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

I'm from a country where Muslim people are the majority(though I'm not one myself) called Malaysia. It is true that alcohol is prohibited for the malays, which are Muslims. I've tried asking my Muslim teachers and friends and they said that alcohol is prohibited because, once a caliph became drunk before prayer time, and when he prayed he couldn't read the verses correctly. Allah (their God) became upset and therefore ban Muslims from drinking beer etc.

There are also many other prohibitions unique to Islam, like eating pork, looking at lizards, touching dogs and eating animals that live in both land and water, such as ducks, turtles, frogs. Each has its own story behind it and much alludes to the history of Islam which we is a must to learn to school.

However, I didn't know there were so little references to alcohol in the Koran. Very good research done and really interesting to one who has a basic knowledge of Islam

Zac

Zac – I have heard the same story and it refers back to the one line in the Koran that directly refers to drink. Many of the ‘banned’ things are perfectly sensible - in the Saudi desert 1500 years ago. Keep pork – in the Saudi desert without a fridge – for much more than half an hour and you will see the sense. The Koran is an excellent code for living but the way that it is interpreted makes me ask questions.

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

Not only Muslim who do not eat pork, Jews do not to. There is no reason given in the Qur'an as to why we can not eat Pork so it is not for Muslims to give reasons. The fact it says so is enough.

You can look at lizards don't know where you got that from. You can touch dogs to, as long as youwash your hands and clothes before praying, as you should for touching any animal. Dogs can be kept if they have a job to do, like a guide dog, or security.

Muslims can eat duck as well, where did you hear you can't. One of my fav dishes at the Halal resturant down the road is duck and plum sauce.

hmm.. interesting, You may be right but since you have said this, I think there may be variation of Islam in several [arts of the world, for instance, here in South East Asia. Since the people here are not Arabs or do not live in the same situation as the arabs, it could say that the Islam cultures has been assimilated into local culture. The duck and the lizard part came from a teacher of mine, a Malay Muslim, stating that animals, which live both on land and water cannot be eaten, and the lizard is considered bad luck, because when the prophet Muhammad hid in the cave during the 'hijrah' the lizard was the only animal which didn't keep quiet, thus risking giving away his position to the Quraisy arabs hunting for him.

These may be local interpretations and may differ from the mainstream Islam so I hope you didn't get offended. Sorry and Thank you


zac

Don't worry, I don't offend easily, I just thought I would elaborate a little.

Also concerning culture, its not only east asia but all Muslim countries have mixed Islam with culture and as such none of them are proper Islamic countries because to put simply the laws are a mix of man, God and cultural rules if you know what I mean.

Which unfortuantly is where bad press of Islam comes from is usually a non Islamic practice and actually a cultural one or one imposed by the rulers on views.


Adib

Here here.
Back to the crusades and the arms dealers.
Who really pulls the strings of the puppet monkeys these days.

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.