Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

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One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Hi there,

Firstly i would like to know why is alchohol prohibited. What is the reason behind it?? i have heard that we shouldnt have alchohol becoz it doesnt keep a person in his control he commits sins like fighting,slang language and much more. But if a person has alchohol with ones spouse just for enjoyment purpose just within their room and within themselves then what is the harm. Becoz husband and wife are a part of eachother and just for enjoying themselves and just to be a bit unconscious if they both have alchohol then is there any harm.

Please do let me know as i think that there are certain reasons for which alchohol is prohibited but between husband and wife just for enjoyment purpose is it a harm.

Regards

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Answer:

Why alcohol forbidden

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Question: Firstly i would like to know why is alchohol prohibited. What is the reason behind it??

Amongst the reasons the All-Knowing All-Wise Lord declares for the absolute and categorical prohibition of intoxicants for the believers is that it is the prime source used by the Shaytaan to sow enmity and hatred amongst one another, and it prevents one from the Remembrance of Allah Subhanah and from prayers. Such is the sharpness of this weapon and the evil effects of the consumption of intoxicants, that the Messenger of Allah (saws) termed ‘khamr’ (intoxicants) as the ‘umm-al-khabaayith’ or ‘the mother (or source) of all evil!’

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 3679 Narrated by Aisha

I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: “Every intoxicant is haraam; if a quantity of anything causes intoxication, a handful of it is (also) haraam.”

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2776 Narrated by Anas ibn Malik

Allah's Messenger (saws) invoked the curse of Allah on ten people in connection with wine: the wine-presser, the one who has it pressed, the one who drinks it, the one who conveys it, the one to whom it is conveyed, the one who serves it, the one who sells it, the one who benefits from the price paid for it, the one who buys it, and the one for whom it is bought.

Sahih Muslim Hadith 4962 Narrated by Jabir ibn Abdullah

Allah's Messenger (saws) said: “Every intoxicant is haraam! Verily Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, made a covenant to those who drank intoxicants to make them drink ‘Tinat al-Khabal’. The companions asked: “Allah's Messenger, what is ‘Tinat al-Khabal?’” He (saws) said: “It is the sweat of the denizens of Hell, or the discharge of the denizens of Hell.”

Your Question: But if a person has alchohol with ones spouse just for enjoyment purpose just within their room and within themselves then what is the harm.

Taking the very example which you have inquired about, one cannot even imagine the irreparable harm the consumption of intoxicants can cause in the relationship between a husband and a wife in the sacred institution of marriage!

If (Allah forbid) one or both of them were to consume intoxicants and get intoxicated, in addition to the sin of consuming something which is specifically and categorically declared ‘haraam’ by Allah and His Messenger (saws), just imagine the enormity and gravity of the sins they could likely commit in their state of intoxication…..

1. …miss their prescribed obligatory prayers!
2. ….fight, abuse, curse, or revile each other!
3. …..commit unlawful sex, like entering through the anus or intercourse while the wife is experiencing her menstruation!
4. …..or (Allah forbid) in the state of intoxication, the husband were to pronounce a divorce upon his wife!

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 2189 Narrated by Abu Hurayrah

The Prophet (saws) said: ‘There are three things which, whether undertaken seriously or in jest, are treated as serious: Marriage, divorce and taking back a wife (after a divorce which is not final).’

One cannot even imagine the harm and irreparable damage one can cause to oneself and one’s loved ones when one’s mind is defogged through the consumption of intoxicants!

Not only have Allah and His Messenger (saws) declared the consumption of intoxicants unlawful and prohibited for the believers who sincerely fear Allah and the Last Day, but the All-Knowing, All-Wise Lord has Commanded the believers not to even approach it, and to ‘stay far far away from it’!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verses 90-91:

O you who have believed! ‘Khamr’ (all types of intoxicants), games of chance, idols, and divining arrows are all abominable works of Shaitaan; therefore, stay (far) away from these so that you may attain success. Indeed, the Shaitaan seeks to sow enmity and hatred among you by means of ‘khamr’ (intoxicants) and gambling, and to prevent you from the Remembrance of Allah and from Salaah. Will you not, then, abstain from these things?

If one trusts, obeys, and follows the guidance and commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be assured of never ever being misled; but if one believes, obeys and follows any other guidance, other than that of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be assured of being led astray.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan