The opinion that Islam prohibits alcohol. We checked whether such a norm is really contained in Islamic religious texts.

On the Internet you can find materials, affirmingthat the ban on alcohol in Islam is logical, and its occurrence is associated with the drunkenness, common among the Arabs. Along with this, we know the verses of representatives of medieval Muslim culture (for example, Omara Khayyama), singing wine, as well as images on which captured Scenes of royal feasts with wine as a familiar attribute. In addition, the usual word for us "alcohol"as well as the term "Alambik" (vessel for distillation) is the words of Arabic origin.

In the central part of the Arabian Peninsula-in the region where Islam was born-winemaking was poorly developed because of the climate, which was not suitable for growing grapes. At the same time, information about production in Arabia is not from grapes already among ancient authors. For example, Strabo mentionedthat the Arabs mainly "get wine from palm trees." The viticulture in Arabia developed mainly in the south, in the mountainous regions of Yemen. This confirmed Not only archaeological finds, but also information from South Arabian inscriptions. One of these inscriptions tells about how people drink wine in the Society of Singers at a feast. In addition, lexical diversity may indicate the spread of the production of alcoholic beverages - in the Arabic language There is from 100 to 250 words for their designation.

This is not to say that such a state of things is radically changing with the emergence of Islam in Arabia. In the hadiths - messages about the Prophet Muhammad - there is evidence that his associates drank wine. In Medina, his uncle Hamza ibn Abd al-Mutalib, while intoxicated, killed a camel belonging to the cousin and son -in -law of the Prophet Ali. When Hamzu was led to Muhammad, the Prophet began to rebuke his uncle for his deed, but not for drinking wine. Another detail of this story is interesting: Hamza, along with other Muslims, drank wine in the Society of the singer. Exactly the same description of the feast was given in the South Arabic inscription mentioned above, which indicates the spread of this table practice throughout Arabia.

The lack of a ban on the use of wine is confirmed by the early verses (verses) of the Qur'an. According to the Muslim tradition, God sent Revelation throughout the life of Muhammad, and quanium science shares The Coran's suras in the time of their sending on the Meccan (those that were sent down by Muhammad during his life in Mecca) and Medinsky (received after Hijra - the resettlement of the prophet and his associates to Medina). In particular, in the Meccan Sura "An-Nahl" ("Bees") Mentioned Wine from grapes and dates: “And from the fruits of palm trees and vines, you take a drinking and good destiny for yourself. Truly, this is a sign for rational people! " (Hereinafter, quotes from the Qur'an in the translation of I.Yu. Krachkovsky). In this verse, we are not talking about the ban on the “drinking drink”, however, “rational people” should correctly understand this sign of God and independently distinguish harm and benefits from its use.

Silver bowl with a poem about wine.
The second half of the XI - XII century.
Metro-Museum (USA)

The attitude to alcohol in the Qur'an was gradually tightened. In later Sura "Al-Bakara" (“Cow”), which belongs to the Medinsky period in the life of the Prophet, the wine goes on a par with the gambling of Misier (its participants bought a camel in the folding, and then divided its meat according to the lot). It is said about Maysir and wine that “both of them are a great sin and some benefit for people, but their sin is more benefit”, that is, the use of alcohol in this context is interpreted as an action, the harm from which exceeds the benefits of it. At the same time, a later ayat from the Sura "An-Nisa" (“Woman”) forbids believers to pray in this state: “Do not get close to prayer when you are drunk until you understand what you are saying.”

Finally, even later, according to the date of sending the ayata actually announced Forbidden both alcohol and gambling: “Wine, Maisir, altars, arrows - an abomination from the act of Satan. Guide this. " In the next ayat from the same sura of al-Maid ("meal") this thought repeated With regard to wine and Masier, with the help of which "Satan wants to grate enmity and hatred among you." It is worth noting right away that the “arrows” in a vertex above mean a widespread practice among Arabs to use arrows with inscriptions to determine behavior in a particular situation. How Explained In the comments to the Qur'an, the Arabs were guided by the inscriptions on the arrows, taking them for God's command. If you return to the main topic, then these verses demonstrate that as the Muslim community grows in the Qur'an, a ban on the use of alcohol and being intoxicated was increasingly tightened. If initially it was about the fact that a reasonable person himself is able to determine the benefits and harm from wine, then in later verses the use of alcohol was classified as an increasingly more serious violation.

Muslim religious scientists explained the nature of such gradual prohibitions using the concept Namha (cancellation). There are a number of verses in the Qur'an, the postulates of which contradict the postulates of earlier or later parts of the sacred text. The concept of the whip is that a later ayat can cancel or clarify the provisions recorded in an earlier one. Thus, the hypothetical situation is excluded in which a Muslim can be guided by one of the early “wine” verses that do not contain a strict ban on alcohol use - the provisions of the early verses are clarified by later, in which a strict ban appears.

At the same time, wine is mentioned in the Qur'an not only as a source of danger to the believer, but also as a reward for the righteous. Several passages of the Holy Book of Muslims are described by scenes awaiting pious Muslims in paradise, and wine is mentioned more than once among these descriptions. The righteous Among The afterlife life in the garden, where rivers flow from the water, milk and wine, "pleasant for the drinkers." A drink that will be served in paradise, does not contain "Riot", and also does not cause "Mustache and impulses to sin", "Headache and weakening". In other words, heavenly wine, which is available only to the righteous, is radically different in properties from the wine of the earth.

The ban on the use of alcohol and being intoxicated is specified and supplemented in hadiths. In one of them reportedthat everything that causes intoxication is recognized by wine (Hamr) and therefore forbidden for Muslims (Haram). The term "Hamr", which is found in a number of Koranic contexts, for simplicity, we will translate as "wine", although it means a large number of intoxicating drinks obtained as a result of fermentation. Also in hadiths Classified The products from which alcohol make: grapes, dried dates, honey, wheat and barley. The text of one of the hadiths sends To paradise guilt: "He who drinks wine in this life will not drink it in the life of the future, if he does not play." The hadiths in this way continue the line in the last under the date of sending the verses of the Qur'an on this subject: they confirm the Koranic attitudes, while expanding the categories of intoxicating drinks.

Portrait of Sultan Selim II (about 1570).
Aga Khan Museum (Toronto)

In the first centuries of Muslim history, Islamic law is actively developing (Fikh), within which various schools are distinguished (Mazhabs). Among the legal schools Formed Various interpretations of the term "Hamr" and attitude to intoxication. Representatives of the Malikit and Shafiite Mazhabov insisted on the full prohibition of intoxicating drinks, using different grounds. The Malikites justified the ban on the Koinic verses, which said that alcohol causes hatred and enmity among Muslims, and also does not allow them to send their religious duties. Shafiites, paying tribute to the Qur'an, also relied on the hadles mentioned above about the strict ban on alcohol. Both of these schools of rights at the same time criticized representatives of the Hanafite Mazhab, who initially advocated a narrower interpretation of the term “Hamr”.

Hanafites, unlike other schools of law, initially They counted Hamrom only drinks made of fresh grape juice as a result of fermentation, and, therefore, allowed the manufacture of drinks from, for example, dumped grape juice. In addition, the Hanafit lawyers at the early stage of the school existed not only manufacturing, but also the consumption of such drinks, expandfully interpreting the intoxication criteria: difficulties in speech or inability to distinguish the day from night, and a man from a woman. Over time, the Hanafites came to the opinion of the need for a complete ban on making intoxicating drinks and the inadmissibility of their use.

As for the Hanbalite Mazhab, he, initially as the most conservative, was solidarized here with maalikitis and Shafiites: how Notes One of the authors, all these three Mazhab are discussing the use of alcohol only in the context of punishment for this. Thus, the consensus regarding the inadmissibility of the use of any alcohol in any quantity was formed among the main Sunni schools of law. Shiite jurists solidarity With their colleagues in this matter.

The social side of this ban and the application of these restrictions in practice had many nuances. With the reign in the caliphate of the Abbasid dynasty in 750, the court culture and etiquette began to form under the distinct influence of Iranian pre -Islamic traditions (including royal feasts with wine and musicians). These traditions spread in the Islamic era, despite the emergence of a legal ban. Winemaking developed on the territory of the Muslim world, and one of its centers was the city of Shiraz. Schurazian wine (whose connection with the modern sheds is not proven) was very popular and even exported To Europe.

In addition, the legal norms of Islam (including a ban on alcohol) were not applied to Gentiles. In this regard, in large Muslim cities, specially appointed Mukhtasib Overaders followed the order and compliance with Sharia, and wine trafficking was limited to quarters in which non-Muslims lived. In Persian lyrical poetry, such an abstract quarter is called "Harabat"And becomes one of the main places of action. For example, the lyrical hero of the poet Khafiz Shirazi, who is tired of hypocrisy of others (at the end of this Articles There is a philological translation and commentary of one of the Gazelle Hafiz, in which all these motives are found). He comes to a drinking institution, where the elder-mage (that is, a Zoroastrian or wider-non-Muslim) gives him wine. However, such passages can be interpreted metaphorically: an eccentric mystic in the process of knowing God receives the wine of knowledge from his mentor.

Wine motives appeared in the poetry of the Muslim world even before Hafiz. A whole genre was formed in Arabic lyrics Hamriyat - The poets who chose him sang wine and feasts. It is believed that the development of this genre is also associated with the influence of Iranian pre -Islamic poetry, in which the royal feasts were described, and the poet of Persian origin Abu Nuvas was one of the main masters of the poems of Hamriyat.

In a number of modern countries, whose legislation is somehow based on Sharia standards, alcohol is prohibited, and its production, smuggling or consumption are criminally punishable. Moreover, for example, in Iran these measures Do not spread On the officially recognized communities of Gentiles - Christians of the Armenian or Assyrian church. The official ban on the sale of alcohol creates new possibilities for the drinking market: in the same Iran, the non -alcoholic beer industry is very developed, and in some stores you can even find products of Russian manufacturers. In some countries of North Africa, however, alcohol is sold and even produced, despite the introduction of Sharia plants into their legal system. In Egypt, for example, a ban on alcohol is a topic discussed on television and in the press, and some high -ranking jurisdictions recognize the true The old Hanafite version of the ban. In the same Egypt, the words of popular preachers about alcohol turn into viral news and even become the reason for creating and parsing Fakes.