By: Rafiq Ahmad Magray
Allah has blessed mankind with abundant bounties and what is probably the highest reward is intellect that has increased the honour of man among other species. Allah has entrusted mankind with the responsibility of the Khilafah in the world for this reason besides others. Hence, the intellect in Islam is of great importance, the Qur’an has on many occasions invited Muslims to ponder and reflect. What’s the reality of these two? That man should use his intellect to ponder and reflect on the things he hears and sees and try to know and understand the unknown facts and unseen truths.
Based on this, the Islamic law experts and Philosophers have written that all the rules of the Shariah are based primarily on five main objectives: the protection of religion; the protection of life; Protection of race; protection of property and protection of intellect. Therefore, protecting the power of intellect and thought from disruption and loss is one of the basic goals of Islam.
Thus, the use of intoxicants is one of the things that is strongly condemned and forbidden in Islam. Quran has not only declared it as forbidden but also as impure (Maidah:90). And because the most basic essence of man is his morals and character, intoxication deprives man of moral purity and forces him to commit the dirty and unclean deeds while spiritual and inner impurity is more harmful to man than outward impurity. Yes, there is a very strong admonition in the hadiths and the Prophet (ﷺ) has repeatedly stated that it is Harām and sinful. It was narrated from ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
“Every intoxicant is unlawful and whatever causes intoxication in large amounts, a small amount of it is (also) unlawful.” (SunanIbnMajah 3392) This is relevant here because the habit of intoxication usually starts in such a way that a person initially starts taking the drugs in a small amount, as he progresses and becomes the addict.
The harms of the drugs are obvious, the biggest damage is to the health of the person.Doctors agree that alcohol and drugs are a slow poisonand gradually deteriorate the health. A person is not just about himself but the rights of many more people in the society are also associated with him, thus the use of drugs is tantamount to betraying of this trust. That is why the Prophet (ﷺ) forbade narcotics as well as things that excite and irritate the mind, body and heart, that is, when they disrupt the person’s health. Therefore, it is narrated on the authority of HazratUmmeSalmah(RA) that the messenger of Allah (ﷺ) prohibited every intoxicant and Mufattir (anything which excites and irritates the mind, body and heart. (Abu Dawood)
The other side of the harm of drugs is financial loss as drugs have a reasonable price- a bottle of wine is so costly that a family living below poverty line can easily afford a one-time meal. This is the case with minor intoxicants, but some drugs are highly expensive.
Many people, start taking the drugs voluntarily. However, addiction can take over and reduce self-control and afterwards the addicted person reluctantly buys and uses the drugs. An addict person can go to any extent to fulfill his addiction even if he has nothing to eat or the people of his family are going through hunger and starvation, or money is not available for treatment for his parents; addict person will ignore everything.It is a fact that addiction has destroyed several families, large properties and majestic mansions have been sold for peanuts to purchase this self-destructive poison. An addict puts everything at stake, health; family; property.
As a social issue,a person is a member of the society, the rights and responsibilities of other people are associated with him/her. But once stuck into addiction, nothing remains significant and all that matters is drugs alone. Thus the rights of family, friends and society are thrown to the winds. This leads one to commits all sins in a state of intoxication or for the craving of drugs- a person may even commit murder to find a way to satiate his/her addiction.
Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) described alcohol as “Umm al-Khabaa’ith” meaning the root of evils (Nisai:1) and “Umm al-Fawahash” meaning the root of immorality. There can be no better interpretation of the moral taboos of alcohol. On one occasion, the Prophet (ﷺ) said: As the branches of a tree sprout, so do the evils of alcohol. (SunanIbnMajah, Hadith No. 1, An-Khabaab)
The Prophet (ﷺ) also mentioned an incident in this regard regarding a beautiful woman who kept alcohol and a child and forced a man to do at least one of the three evils, either commit adultery with the woman or kill the child. Do it, or drink alcohol, this person thought that drinking alcohol is inferior to all three; So, he drank the alcohol. But this alcohol eventually caused him to commit both of the other sins. (Nisai: ۵۶۶۶)
Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Allah has cursed wine, its drinker, its server, its seller, its buyer, its presser, the one for whom it is pressed, the one who conveys it, and the one to whom it is conveyed. What could be more unfortunate that the people at the helm of affairs despite being aware from top to toe about the dangers of use drugs and liquor and yet allow it to flourish so that the government can collect taxes from its trade! Isn’t it bizarre that one hand orders for liquor ban are issued but permits for sale of liquor are also given in the same breath?
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