THE ADDICTION OF LIQUOR

Assalam oalaikum,

It is a well known fact that under the influence of liquor a person loses the sense of right and wrong. In other words, the alcoholics lose their conscience and a person without a conscience is like a boat without a sailor. What a better strategy could Satan have adopted than to lull people into the addiction of liquor? A drunkard does things which no sensible person can ever think of doing because liquor hinders his inhibitory center of the brain, which prevents a person from doing acts which they consider to be immoral. So alcohol strikes at the very roots of a person’s conscience thereby making him like a boat without a rudder.

Allah (swt) says in the Holy Quran:
“….so, fight against the helpers of Satan with this conviction that Satan’s crafty schemes are in fact very weak”. (TMQ-4:76)  

In this verse, the believers are being stopped from getting intimidated by Satan’s cunning ploys because they are very weak and hollow. From the above discussion we can easily deduce the fact that by no means can Satan force anyone into liquor addiction. The only weapon which he possesses is that of Satanic whispers. It is only through such whispers that Satan can try to control our mind and thus actions. In this case, would it not be a pity if we are not able to understand Satan’s plans and thwart them? Surely, it would. After all each one of us has the freedom of choice as far as our actions are concerned. It is up to us whether we choose to listen to our conscience or to the evil enticing thoughts which are deliberately planted into our ears by Satan, in order to lead us astray.
The disbelievers try to justify all their misdeeds by presenting baseless arguments. Even in the case of liquor the alcoholics try to highlight several so-called benefits of liquor to justify their misdeeds. Baseless fact such as liquor has medicinal benefits and that it is helpful in keeping one warm in cold climates are oft heard. Let us analyze these to find out the truth.

Dailamah Al-Humairee states, I asked Allah’s Messenger (pbuh), ‘O Messenger of Allah, verily we are in a cold land and we have to work hard therein, and we prepare wine fro this wheat which gives us strength in our works and in the chill of our cities. Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) asked, ‘Does it intoxicate? “Yes, I replied. He commanded, “Give it up.” I said, ‘Verily, the people can not give it up”. He said, ‘If they do not give it up then fight with them’. (Abu Dawood)
Apparently, a false belief was rampant in the society during those times that liquor could produce warmth in the human body. However, research has proved otherwise. Consuming liquor produces only an illusion of warmth due to the widening of the outer blood vessels.
Coming to the next point let us analyze whether liquor does possess any medicinal properties.

Abu Dawood narrated this hadith- “God has made a cure for every illness but never get cure by things prohibited”.
Ibn Swaid Al Hadrami came to the Prophet (pbuh) and said, ‘O Allah’s Messenger, in our land we have vineyards and we make wine and drink.” The Prophet (pbuh) said, ‘Stop drinking. The man proclaimed, “We use it as a remedy for the sick”. The Prophet said, ‘It is no remedy. It is an illness itself’. (Narrated by Muslim)

How can something which can cause several types of cancer, cyrrhosis of liver, angina and heart attacks, numerous endocrine disorders, platelet abnormalities, skin diseases, chest infections to name a few, have medicinal benefits at all?
Lastly, I would also like to point out that if the liquor addicts readily degrade themselves to the level below that of beasts, then the so-called occasional, light drinkers are no saints either. Let me substantiate my point with the help of a hadith:

Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) said, ‘Anything which intoxicates in a large quantity is prohibited even in small amounts”.(Sunan Ibn I Majah, vol:3, Book of Intoxicants, chapter 30, hadith number 3392).

Before I wind up this post, I would like to draw the attention of the readers towards the drastic consequence of alcohol addiction in the hereafter.
Abu Musa Al-Asharee narrated that Allah’s Apostle said, ‘There are three who will not enter paradise- a habitual drunkard, one who cuts blood ties and one who believes in black magic. (Ahmad).


Keep Me In Your Prayers,
Amel Soname
Amel_soname@yahoo.com