Liquor and alcoholic Drinks is one of the prohibited drinks in Islam. Meanwhile, it is very important to know the philosophy of prohibition of the consumption of liquor and alcoholic Drinks. Therefore, the present article aims to explain why the consumption of liquor and alcoholic Drinks is prohibited in Islam.
It is pertinent to mention that there are many reasons for this prohibition including the following:
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Effects of alcohol on age
A distinguished Western scholar claims that for every 51 deaths amongst youths aged between 21 and 23 years who are addicted to alcoholic beverages, there are not even 10 deaths amongst those youths not addicted to alcohol.
Another reputed scholar has proved that a significant number of 20-year-old youths, who are expected to live up to the age of 50 years, do not live beyond 35 years as a result of the consumption of alcohol.
According to experiments conducted by ‘life insurance’ companies, it has been established that the life span of those addicted to alcohol is 25 – 30 per cent less than that of those not addicted to it.
Another statistic reveals that the average age of those addicted to alcohol is between 35 years and 50 years, whereas the average age of non-addicts, when hygienic and sanitary issues are observed, is above 60 years.
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The effects of alcohol on the offspring
If a person happens to be intoxicated at the time of conception, 35 per cent of the acute alcoholic effects are passed on to the child and if both – the husband and the wife – were to be intoxicated, 100 per cent of the acute effects are transferred to the child. In order that the effects of alcohol on children to be better comprehended, we seek to present some statistics here:
Of the children having been born prematurely, 45% of them had fathers and mothers, both of whom were alcoholics, 31% had mothers who were alcoholics and 17% had fathers who were alcoholics.
6% of infants, who died shortly after birth, had alcoholic fathers while 45% of them had alcoholic mothers.
75% of children possessing stunted growth had parents who were addicted to alcohol while 45% of them had mothers who were addicted to it. Amongst the children who suffered from a lack of sufficient intellectual and mental abilities, 75% of them had alcoholic mothers while 75% of them had alcoholic fathers.
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Effects of alcohol on the morals
Attachment towards the family and the love for the wife and children diminishes so much in an alcoholic person that it has been repeatedly observed that fathers have killed their children with their own hands.
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a) The social harms of alcohol
Statistics compiled by The Legal Medical Institute of the city of Neon in 1961 of social crimes reveal that alcoholics were involved in 50% of all homicide cases, 77.8% of violence and physical abuses, 88.5% of thefts, and 88.8% of sexual offences. These figures reveal that an overwhelming majority of crimes and offences are perpetrated under the influence of alcohol.
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b) The economic harms of alcoholic drinks
A celebrated psychiatrist says: Unfortunately, the governments only take into consideration the monetary and tax benefits derived from alcohol but fail to consider the enormous funds spent to rectify its evils.
If the governments were to take into account the increased psychological sicknesses in the society, the losses of a decadent society, the waste of precious time, the driving accidents resulting from intoxication, the corruption of generations, the laziness, idleness and nonchalance, the cultural backwardness, the troubles faced by the police, the reformatories for the guardianship of alcoholic children and the hospitals for them, the judicial set up to look into crimes committed by the alcoholics and the prisons to house the offenders, and other losses that stem from the consumption of alcohol, collectively, they would realize that the income derived from the taxes imposed on alcoholic drinks is nothing compared to the above-mentioned losses.
Besides, the deplorable consequences of alcohol consumption cannot be gauged in terms of just money, for the death of near ones, breaking up of families, lost ambitions and loss of intellect can never be compared to money.
In summary, the harms of alcohol are so numerous that according to one scholar, if the governments guarantee to close down fifty per cent of the public houses, it can be guaranteed that we would not be in need of fifty per cent of the hospitals and asylums.
(Even) if the alcoholic drinks trade were to be profitable for a man – upon the assumption that the forgetting of his sorrows and a few moments of insensibility could be viewed as a benefit for him – nevertheless, its harms are so much more immense, extensive and protracted that the two just cannot be compared. (1)
At this juncture, we present some other points in the form of statistics in connection with the enormous consequences of this harmful act:
i. According to statistics published in England in connection with delirium tremens, when this condition was compared to other forms of insanity, it was found that as opposed to 2249 cases of delirium tremens, there were only 53 cases of insanity which were caused by other factors! (2)
ii. Figures procured from American asylums indicate that alcoholic patients constitute 85% of those suffering from psychological disorders. (3)
iii. An English scholar by the name of Bentham writes: “In northern countries, alcoholic beverages make a person fatuous and imbecile, while in the southern countries, it makes them insane. He then adds: The religion of Islam has prohibited all kinds of alcoholic drinks and this is one of the distinctive features of Islam.” (4)
iv. If statistics were to be compiled of those, who, in intoxication have committed suicides, perpetrated crimes, destroyed houses and dashed the aspirations of families, the figures would be truly staggering. (5)
v. In France, 440 people die as a result of alcohol, every day! (6)
vi. According to another piece of data, deaths in the United States resulting from psychological disorders in a period of one year are twice that of the casualties suffered by it during World War II, and according to researchers, alcohol and cigarettes play a pivotal role vis-à-vis psychological disorders in that country! (7)
vii. According to statistics published by an individual by the name of Huger on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the magazine Sciences, 60 per cent of intentional murders, 75 per cent of violent and physical abuses, 30 per cent of immoral acts (including incest with the immediate relatives!) and 20 per cent of thefts are related to alcohol and alcoholic drinks. According to another set of figures compiled by this same scholar, 40 per cent of juvenile offenders have an alcoholic record. (8)
viii. From the economic point of view, in England itself, the losses incurred every year as a result of absenteeism on the part of employees due to alcoholism has been estimated to be around 50 million dollars, which, by itself, is sufficient for the building of thousands of kindergartens, primary and secondary schools. (9)
ix. As per statistics published in connection with the losses arising as a result of alcoholic beverages in France, alcohol burdens the French budget by 137 billion francs per year (not including the personal losses incurred by the individuals), details of which are as follows:
60 billion francs were spent on courts and prisons.
40 billion francs expended for social benefits and charities.
10 billion francs were utilized for covering the expenses of the hospitals for alcoholics.
70 billion francs for maintaining social security!
Thus, it becomes plainly clear that the number of psychologically diseased individuals, hospitals, homicides, violent disputes, thefts, offences and accidents are directly proportional to the number of public houses that exist (10). (11)
NOTES:
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1. Tafsir-e-Namunah, vol. 2, pg. 74
2. Symposium on Alcohol, pg. 65
3. Ibid.
4. Tafsir Tantawi, vol. 1, pg. 165
5. Dairatul Ma’arif-e-Farid Wa Judai, vol. 3, pg. 790
6. Balaha-e-Ijtima’i-e-Qarn-e-Ma, pg. 205
7. Majmua’-e-Intisharat-e-Nasl-e-Jawan
8. Symposium On Alcohol, pg. 66
9. Majmua’-e-Intisharat-e-Nasl-e-Jawan, 2nd year, pg. 330
10. Nashriya-e-Markaz-e-Mutala’-e-Peshraftha-e-Iran (about alcohol and gambling)
11. Tafsir-e-Namunah, vol. 5, pg. 74
