Tafsir of Al-Ma'idah 5:91

Then He affirmed this by explaining the worldly and religious harms contained within them, so the Exalted said:

(The Shaytan only wants to cause animosity and hatred between you through wine and gambling), meaning: because of engaging in them. For the intoxicated person commits many ugly acts that necessitate this, and he does not care. When he sobers up, he regrets what he did. A man may gamble until he has nothing left, and the gambling leads him to gamble with his children and his family, which results in him becoming the bitterest enemy to the one who gambled against him and defeated him. This is an indication of their worldly harms. His saying, the Exalted: (And hinder you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer) is an indication of their religious harms. The manner in which the Shaytan hinders them from what was mentioned is that wine, due to the intensity of the pleasure and joy it brings to the souls and the immersion in bodily delights, distracts from the remembrance of Allah the Exalted and from prayer. As for gambling, if the one playing it is winning, his soul becomes inflated, and the love of victory, domination, and gain prevents him from what was mentioned. If he is losing, he experiences a state of contraction and oppression that urges him to devise schemes to become the winner, so that almost nothing else crosses his heart. We have witnessed many of those who play chess; such obstinacy, false swearing, and heedlessness of Allah the Exalted occur between them that the elephant (bishop) is repulsed by it, the knight stumbles because of it, the rook withers from its poisons—nay, its feathers fall—the pawn of understanding is confused by its vileness, the queen of intellect is agitated, the king of the heart dies, and the board of deeds turns black. The specification of wine and gambling for a reiterated mention and an explanation of the ruin they contain is to alert that the intention is to explain their state, and the mention of idols and divining arrows is to indicate that they are like them in prohibition and evil, as is signaled by what has come from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the righteous predecessors from reports resounding with their intense condemnation and disparagement of those who perpetrate them.

He singled out prayer from the remembrance for individual mention, despite the fact that he who is hindered from the remembrance is hindered from prayer, because it is one of its pillars, in order to exalt it—as in the mention of the specific after the general—and to signal that one who is hindered from it is like one who is hindered from faith, for it is its foundation and the differentiator between it and disbelief, since the inner belief of the heart cannot be perceived. It is the greatest of its visible rituals at every time, and for this reason, congregational prayer was requested in it, so that faith might be witnessed and testified to. In the speech, there is an indication that the desire of the accursed one and the limit of his hopes in adorning the engagement in drinking wine and playing at gambling is to cause one to fall into the disbelief that necessitates eternity with him in the Fire; and what an evil destination.

Then He, the Exalted, repeated the exhortation to desist using a rhetorical interrogative form combined with a nominal sentence, arranged upon what preceded of the various distractions, so the Glorious said: (So, will you be desisters?), signaling that the matter of deterrence and prohibition had reached its limit and that excuses had been completely severed, to the extent that if a rational person were left alone with himself after this, he ought not to hesitate to desist. The reason for these emphases is that the people, may Allah be pleased with them, as it is said, were hesitant regarding the prohibition after the revelation of the verse in Al-Baqarah. Hence, Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "O Allah, clarify this to us with a healing clarification," and so this verse was revealed. When Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, heard (So, will you be desisters?), he said: "We have desisted, O Lord."

'Abd ibn Humayd extracted from 'Ata' who said: The first thing revealed regarding the prohibition of wine was: (They ask you about wine and gambling...) the verse. Some people said: "We will drink it for its benefits," and others said: "There is no good in something that contains sin." Then was revealed: (O you who have believed, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated...) the verse. Some people said: "We will drink it and sit in our homes," and others said: "There is no good in something that stands between us and prayer with the Muslims." Then was revealed: (O you who have believed, wine and gambling...) the verse, so they desisted.

He extracted from Qatadah, who said: It was mentioned to us that when this verse was revealed, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "Allah the Exalted has prohibited wine, so whoever has any of it, let him not consume it nor sell it." The Muslims remained for a time smelling its odor on the paths of Medina from what they had poured out. He extracted from Al-Rabi' that he said: When the verse of Al-Baqarah was revealed, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "Your Lord is advancing in the prohibition of wine." Then the verse of An-Nisa' was revealed, and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "Your Lord is advancing in the prohibition of wine." Then the verse in Al-Ma'idah was revealed, and wine was prohibited at that point. Some discussion on this topic has already preceded in the verse of Al-Baqarah, so remember it.