h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Interesting subject! I bet you'll get at least a couple of threads going on that one! I'm not muslim myself and I'm afraid I don't know what 'usury' is but everything else was well explained. I like the factualness of it and would like to hear the other side of the story!! (Maybe) Nice one though, hope it gets good reviews.

Usuray - interest. i.e. if you lend someone money you cannot ask for profit (or is it prophet)

I should add I am ‘technically’ a Muslim (my wife is Moroccan) although I am the son and grandson of Anglican priests. I have built 15 mosques as well as Anglican and Catholic churches, as well as Hindu and Bhuddist temples. I hedged my bets. However – the aspect of Islam and alcohol really mystifies me. In Morocco the betting shops are in the bars. At religious festivals the pub shuts (you cannot buy booze) but the betting shops remain open. ‘Betting’ is really haram – according to the book.

'Technically'? hmmm. I went to Marrakesh last year and loved it but got really pissed off when they wouldn't let me drink in the bars, I wasn't even allowed through the door accompanied by my boyfriend! The only place I could get alcohol was in a restaurant and then its only girly half pints...not that I'm not a lady of course...
Its a pretty heavy and contraversial subject to be getting yourself into, are you going to submit it for peer review?
You might want to give a more balanced view though.....like a link to a page on alcohol and how it is actually good for you IN MODERATION! I'm a stroke nurse and we recommend a glass of red wine a night. Also that it is bad for you to abuse any kind of drug e.g. ciggies, and link it back to 'what has this choice got to do with Allah/God/Krishna/TheGoddess/Zaphod anyway??' They never tell us not to smoke tobacco. Is crack in the Koran??! Off to work...Iechyd da!

'Technically' – when I married here I had to become a Muslim. I was required to say that I believe in one God and that Mohammed was his prophet. I have no problem with that. Having been brought up as a Christian, I questioned many things especially ‘only through Christ can you reach the kingdom of heaven’. "What about all the people before?" I asked at the age of four.
Sorry about not being able to get a drink in Marrakech. It took me a couple of years to work out the law here. It is typically Moroccan.
I have submitted it for peer review – yes it is a heavy subject and I am waiting to be proved wrong. If I am, I will withdraw it.

I just thought I would cut and paste my reply to all the convrsation threads for everyones benefit.

Hi,

There has been no remarks from Muslims because to my knowledge there is only one Muslim reguler on Here. Which happens to be me, and Hell just sent me your way soooooo where to begin.

First of all congerats for doing the usual of not printing the full context of passages, but I'll forgive you for that, as your not trying to discredit Islam.

Anyway there are some very simple reasons why Muslims do not drink Alcohol, mainly:

The Holy Quran, 2.219: They ask thee concerning wine and gambling. Say: "In them is great sin, and some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit." 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-

The Holy Qur'an, 2.220: (Their bearings) on this life and the hereafter.
In case your wondering the word wine comes from the Arabic word Khamr which literally means 'the fermented juice of the grape'. And is applied analogy to all fermentad liqour, and by further analogy to any intoxicating liquer or drug. This is because in Mecca and the sorrounding area the alcohol around was 99 percent wine and 1 percent other types of intoxicating liquid.

This comes about because in the book Al-Halal wal Haram fil Islam (The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam) written by Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi it states the following:

“The first declaration made by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, concerning this matter was that not only is Khamr (wine or alcohol) prohibited but that the definition of Khamr extends to any substance that intoxicates, in whatever form or under whatever name it may appear. Thus, beer and similar drinks are haram.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was once asked about certain drinks made from honey, corn, or barley by the process of fermenting them until they became alcoholic. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, succinctly replied, "Every intoxicant is Khamr, and every Khamr is haram." Reported by Muslim.)

And `Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, declared from the pulpit of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that "Khamr is that which befogs the mind." (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.)

And just so you know, this is all taken and based from and on the hadith. Which I will explain in a short while.


Another verse about alcohol is as follows:

The Holy Quran, 5.90: O ye who believe! Intoxicants and gambling, (dedication of) stones, and (divination by) arrows, are an abomination,- of Satan's handwork: eschew such (abomination), that ye may prosper.

The Holy Quran, 5.91: Satan'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?

The stones referred to is that they (the people of that time) used to have stone columns or alters which they would pour oil onto for consecration, or slabs where meat was sacrificed to idols. Or in other words all Idolatrous and superstitious behaviour and practices are being comdemmed. For example the Ansab was a common object of worship in Arabia before Islam.


Now let me explain in brief what the Ahadith essentially is.
The Ahadith is a writtend acount of the things thr Prophet Muhammad said and did. It was recorded by his follows as he did any thing, and so we have a written account of the things he said and did. The Holy Qur'an is basically the law book and the rules, while the Hadith is the way to impliment those rules. For example the Qur'an tells Muslim to pray five times a day but it does not say how to pray. That comes from the hadith.

The two are interconnected so if youfind something in the Qur'an and don't know what it means exactly youcan usually find a relevent Hadith of how to put that into practise.

I hope that helps.

Adib

Reply to Adib.
Thanks for the comments. Yes I have read the Ahadith as well as the Kitab Al-Irshad and you are right – they more openly condemn alcohol. But they are interpretations of the Koran and the sayings of the Prophet Mohammed – not the real thing. There are many, many commentaries but – to me –they are just that and the trouble with all religions is that we end up being asked to accept someone’s interpretation. This goes back throughout history and all the monotheist religions. The fact that there are different branches of Islam bears this out and when they are quite happy to kill each other (and themselves) on the grounds that they are right and everyone else is wrong, makes me think that this is not actually as it was meant to be. I had deliberately restricted my piece to the Koran and what IT says (I will check out the verses you quote and they are - perhaps – worth adding to my piece.
Thanks for the comments anyway.