:

"O ye who believe! approach not prayers with a mind befogged...."

Thereafter the herald of the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) would call when the (congregational) prayer was performed: Beware, one who is drunk should not come to prayer.

Umar was again called and it was recited to him). 
He said: O Allah, give us a satisfactory explanation about wine.
This verse was revealed:

"Will ye not then abstain?" 
Umar said: We abstained.

       *** As usual in the Quran, the ever vigilant Allah conveniently 'descended' several verses to satisfy this time, the wishes of Umar.

       It seems that Allah was very expeditious in answering with the required verses, always at the beck and call of Muhammad or Umar - as well as others - whenever they needed a certain verse to be 'revealed'.

       This verse for  instance, does not mention sin but only harm ***

Sunan of Abu-DawoodHadith 3668        Narrated byAn-Nu'man ibn Bashir
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: from grapes wine is made, from dried dates wine is made, from honey wine is made, from wheat wine is made, from barley wine is made.

Sunan of Abu-DawoodHadith 3672        Narrated byAbdullah Ibn Abbas
The Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) said: Every intoxicant is khamr (wine) and every intoxicant is forbidden. If anyone drinks wine, Allah will not accept prayer from him for forty days, but if he repents, Allah will accept his repentance. If he repeats it a fourth time, it is binding on Allah that He will give him tinat al-khabal to drink.  He was asked: What is tinat al-khabal, Apostle of Allah?  He replied: Discharge of wounds, flowing from the inhabitants of Hell. If anyone serves it to a minor who does not distinguish between the lawful and the unlawful, it is binding on Allah that He will give him to drink the discharge of wounds, flowing from the inhabitants of Hell.

       *** Muhammad asserts that all wine (Khamr) is intoxicant, which of course it is otherwise it cannot be wine.

        Unfortunately, Muhammadan scholars do their level best to confuse and mislead readers as to its true meaning so as to cover up the catastrophic inconsistencies regarding this particular subject in the Quran ***

Sahih Muslim HadithHadith 3835        Narrated byAbuSa'id al-Khudri also 5.462; 6.247; 7.138

I heard Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) addressing in Medina. He said:
O people, Allah is giving an indication (of the prohibition) of wine, and He is probably soon going to give an order about it. So he who has anything of it with him should sell that, and derive benefit out of it.

He (the narrator) said: We waited for some time that Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) said: Verily Allah, the Exalted, has forbidden wine. So who hears this verse and he has anything of it with him, he should neither drink it nor sell it. He (the narrator) said: The people then brought whatever they had of it with them on the streets of Medina and spilt that.

       *** It is very clear from the above Hadith that Muhammad was already preparing his followers to the inevitable 'REVELATION' of a verse frowning  upon drinking and appearing drunk in the mosque ***

Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 3.829        Narrated byAisha
(the wife of the Prophet)  "Whenever Allah's Apostle intended to go on a journey, he would draw lots amongst his wives and would take with him the one upon whom the lot fell. During a Ghazwa of his, he drew lots amongst us and the lot fell upon me, and I proceeded with him after Allah had decreed the use of the veil by women…..

       *** As usual, almost all the prohibitions that Muhammad initiated in his Quran to his followers were not applicable to him. He was, after all, the messenger of Allah and hence was above the 'law'.

       He invariably broke all the prohibitions of the traditions of the Arabs and then produced the very convenient and relevant 'revelations' justifying them. Divination too, the throwing of lots, was allowed only to himself ***

Al-Tirmidhi HadithHadith 2776        Narrated byAnas ibn Malik
Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) cursed ten people in connection with wine: the wine-presser, the one who has it pressed, the one who drinks it, the one who conveys it, the one to whom it is conveyed, the one who serves it, the one who sells it, the one who benefits from the price paid for it, the one who buys it, and the one for whom it is bought.
Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it.

       *** Muhammad had been drinking and enjoying wine for almost 15 years of his mission, is he also cursed?***

Al-Tirmidhi HadithHadith 5650        Narrated byHakim ibn Mu'awiyah
Allah's Messenger said, "In Paradise there are a great river of water, a great rivers of honey, a great river of milk and a great river of wine; then the smaller river will be divided off."
Tirmidhi transmitted it, and Darimi transmitted it from Mu'awiyah.

      *** In Muhammad's version of Paradise, wine, which is prohibited on earth, flows in rivers to slake the thirst of the martyrs.

       In fact, whatever luxury and joy that was PROHIBITED in LIFE on EARTH is made HALAL and abundant in DEATH ***