Al-Ma'idah (The Table Spread): Verse 91

Explanation of Enmity and Hatred

We shall first explain the aspect of enmity and hatred involved in wine and gambling.

Know that the apparent situation for one who drinks wine is that he drinks it in a gathering. His goal in drinking is to feel convivial with his companions and rejoice in their conversation. Thus, the purpose of this gathering is to strengthen affection and love.

However, this usually turns into its opposite because wine removes the intellect. When the intellect is removed, desire and anger take over without the restraint of reason. When they dominate, disputes arise among those companions. This dispute might lead to striking, killing, and exchanging indecent speech, which in turn breeds the most intense enmity and hatred.

Satan suggests that gathering for drinking strengthens affection and love, but ultimately, the matter reverses, resulting in the utmost enmity and hatred.

In gambling, there is a detriment to the wealthy in exchange for supposed generosity towards the needy. If someone loses once in gambling, it drives him to persist in the hope that he might eventually win. This might continue until he has nothing left of his wealth, and he gambles away his honor, family, and children. Undoubtedly, after this, he remains poor and destitute and becomes one of the fiercest enemies of those who defeated him.

From this perspective, wine and gambling are two major causes for inciting enmity and hatred among people. Intense enmity and hatred undoubtedly lead to blameworthy states such as chaos, disorder, and strife, all of which contradict the welfare of the world.

If it is asked: Why were wine and gambling mentioned together with idols (ansab) and divining arrows (azlam), and then wine and gambling were singled out at the end of the verse?

We reply: This verse is an address to the believers, as indicated by the preceding verse: "O you who have believed, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated..." (Al-Ma'idah: 90). The objective is to forbid them from wine and gambling and to show that these four [prohibitions] are similar in their ugliness and corruption. Since the purpose of this verse is the prohibition of wine and gambling, and the idols and divining arrows were added to them for emphasis on the ugliness of wine and gambling, it is appropriate that they were singled out at the end of the verse.

The Second Type of Corruption: Religious Harm

The second type of corruption found in wine and gambling relates to religion, which is stated in the Almighty's saying: "...and to turn you away from the remembrance of Allah and from the prayer."

We say: It is evident that drinking wine prevents the remembrance of Allah, because consuming intoxicants induces elation and physical pleasure. When the soul is engrossed in physical pleasures, it becomes heedless of the remembrance of Allah, the Exalted.

Similarly, gambling prevents the remembrance of Allah and prayer. If a person is winning, his absorption in the pleasure of victory prevents anything other than that from crossing his mind, and this state undoubtedly diverts one from the remembrance of Allah and prayer.

If it is argued: The verse clearly states that the reason for prohibiting wine is these meanings. Yet, these meanings existed before the prohibition of wine, while the prohibition was not yet in place. This seems to undermine the validity of this reasoning.

We reply: This is one of the proofs that the absence of the ruling when the stated cause is present does not invalidate that cause from being the effective reason.

The Concluding Admonition

When the Almighty explained the great corruptions inherent in drinking wine and playing games of chance—harm to religion—He said: "So will you not desist?"

It is narrated that when the verse, "O you who have believed, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated..." (An-Nisa: 43) was revealed, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Allah, clarify for us the ruling on wine with a clear explanation!" When this verse was revealed, 'Umar said: "We have desisted, O Lord."

Know that although this appears to be a question on the surface, its meaning is, in reality, a prohibition. This figurative expression is appropriate because the Almighty has condemned these actions and revealed their ugliness to the addressees. When He then inquired about abandoning them, the addressee could only affirm their abandonment. It is as if He said: Will you continue to do this after its ugliness has become so manifest? Thus, His saying, "So will you not desist?" functions as a divine declaration of the obligation to cease, coupled with the acknowledgment by the accountable person of that obligation.

Proofs for the Prohibition of Wine

Know that this verse indicates the prohibition of drinking wine from several aspects:

1. The use of Innama (Indeed/Only): This word implies restriction. It is as if the Almighty said: There is no impurity, nor anything from the deeds of Satan, except these four [prohibitions].
2. Association with Idol Worship: The Almighty coupled wine and gambling with the worship of idols. This is supported by the Prophet's saying: "The drinker of wine is like the worshipper of an idol."
3. The Command to Avoid: The command to abstain implies obligation.
4. Linking Abstinence to Success: He said, "That you may be successful." He made abstinence a means of success, meaning that engaging in these acts leads to failure.
5. Enumeration of Harms: He explained the types of corruption arising from them in worldly and religious matters: the occurrence of enmity and mutual hatred among people, and the resulting turning away from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer.
6. The Final Question: His saying, "So will you not desist?" is one of the most eloquent ways to command cessation. It is as if He said: What has been recited to you encompasses various types of corruption and ugliness; will you desist despite these deterrents, or will you remain as you were before these admonitions?
7. The Subsequent Command: He followed this by saying: