In my ‘Islam-as I say-tion’ paper, I had written :
‘Most who profess a faith in Islam take the view that consumption of intoxicants per se is a sin. I do not share this view. I am particularly guided by Surah 5 verse 93.
“On those who believe and do good there is no blame for what they eat, when they are careful, believe and do good deeds. God loves those who do good.”
It does not matter that you do not share my understanding of this verse and all of the others that may or may not have a bearing on the issue of consumption of intoxicants. What does warrant constant remembrance is that all of us have been given Divine leave to study the Holy Qur’an and to take such guidance therefrom as we will.
As always, I am mindful that I could be wrong in my understanding.
I am also mindful of the Divine Command with regard to this difference in understanding.
“Whatever it be on which you differ, the decision is with God. Such is God, my Lord. In Him I trust, and to Him I turn. – Surah 42 verse 10.
“Shall I seek as my Lord other than God, when He is the Cherisher of all things? Every soul draws the meed of its acts on none but itself. No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another. Your return in the end is to God. He will tell you the truth of the things which you disputed.” – Surah 6 verse 164.
“If they do wrangle with you, say ‘God knows best what you are doing. God will judge between you on the Day of Judgment concerning your differences’”. – Surah 22 verses 68 and 69.
“O God, Creator of the heavens and earth, Knower of all that is open and concealed, it is You that will judge between Your servants in matters on which they differed”. – Surah 39 verse 46 ‘
Thought you might want to read about this ongoing debate on the fatwa on alcohol by Sheikh Qardawi.
[...] Is alcohol haram? “On those who believe and do good there is no blame for what they eat, when they are careful, believe and do good deeds. God loves those who do good.” It does not matter that you do not share my understanding of this verse and all of … [...]
Haris,
“On those who believe and do good there is no blame for what they eat, when they are careful, believe and do good deeds. God loves those who do good.”
(Al Quran, 5:93)
By that same token, would it not then also be permissible to consume pork?
Satya,
It is not my say-so. You have made this surmise based on the text of 5 : 93, yes?
‘…no blame for what they eat, when they are careful, believe and do good deeds. God loves those who do good’.
Haris,
I looked up some other Quran translations of 5:93. Abdullah Yusuf Ali’s reads:
“On those who believe and do deeds of righteousness there is no blame for what they ate (in the past) when they…”
And he offers three possible translations for the rest of the verse. Anyway, he rendered “ate” instead of “eat”. Three other translations also refer to eating in the past tense:
http://muttaqun.com/quran/e/
http://www.iiu.edu.my/deed/quran/malay/
http://soni69.tripod.com/quran.htm
I confess I have NO knowledge of Arabic or its grammar whatsoever. And it looks like this discussion requires some. But why do you believe this verse speaks of what we eat and not what we ate?
The past tense translations also seem (to me) more consistent with verses like 2:219, 5:3, and 5:90.
Satya,
My friend came back with an additional point to his earlier. Here it is :
Had God really meant event in the past in 5:93, He would have then added ’salafa’ to the verse; just like 2:275, 4:22, 4:23, 5:95, 8:38 and others.
Satya,
Referred your query to someone who is equipped with the requisite knowledge to answer. He is presently working on his own translation. Here’s the response :
To be totally accurate to the tenses and grammar, verse 5:93 in my opinion should be translated as follows:-
“There is no fault upon those who believed and practised the deeds of righteousness regarding what they tasted; when as long as they are conscious and believe and practise the deeds of righteousness, thereafter they are conscious and believe, thereafter they are conscious and do good; and the God loves the good‑doers.”
In the first part, the word ‘believed’, ‘practised’ and ‘tasted’ are translated in the past tense. However after the word ‘when’ or ‘idzaa’, those same words, i.e., ‘believe’ and ‘practise’ as well as ‘conscious’ (or ‘godfearing’ according to Yusuf Ali) are to be treated as present tense. This is according to the rule of the arabic grammar .
Still the term ‘alladziina aamanuu’ has always been interpreted by the Qur’an translators to mean ‘those who believe’. It’s the same with ‘amilushshaalihaat’. There are many examples of these, and to cite a few will be 2:25-26, 2:82, 2:212, 2:218, 3:57, 4:57 and a lot of other verses.
Therefore, if one has to be grammatically accurate as well as consistent in its usage throughout the Qur’an, then we can translate the verse like this:-
“There is no fault upon those who have believed and practised the deeds of righteousness regarding what they have tasted, when as long as they are conscious and believe and practise the deeds of righteousness, thereafter they are conscious and believe, thereafter they are conscious and do good; and the God loves the good‑doers.”
Arberry simplifies it and just translated the first part of the verse in the present tense. And I inclined to follow the same step. Therefore, my current final translation for 5:93 reads:-
“There is no fault upon those who believe and practise the deeds of righteousness regarding what they taste, when as long as they are conscious and believe and practise the deeds of righteousness, thereafter they are conscious and believe, thereafter they are conscious and do good; and the God loves the good‑doers.”
I hope that’s a help.
Haris,
5:93 applies only to those who do good AND BELIEVE.
What do you think about these two verses? :
7:33
Say: “But my Lord forbade the enormous/atrocious deeds what is/became visible from it, and what is/was hidden, and the sin/crime, and the oppression/transgression/corruption without the right , and that you share/make partners (with God) what He did not descend with it a proof/evidence , and that you say on (about) God what you do not know.
2:219 They ask/question you about the intoxicants/substances affecting the brain and the gambling , say: “In them (B) (is a) great sin/crime and benefits/uses to the people and their (B’s) sin/crime (is) bigger/greater from (than) their (B’s) benefit/use, and they ask/question you what they (should) spend, say: “The excess over expense/goodness .” Like that God clarifies for you the signs/verses/evidences, maybe you think.
Would a believer do something that God prohibited, on purpose, knowingly? Or do these verses only apply to submitters?
ciliboh,
I note with interest that you make the distinction between a believer and a submitter. With interest because I too have long noted a distinction.
Will give some thought to your inquiries and will respond vide a post. Will take some time though, as am presently bogged down with bread and butter issues.
My view is that it is not the consumption of alcohol per se that is a sin. It is that, by the consumption of alcohol, one is exposing oneself to the possibility of intoxicated behaviour that could lead one to insult or injure another.
Sin, as I see it, is anything done that harms another.
it doesn’t matter what your “views” are. the qur’an specifically makes alcohol haram… end of story – and yes, you harm yourself as well as the very fabric of your society by consuming it.
dear ammar,
Which verse(s) are u referring to?Because 2:219 say specifically otherwise ?
Pls donnot quote the non-specific 4:43.
U can forget about those satanic BS either.(5:90)
The disputes arises from assumptions and some of these assumption must be view under the light of wisdom.A body is an Alat dream up by GOD and like any piece of equipment have its limitation on the fuel it uses[comsumed]to power its various functions.A diesel engine cannot use gasoline as the fuel is incompatible to its design.However the diesel engine can run on vegetable oil quite well.Depending on the varying design of the piece of equpment,we can identify the envelope of its limitation.
Now a human body will failed if one consumed poison such as cynide.As for other fuels each have its own tresh hold of tolerence.If one consumed too much of alcohol[over the limit of tolerance which vary with each piece egupment determine by the DNA],it result in drunkeness.One must also understand that when one consume an overdose of plain water[exceeding the design limit of the body]one can die of water poisoning[do consult your doctor friends]
What is required is that we are intimate with our body equpment and recognise the envelope of limitation which changes as we age[as it is not static]An old engine can run better with a more viscous engine oil.
An engine may be the heart of the car,but it is not the car without simple items like tyres that shoed it.Likewise the Qu’ran must be read in total and not one single surah over ride the rest.Be Holistic in our understanding and avoid being symtomatic.The content and context are one and indivisible.If any word or sentence is NOT useful in the Qu’ran,it will NOT be in the Qu’ran.If you read differences with its parts,it is a way of telling you,you have not reach complete understanding.If one have the final understanding,there is not the slightest difference even if we want to split hair.
Leaving aside any citigs from Quran and Hadith..the importance of the prohibition of Alcohol can be gauged by the number of verses and Hadith discussing it in a negative way..and while there is none in the world who can claim that Allah will forgive him, even Sahaba would weep as they were not sure whether they will be free from Allah’s wrath..The best way forward is to avoid something which is doubtful to avoid Fitna..If you can’t control your habits better sin away from public eye and not create doubts in the eyes of other believing Muslims and seek, for sinning with yourself, Allah might have mercy on you but when you do so openly or advocate it openly, your sin becomes greater..By your same logic one can eat pork as long as one does so reasonably, and test whether it affects your health or not?
ASSALAMUALIKUM WA REHMATULLAHI WA BARAKATHU:
ALchahol is haram my friend, period!!! it is forbiddon!! it is in hadith, you have to believe in the Quran and the authentic hadiths!! “some people of my ummah will make lawfull, fornication, alchahol, music” (prphet mohammed pbuh) unfortuntaly i do not remember the refrence of this hadith, but it is a well known one so i hope u will able to find it without difficulty.
Furthermore intitially alchahol wasn’t haram, the order came during the years of our prophet Mohammed (pbuh) the Quran also tells you to “obey the prophet” on many occasions, so one cannot reject the authentic hadiths (as some modern muslims do), they are gold dusts!. “people will form many diffrent sects in islam based on what they WANT to believe” (or similer)
you have been informed.. i leave the rest up to you to research, may Allah guide all of us to the right path
After reading the article, I feel that I need more information on the topic. Could you suggest some resources ?
This verse cannot overrise the verse which prohibits Pork. As for alcohol Allah advise to refrain from alcohol.This cannot be taken as haram because Allah also admit there are good and bad and that the bad is more than the good.
Anyway Islam is not forced upon Muslims or non Muslims.AlQuran 2:256 “There is no compulsion in religion”. Like the TQM(Quality Religion), to have quality you must volunteer to do it. Anything by force is not Quality and not Islam.
http://warongpakyeh,blogspot.com