Alcohol Laws. Please help me to understand

[sepok]

:confused: Hi and sincere greetings to you all.

I have found myself searching for the right path to God over the past few months and I am strongly drawn to Islam, so much so that I have ordered a Quoran and other literature, am praying more often and looking at changes to my diet.
I could never convert to Islam if I could not follow the pillars and rules the way they are meant to be followed.
My problem is that I really enjoy the occasional glass of good wine or pint of real ale and feel that I would really miss it should I have to give it up. I must point out that it is twenty years since I was last intoxicated/drunk/hungover etc due to alcohol, I know my limit and very rarely have more than one drink on any particular day.
I have been on a Muslim website that condemns alcohol and quotes all its harmful effects when taken in the extreme and furthermore as a member of the medical profession I am well aware of what alcohol can do when it is abused.
So my first question is, is the consumption of alcohol totally forbidden in Islam? And my second question is why is smoking allowed when it is an addictive substance responsible for as many if not many more illnesses, medical complications and deaths than alcohol? (a smoker also inflicts those risks on all those he encounters!)

If this posting offends anybody please except my humble apologies. It is posted with the hope that I might recieve the answer I know that I am probably not going to recieve.
I thank you all and wish you well.

[Yusuf!]

Re: Alcohol Laws. Please help me to understand

smoking is haram (not allowed) people just delude themselves.

also i converted to islam and i havnt missed drink at all although i thought i would and it was weird at first.

[neelu]

Re: Alcohol Laws. Please help me to understand

Alcohol is forbidden because of the verse in the quran which forbids intoxicating substances. It is haram to take such substances in any amount, so there is no such thing as taking a haram substance 'in moderation'.

Smoking is not haram because although it is addictive, tobacco is not a mind altering drug. Smoking is not approved of either because it harms the body but people often extend and stretch this definition to imply that it is haram.

[Yusuf!]

Re: Alcohol Laws. Please help me to understand

Alcohol is forbidden because of the verse in the quran which forbids intoxicating substances. It is haram to take such substances in any amount, so there is no such thing as taking a haram substance 'in moderation'.

Smoking is not haram because although it is addictive, tobacco is not a mind altering drug. Smoking is not approved of either because it harms the body but people often extend and stretch this definition to imply that it is haram.

i thought if your intentionally harming your own body to the point where it could cause your death that it is haram.

[neelu]

Re: Alcohol Laws. Please help me to understand

i thought if your intentionally harming your own body to the point where it could cause your death that it is haram.

People need to be very careful about labelling something as halal or haram due to it's potential benefits/harmful effects. Benefit is not a shariah criterion. For example, dealing in transactions involving interest is haram period. Some people make excuses for it saying that if their bank account earns interest, they will give interest money to charity. This is an example of taking benefit as a shariah criterion where a person puts his own intentions/logic above shariah criterion by saying the benefit is more important than the hukm of Allah (swt).

In the case of causing potential harm, causing potential harm to the body is not haram except in the case of tatooing, mutilation or things like that which have hadith evidences to indicate that that is the case. If we used the logic of it being haram to put your body in the way of potential harm, then what would we forbid next? Fighting/ training for jihad? Saturated fats? Coffee? All of these things potentially harm the body especially if they are indulged in excessively and could potentially end in death- but the ahkam regarding suicide does not apply to these things nor does it apply to smoking. I'd still advise anyone to give up smoking because it is no good to anyone and is a huge waste of money.

[Yusuf!]

Re: Alcohol Laws. Please help me to understand

fat, jihad, coffee. have benefits. smoking causes harm. and can lead to death

[sisterKhadija]

Re: Alcohol Laws. Please help me to understand

:confused: Hi and sincere greetings to you all.

I have found myself searching for the right path to God over the past few months and I am strongly drawn to Islam, so much so that I have ordered a Quoran and other literature, am praying more often and looking at changes to my diet.
I could never convert to Islam if I could not follow the pillars and rules the way they are meant to be followed.
My problem is that I really enjoy the occasional glass of good wine or pint of real ale and feel that I would really miss it should I have to give it up. I must point out that it is twenty years since I was last intoxicated/drunk/hungover etc due to alcohol, I know my limit and very rarely have more than one drink on any particular day.
I have been on a Muslim website that condemns alcohol and quotes all its harmful effects when taken in the extreme and furthermore as a member of the medical profession I am well aware of what alcohol can do when it is abused.
So my first question is, is the consumption of alcohol totally forbidden in Islam? And my second question is why is smoking allowed when it is an addictive substance responsible for as many if not many more illnesses, medical complications and deaths than alcohol? (a smoker also inflicts those risks on all those he encounters!)

If this posting offends anybody please except my humble apologies. It is posted with the hope that I might recieve the answer I know that I am probably not going to recieve.
I thank you all and wish you well.

Alhamdulliah, Allah has guided you this far. MashaAllah! Subhanallah!

I am also a revert and it was weird to me to give up pork. But, when I converted, Allah made me so strong in a flash that I immediately had no feelings for it anymore.

Send me a PM if you want and I will send you links to webistes that give you free stuff for converting and searching to convert.

May Allah guide you throughout your Journey of knowledge!

Salaam,
sisterKhadija

[1 ummah]

Re: Alcohol Laws. Please help me to understand

I know it might be difficult but please note that in Islam there are no exceptions for alcohol. The issue of smoking might be controversial, but alcohol is strictly forbidden as Allah mentioned in the Qur'an..

“They ask you regarding wine and gambling. Say, in both of them is major sin, and there is some benefit for men, but the sin of them is far greater than benefit ”

Also, I would like you to keep this in mind :)
"By Allah! Whosoever gives up something for the sake of Allah, Allah will replace it with something better than it!" If you remain patient in this world, Allah will bless you with joys in ways you could never imagine!" This is a saying of the Prophet Muhammad (saw)

May Allah guide you and strengthen your Emaan

[Umar`]

Re: Alcohol Laws. Please help me to understand

Smoking is haraam on the basis of Qur'anic verses such as those translated as
"Do not throw yourselves into destruction"

and many others, as well as many ahadith (the ways of the Prophet SAWS),
regarding wasting money, health and harming others.
Smoking was unknown during the Revelation era but it is clearly prohibited on these evidences and those who argue against this are following desires.
Allah swt has promised the muslims that anything given up for His sake will be rewarded with something far better, so is that beer,glass of wine, ciggarette etc. so good.
Then what will Paradise be like when all is halaal and pure?
I think there is a hadith that states that if the pleasures of this life were equal to the wings of a mosquito in the sight of Allah swt, He would not have given the disbelievers so much as a sip of water.
There are many brothers who come from a hard drinking and drug background who have abandoned this falsehood for the sake of Allah swt and they never return to it, all praise is due to Allah swt.
They even grow to hate this way and shudder when they look back at their former selves, alhamdulillah.
Dont let your love of this deter you from accepting the truth of Islam, my friend, this is satans trickery.
Take one step at a time, Allah swt rectifies the situation of those who try to rectify themselves.May Allah swt guide you to the straight path, Ameen.

[sepok]

Humble thanks to you all....

I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who took the time to respond to my question.

Many years ago, I would not have been able to listen to your replies, as like many others, I already had my own opinion and very little could have changed
that view. Fortunately through gods influence, reading books and meeting more enlightened individuals than myself, I like to think that I have grown as a human being and have developed a personality that not only listens to what others have to say but also allows me to take their ideas onboard and change my own opinions.
I had decided not to ask anymore questions until I have read more about Islam, however one thing about this website puzzles me and that is, why do the moderators allow extremists that incite hatred or would commit harm even to their own brothers, to put posts on this site. A muslim friend of mine told me that we must first get to know ourselves, what it really means to be human and of God. Through this awareness I am learning to recognise emotions that develop within me before I act on them, eg anger or hatred. Quite often our emotional responses to situations may be programmed into us from the way we used to beheve. Through prayer and self awareness we are able to stop ourselves from getting sucked into temptation by others who may be trying to lead us astray by making us feel angry or sad etc about situations.
Please excuse me for ranting on. I thoroughly comply with defending ones life, way of life or country, but to mercilessly murder innocent people is the biggest sin there is and anybody doing this who has been told that they will be saved on the day of judgement, will be in for a big surprise.

Forgive me once more, my post was to be one of gratitude.

I have already begun to feel part of the fellowship and brotherhood that is Islam and the feeling is quite special. Thanks to your thought provoking posts and the help of God, despite having a fridge full of beer, I have not had a single drink all week. And the strange thing is I haven't even fancied one!

I am now going away for a week and will be taking four small introductory books about Islam and the prophets saw with me.

Thanks again for all of your help, I hope your lives are blessed with harmony, peace and understanding...

[MangoChutney]

Re: Alcohol Laws. Please help me to understand

bro or sis sepok, if u have any Q's to pose about Islam through ur search pls feel free to ask .....take care. salam (peace):)

[jamila]

Re: Humble thanks to you all....

Peace Sepok,

As a modorator I believe that all views can be aired and discussed. This forum started as a flaming war between westerners and fervent Muslims. Jihadists were very prevelent then. Now the forum has calmed a lot, but we still have non-Muslims seeking to undermine Islam on this site. We allow them for the sake of dialogue. We allow them for the sake of opening a window on our world to the non-muslims, and for muslims to have a chance of contradicting them, defend Islam and propagate the religion. If we allow non-Muslims here that would like to see Islam down, why not fervent Muslims who want to see Islam up and dominant.

Actually, all Muslims would like to see Islam as the leader of the world - but people go about it differently. Some by preaching, some by debate, some by example and some by confrontation. Even those who wish to physically fight for Islam and the sake of God go about it differently. Some stand up to tanks with slingshots, others attack military targets with what modern weapons they can obtain, and yet others aim for maximum mutilation of the enemy that attacks the Muslims and the conspirators that co-operate with them from among the Muslims - sometimes by killing themselves in the process. Muslims regard themselves, justifiably or not, as targets of oppression. Others want us to change our religion - to change Allah's Shariah - to put the religion in the closet and take it out Jumuah to dust it of and go to the Masjid. But we won't. So we allow Muslims of all stripes. We only sanction those Muslims who want to change the religion fundementally - not those who through enthusiasm for righting a wrong go to extreme actions that are wrong them selves.

I hope that satisfie you.

I suggest you look at the forum rules as to what we intend. If we don't catch some - we aren't exactly police. We prefer notr to ban if possible - and generally do so only when people behin flaming or get personally insulting.