Alcohol ban in Islam
The consumption of alcohol is considered haram (prohibited) in both Sunni and Shi'ite Islam and in all law schools . This attitude can be traced back to the abrogation of Koranic regulations, which is common in traditional Islamic circles .
Alcohol consumption and prohibition in the Koran
Four verses of the Koran ( aya ) deal explicitly with the consumption or prohibition of alcohol:
“And (we give you) of the fruits of the palms and grapevines (to drink), from which you make a binge, and (besides) nice maintenance. This is a sign for people who have understanding. "
“They ask you about the wine and the lottery. Say: There is a grave sin in them. And in doing so, they are (sometimes) useful to people. But the sin that lies in them is greater than their benefit. And they ask you what to donate. Say: the excess (of what you have)! So God makes the verses clear to you. Maybe you would think about it. "
“You believers! Don't come to prayer drunk without first (having come to you again and) knowing what you are saying! "
“You believers! Wine, the lottery, sacrificial stones and lottery arrows are (a true) horror and the work of the devil. Avoid it! Perhaps you will (then) fare well. "
The gradual ban on alcohol consumption, from the Meccan verse 16 : 67 to the late Medinan verse 5:90 represents the Koran exegesis in the chronology of Revelation described above. The Koran verses confirm that at the time of Muhammad's trade in wine chamr /خمر / ḫamr and his Muslim contemporaries ( sahaba ) enjoyed it as an intoxicating drink. Also Hartmut Bobzin has due Sura 4 : 43 out that an absolute Islamic dietary laws in the Quran can not have existed from the beginning and makes reference to the fact that wine in Sura 16 : 67 (as well as the honey) as one of the good Gifts of God is mentioned (16:67). The prohibition to pray while drunk (Sura 4:43) probably came into being in the fourth year after the emigration in Medina . In paradise the believers and a. also "brooks with wine" ( sura 47:15 ) promised, which according to Quran commentators should not have an intoxicating effect. Only the most recent of the above verses ( Sura 5 : 90) leads to the ban on alcohol consumption. The Koranic idiom /رجس / riǧs / 'abominations; filth; impure 'or amal ash-shaitan /عمل الشيطان / ʿAmal aš-šaiṭān / 'Devil's Work' underlines the prohibitive character of this verse. In traditional Islamic jurisprudence , the abrogation has become common, according to which, in the case of contradicting suras, the suras that appear later “cancel” earlier ones. If one follows this view - as is the case with a conservative interpretation of the Koran - then the older, above-mentioned revelations are abrogated ( mansūch ) by verse 5:90 ( nāsich ), that is to say overlaid. However, the doctrine of abrogation repeatedly met with rejection within Islam, which is why the alcohol ban is often rejected by liberal circles. Remarkably, in the verses, which are often interpreted as a strict ban on alcohol (2: 219, 5:90), the consumption of wine is always mentioned in connection with the lottery (maisir). Bobzin therefore emphasizes that these verses cannot be interpreted as a strict ban on alcohol, but rather the accompanying circumstances are meant. Accordingly, the excessive (“don't you want to stop?”, 5:91) gambling , more precisely the lottery game, accompanied by pagan customs (sacrificial stones), fueled by the consumption of wine is meant. This contextual interpretation of Sura 5:90 also eliminates the apparent contradiction between the above verses, so that the abrogation can be dispensed with. Because most Muslims assume that the Koran literally contains the word of God, i.e. H. contains unadulterated. Contradictions would therefore pose a theological problem. By renouncing abrogation and by interpreting sura 5:90 not as a strict ban on wine, but only as a ban in the context of gambling, the following picture emerges: The Koran shows that the believer should not come to prayer drunk (4th ed : 43), but wine is one of the good gifts of creation (16:67), which has more disadvantages than advantages in connection with the lottery (2: 219) and the lottery and the alcohol consumption associated with it must therefore be avoided ( 5:90).
Alcohol ban in traditional literature
The Qur'anic term “chamr” initially refers to the alcoholic beverages made from grapes , the dates and figs grown there in the area of Mecca, Medina and Taif . In the early traditional literature, all intoxicating drinks ("muskir") are called "chamr" and follow the saying enclosed with Mohammed: "Every drink that is intoxicating is forbidden" and "Everything that is intoxicating is 'chamr' (wine)". The alcohol ban is mentioned both in the canonical collections of hadiths , in the chapters on drinks, and in monographic treatises specially dedicated to the alcohol ban , mainly under the title Kitāb al-aschriba /كتاب الأشربة / Kitāb al-ašriba / 'Book on Drinks' presented in detail. The most famous collection on this subject goes back to the Iraqi scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal . Basically in all schools of law the norm traced back to Mohammed and cited in both the Hadith and the law books applies : “That which is intoxicating in large quantities, even a small amount is forbidden.” Thus, it is not just drunkenness, but already the consumption of the smallest quantities of intoxicating drinks is prohibited and therefore punishable.
There are several traditions from the canonical collections of hadiths that provide for the death penalty for repeated drinking . In the Kitāb al-hudūd of Abū Dāwūd as-Sidschistānī it says:
When they drink wine, they whip. If they drink again, they whip. If they drink again, kill them!
However, there is no verse in the Koran itself that would provide for such a punishment after consuming wine.
Drinking alcohol in emergency situations
The Darūra / Idtirar legal category specific to Islamic jurisprudenceضرورة, اضطرار / ḍarūra, iḍṭirār , d. H. The observance of the predicament, in which the forbidden can be declared allowed, was discussed very early in connection with the alcohol consumption forbidden in the Koran. However, when it is possible to exceed a legal norm and ignore the prohibition is judged differently in Islamic law schools .
This category of law was already used in early Islam in connection with the healing of diseases; their opponents resorted to the alleged testimony of the companion of Muhammad Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud , who is said to have said:
God has not determined your recovery in a (means) that he has forbidden you.
The saying has been traced back in its variants to the prophet Mohammed, as z. B. in the above-mentioned "Book on Drinks" by Ahmad ibn Hanbal (No. 159) is documented.
The uncompromising ban on alcoholic and narcotics with an intoxicating character can be observed in all law schools from the earliest times. Nevertheless, there were exceptions: the Shafiite specialist ad-Din ar-Razi († 1209) legalized treatment with alcoholic beverages, because only a small amount is consumed that is not intoxicating in itself. “The sale and consumption of hashish is not legally permitted” - says a fatwa from Turkey - “except for the treatment of a sick person ” and “the sale of esrār (drugs) for use as a medicine for some diseases is legally permitted. "
The mixing of wine (chamr) with medicines has already been legalized by the Hanafi scholar as-Sarachsi († 1090) in his legal compendium "al-Mabsut", if the alcoholic components do not predominate in the mixture.
Alcohol Consumption in the Islamic World
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Both restrictions apply to combinations of 2 colors, but they vary depending on the place of sale or the level of alcohol content.
In the early Islamic period, the four rightly guided caliphs in particular followed the consumption of alcohol. Otherwise, although the Islamic scholars condemned alcohol and music as unlawful, the actual power as the highest administrator was exercised by the caliphs, many of whom indulged in an informal court life with plenty of wine, music and singing girls (qaina) . How the laws were implemented in practice therefore strongly depended on the attitude of the respective ruler. Under the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil 'alā' llāh († 861) the courtly Arabic musical culture reached a climax in connection with exuberant celebrations.
A strict alcohol ban could never really be enforced later in the Islamic world. The Koranic prohibition was circumvented by pointing out that alcoholic beverages made from mare's milk, dates and grain were not included. In the Ottoman Empire in particular , phases of strict prohibition alternated with those of a more pragmatic view. Suleyman the Magnificent had ships laden with wine sunk on the Golden Horn in 1560 ; In 1613 Sultan Ahmed I issued a comprehensive wine ban. The writer Ahmed Rasim (1826–1897), on the other hand, writes in his memoirs that Istanbul's urban youth only adhered to the alcohol ban in the months of Ramadan and Muharram , and often only when they intended to visit cemeteries or mausoleums the next day. Incidentally, one early distinguished between the - sometimes roofed with leniency "pleasure drinkers" ( akşamci ) and the "habitual drunkard" ( gündüzcü ) and also dealt in detail with the "right level", ie the acceptable daily amount of Raki ( gıda ).
Today, in a few Islamic countries, prohibition is so strict that alcoholic beverages can only be purchased illegally. These include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Sudan and Mauritania. In Pakistan only non-Muslims have been allowed to purchase alcohol since 1977, but this is often circumvented. In contrast, wine is produced and consumed in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon, among others.
Drinking wine ( schurb al-chamr ) is one of the hadd punishments in Islamic criminal law . Depending on the law school, it is subject to different penalties - alcohol consumption can be punished with 40 to 80 lashes or, for example in Iran, as a repeated offense, even with death.
Individual evidence
- ^ I. Goldziher : Vorlesungen , pp. 62–63.
- ^ Bobzin, H. (2004): The Koran. An introduction. 5th edition Munich.
- ^ Theodor Nöldeke : History of the Qorāns . 2nd edition, edited by Friedrich Schwally . Leipzig 1909. Vol. 1, p. 199 and there note 1 on the chronological order of the above verses.
- ^ Bobzin, H. (2004): The Koran. An introduction. 5th edition Munich. P. 78.
- ^ Bobzin, H. (2004): The Koran. An introduction. 5th edition Munich. P. 76.
- ↑ al-mausu'a al-fiqhiyya 5 . Kuwait 2005. Vol. 5, pp. 15-16.
- ^ Printed in Baghdad 1976
- ^ AJ Wensinck et alii : Concordance et indices de la tradition musulmane . Brill, Leiden 1943. Vol. 2, p. 491, lines 21-33.
- ↑ Hadith No. 4467 Further hadiths from Ibn Madscha and Ahmad ibn Hanbal , references see AJ Wensinck : "sv al-khamr" in: AJ Wensinck, JH Kramers (ed.): Handwortbuch des Islam . Brill, Leiden 1941
- ^ The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. Brill, suffering. Vol. 2, p. 163
- ↑ Miklos Muranyi : Investigations on Šarīʿa-legal developments of the present. I . In: Arabica 27 (1980), p. 242; see. Joseph Schacht: An Introduction to Islamic Law . (Oxford 1965), pp. 84-85
- ↑ Miklos Muranyi (1980), p. 227 after the Saheeh by al-Bukhari
- ↑ Miklos Muranyi (1980), p. 248
- ↑ Johannes Benzing: Islamic legal opinion as a folklore source . Treatises of the humanities and social sciences class / academy of sciences and literature. Volume 197, No. 3, p. 23
- ↑ http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-24044337
- ↑ Konrad Dilger: in Werner Ende and Udo Steinbach (eds.): Islam in the present . Munich 1989, p. 188
- ↑ Hadith by Sahih Muslim in original language and English translation ( Memento of May 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Spiegel article on Iran
literature
- Matthias Brückner: Fatwas on alcohol under the influence of new media in the 20th century. Ergon-Verl., Würzburg, 2001.
- Ignaz Goldziher : Lectures on Islam . Heidelberg 1910. pp. 62-66.
- Peter Heine : sv Wein in: Khoury, Hagemann, Heine: Islam-Lexikon. Freiburg 2006
- Peter Heine: Wine Studies. Investigations into the cultivation, production and consumption of wine in the Arab-Islamic Middle Ages. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1982
- Kathryn Kueny: The Rhetoric of Sobriety: Wine in Early Islam. State University of New York Press, Albany (New York) 2001
- Arent Jan Wensinck : Khamr. In: AJ Wensinck, JH Kramers (Hrsg.): Short dictionary of Islam . Brill, Leiden 1941. pp. 298-301
- Arent Jan Wensinck: Kh amr. In: The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition . Brill, suffering. Vol. 4, pp. 994-997