Mohammad Elshinawy – Proof of Prophethood #20 – The Prophet Taming The Beast Of Alcoholism

			Islam is known for its categorical rejection of alcohol consumption. And perhaps this is the easiest
of the wise and merciful prohibitions of Muhammad's message to appreciate.
		

			And, you know, this prohibition being contrary to the prevailing norms at his time, among pagans,
Jews and Christians, argues against the notion that his ministry was some accumulation of all of the
teachings around him that he absorbed and created a message concocted it from his surrounding
environment. But in addition to it being revolutionary and original, it was incredibly wise in its
framing. Number one, the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said to the people what ever
intoxicates in large amounts, then even a small amount of it is still unlawful. Sensible people
should realize how utterly illogical the current recommendation of drink responsibly is, for it
		

			leaves the decision of when to stop drinking, in the hands of those actively impairing their own
judgment through drinking. Number two, in addition to the zero tolerance policy, the Prophet
Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him prohibited people from sitting at a table sitting in a
gathering, where intoxicants were being circulated. And this too is incredibly wise because peer
pressure does not just prey on young children, it applies to adults just the same. And we know from
our current state of affairs, the fail of the designated driver concept, where one person is going
to sit at that table would be able to resist and abstain and remain sober to safely drive everyone
		

			else home. It's been 40 years since the Harvard alcohol project has imported the designated driver
concept, and yet, alcohol related traffic deaths have not been mitigated even by 50%, since it has
been brought into our societies. Number three, and above all, he sallallahu alayhi wa sallam taught
that spiritual and moral refinement were the inner core and the true bedrock upon which moral reform
and temperance could actually be built. And only through them Can a person be liberated from this
destructive vise as his wife Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her said, the Quran first came down
and brought two people mention of Paradise and the Hellfire until when their hearts inclined to
		

			Islam, the do's and don'ts, the laws, the commands and prohibitions came down and had the first
thing to come down been those strict policies about extramarital relations, she said, and about wine
consumption, she said, people would have said we'll never be able to stop. And interestingly,
Alcoholics Anonymous, which has hundreds of 1000s of support groups to rehabilitate people out of
alcoholism, they require belief in some higher power, because they have limited resources. And they
saw that success rates simply were not there. When that belief was absent from a person, we really
ought to just take an honest look around us. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome remains the leading cause for
		

			preventable intellectual disabilities in the United States. According to the Center for Disease
Control, about 95,000 deaths occur annually each year in the United States due to excessive alcohol
consumption. On the one hand, there is the direct toxicity of it. It harms nearly every system and
organ in the human body. And then there are the impairments caused by alcohol consumption, which are
directly correlated with reduced workplace productivity, increased HIV transmission, lethal
accidents, violence, abuse, alluding to the aggressions triggered by these intoxicants. Allah
Almighty says in the Quran, Satan the Devil only seeks to stir between you animosity and hatred
		

			through these intoxicants and through gambling and to divert you from the remembrance of God and
from prayer for * and to moonta Hoon, so will you not desist? Will you not stop already? Much
like today when we find people citing the supposed benefits of drinking wine, the contemporaries of
the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, also used to boast of their drinking and how
it would render them fearless and how that too was a benefit.
		

			because it allowed them to exhibit valor through their fearlessness on the battlefield and exhibit
generosity through their fearlessness, and perform acts of philanthropy, but the horror and came and
overturned that myopic thinking by juxtaposing these supposed advantages with the inevitable greater
harms that are inseparable from them, such as unnecessary violence and the wastage of vital
finances. Mohammed's message made Islams uniquely firm stance on intoxicants scriptural and
therefore ever relevant, not subjected to being contravened by fluctuating politics, or by suppose
it benefits. And this seems to be playing a major role in why minority communities today who are
		

			often disproportionately harmed by alcohol consumption, are converting to Islam in droves city. They
find in Mohammed's message a path to reclaim their lives that they cannot seem to find anywhere
else.