Drinking, Gambling & Hyprocrisy

According to the Most Holy and Glorious Qur¹an, mankind goes astray in three ways: The first is to willfully ignore the guidance of Almighty Allah Subhanahu Wata¹ala and become a slave of desires. The second is to give precedence to society and to personal fanciful interpretations over the Divine Law of our Glorious Creator and Sustainer. The third is to ignore the Islamic Way enunciated by Almighty Allah Azza Wajjal and His Beloved Nabee Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Sallallahoo Alayhi Wasallam and follow the ways of Jahiliyyah and satanic cultures.

A true Muslim should be free from these three ailments. Only someone who is a slave of none but Almighty Allah Azza Wajjal and a follower of His Messengers Alayhim Salaam can be truly called a Muhmin. A confirmed Muslim sincerely believes that the Divine Commandments of Almighty Allah and His Beloved Messenger Sallallahoo Alayhi Wasallam is absolute truth, that whatever runs counter to it is false, and that it contains all that is good for man in this world and in the Hereafter (Aghirah).

A Muslim who has complete faith in these truths will, Insha¹Allah, at every step in his life, look only to Rabbul Ala¹meen and His Beloved Nabee Sallallahoo Alayhi Wasallam to guide him and submit to whatever They require. Such a person will never feel troubled in his or her heart about obeying Almighty Allah¹s Divine Commandments, or be concerned if members of his/her community or family upbraid him or her, or if the entire world opposes them. In each case the response must be unequivocal: "I am Almighty Allah¹s slave, not yours; I have faith in His Divine Commandments and the Sunnah of His Beloved Nabee Sallallahoo Alayhi Wasallam,"

On the other hand, a person may say: "This may be the directive of Almighty Allah and His Beloved Messenger Sallallahoo Alayhi Wasallam, but it is difficult for me to accept it because I do not agree with certain Divine Commandments. I shall therefore act according to my own desire and opinionas against the guidance of the Holy Sharia¹h and the Sunnah of Nabee Muhammad Sallallahoo Alayhi Wasallam."

Obviously, no Imaan can be alive in the heart of such a person nor can such a person claim to be a true Muhmin but a hypocrite (Munafiq). While such a person may verbally claim to be a sincere servant of Almighty Allah Subhanahu Wata¹ala and a member of the Muslim Ummah, in reality such a person is a slave of his or her own desires and a follower of fanciful interpretations, personal opinions, whims and fancies.Such a person is unfortunately building sandcastles in the air.

A person may say that whatever injunctions of Almighty Allah and His Beloved Nabee Sallallahoo Alayhi Wasallam may be, certain satanic acts such as drinking, gambling, stealing and fornication etc. cannot be given up. Such a person must then be reckoned among the hypocrites, despite the performance of regular prostration in endless prayers and however pious he or she may appear to be. The spirit of Islam has most certainly not entered into the heart of such a person.

Islam does not merely consist in bowing (Ruku), prostration (Sujood),Fasting and Pilgrimage (Hajj); nor is it found in the face and dress of a person. Islam means total and complete submission to Almighty Allah Subhanahu Wata¹ala and His Beloved Nabee Muhammad Sallallahoo Alayhi Wasallam. Anyone who refuses to obey them in the conduct of his or her life-affairs has a heart devoid of the real Islam Œfaith has not yet entered into their hearts¹. Prayers, fasting and pious appearances from such people are nothing but deception.

Such people, in defiance of the Most Holy and Glorious Qur¹an and the Sunnah of our Beloved Nabee sallallahoo Alayhi Wasallam urge thus; that drinking may be beneficial to one¹s health because an important person is advocating it. Such a person is in great danger of losing his or her faith. Such an attitude is irreconcilable to Imaan. If we are Muslim and want to remain Muslim, then it is imperative that we cast all Jahiliyyah practices overboard. If we cannot, it ill behoves us to claim to be following the Holy Sharia¹h.

To assert that we believe in Almighty Allah¹s Divine Commandments as laid down in the Most Holy and Glorious Qur¹an but to willfully ignore their injunctions in the conduct of our daily lives in favour of following the dictates of Shaythaan Lanatullahi Alay, is neither Imaan nor Islam. It is blatant hypocrisy. Almighty Allah Subhanahu Wata¹ala leaves no doubt about the ridiculous nature of such conduct for He tells us very clearly in verses 46 to 52 in Surah Al-Nur:

"Indeed We have sent down revelations clearly showing the truth, but Allah guides whomsoever He will to a Straight Path. They say:" We believe in Allah and the Messenger and we obey". Then after that, a party of them turn away; they are not (true) believers. And when they are called unto Allah and His Messenger that He may decide between them, behold, a party of them turn away; but if they are in the right, they will come unto Him submitting willingly. What! Is there in their hearts sickness? Or are they in doubt?

"Or, do they fear that Allah and His Messenger may be unjust to them? Nay, it is they who are doing wrong. All that the believers say, whenever they are called unto Allah and His Messenger that He may judge between them, is that they say: "We hear and we obey." It is they who are the successful one¹s. Whoso obeys Allah and His Messenger, and fears Allah, and has awe of Him, it is they who shall triumph."

Many Muslims today are all too ready to accept whatever is convenient in Islam but all too quick to change direction when conflict arises between Islam and Kufr. If they are told: "Let us now implement the law of Islam which you are praising so highly with regard to drinking and gambling," they will at once say, "There are some difficulties and obstacles, it is better to leave these subjects alone for the time being."Tell such people: "But these things Almighty Allah has made Haram".

What they mean is that Islam is a beautiful toy, to be displayed on a shelf and praised from a distance, but to be strictly avoided if the question is raised of enforcing its laws to govern ourselves, our families and the general conduct of our lives. As a result, neither Prayer nor Fasting nor reciting the Most Holy and Glorious Qur¹an nor outward adherence to the Holy Sharia¹h is effective. When the soul departs, what feats can a dead bodyperform?

We know how widespread drinking was throughout Arabia before the advent of Islam. Men and women, young and old, all loved to drink. They even composedsongs in its praise and were totally addicted to it. We also know how difficult it is to give up drinking after becoming addicted to it. An alcoholic would rather sacrifice his Imaan, his job, home and his family than stop drinking. Allah has declared alcohol Haram.

When the Divine prohibition order against drinking alcohol was given through the Most Holy and Glorious Qur¹an, those same Arabs who loved alcohol more dearly than anything else, destroyed the vessels that they used to drink from. Containers of this cursed (Haram) substance were smashed and it is said that alcohol flowed like water in the streets of Madinah Al-Munawwarah following its Divine Prohibition.

It is also said that those who had been drinking when the Qur¹anic verses were revealed tried to induce vomiting when news of the Divine proclamation reached them. Such is the strength and power of True Imaan. For any one who has such Imaan in his or her heart it is easy to be punished here on earth but it is very difficult to go before one¹s Maker as a disobedient servant.

The word Khamr (liquor) appears six times in the Most Holy and Glorious Qur¹an: Once in a subjective case in verse 90 of Surah Al-Mai¹da twice in objective cases in verses 36 and 41 in Surah Yusuf and thrice in genetive cases. Once in verse 219 of Surah Al-Baqara, once in verse 91 of Surah Al-Mai¹da and in once verse 15 of Surah Muhammad.

"They ask thee (O Muhammad) about Khamr (liquor) and games of chance(gambling). Say: There is great harm in both of them and that their harm is greater than their advantage."

"O believers! Surely liquor (intoxicants) and games of chance (gambling) are devices of shaythaan. Avoid them so that you may prosper. Only shaythaan would sow hatred and strife among you, by liquor and games of chance and turn you away from the remembrance of Allah, and from prayer. Will you then not refrain from indulging in this abomination?

From the foregoing Qur¹anic verses we can deduce that all intoxicants resulting in ruination of family life, spousal and child abuse, loss of wit,wastage of wealth and health, unable to keep a steady job, debauching status and nobility and marring personality is the inevitable price one has to pay.As Muslims how then can we be indulging in things that have been outlawed,condemned and forbidden by our Glorious Creator and Sustainer? Hazrat Umar Radhiallahu Anho reported that our Beloved Nabee Sallallahoo Alayhi Wasallam said: "There are three types of people for whom Paradise has been prohibited. A habitual consumer of wine (liquor), one who is disobedient to parents and a careless and unconcerned husband who establishes impurity in his family." (Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah).

"Verily, Allah has cursed ten persons, the one who squeezes it, one who is engaged for squeezing it, the one who consumes it; the one who carries it,the one who to whom it is carried, one who serves it, one who sells it, one who devours its price, one who purchases it and for one for whom it is purchased.

Intellect has two very strong enemies - desire and anger. These two rivals of intellect get reinforcement by alcoholic liquor. When wine or liquor enters the human body, the first victim is the highest cerebral centres which control such factors as judgement, sense of responsibility and moral integrity. When these factors are depressed, the lower instincts are released from captivity. Moral and social inhibitions become a dead thing. It is now proved that the person becomes talkative or even argumentative and aggressive. Some will even go to extent (Na a¹udubillah) of wanting to perform Salaat in that impure and filthy state to give onlookers the impression that he or she is spiritually stimulated. May Allah save us from such abominations.

Wine also causes delirium a disease that destroys the memory. Wine provokes indignation because the drunkard is infuriated on petty grounds. Alcohol makes the brain so irritable that it sees, hears and feels things that are not there. It excites some to sudden weeping, some to unbounded liveliness, some to laziness and still others to extreme humiliation and disgrace in this life and in the Hereafter (Aghirah).

Conditions such as these are not yet the worst of it. There are also chronic disorders due to prolonged usage of alcohol. Some of the more common are: Neurological and digestive disorders; liver ailments; cirrhosis;pancreatitis; nutritional deficiency and cardiac diseases, pellagra and euphorbia. According to some German doctors, the texture of a constant drinker of forty years is like the texture of the body of a seventy year-old non-drinker. Almighty Allah Subhanahu Wata¹ala has laid great emphasis on the unlawfulness of wine and gambling in the verse 91 of Surah Al-Ma¹idah:

Idol-worship, drinking, adultery, gambling, theft, murder and armed robbery were rampant at the time. Women used to walk about in a shameless fashion. Islam abolished all such satanic and Jahiliyyah ways and no ancient evil custom was left untouched. Islam liberated mankind and led them out of darkness and into the Light of the Most Holy and Glorious Qur¹an straight onto the Royal highway leading to the Path of Seerathal Mustaqeem. Realworship of Almighty Allah, therefore is to follow the way laid down by our

Herein lies the essence of Imaan; this is the real spirit of Islam: that you must be prepared to sacrifice for the sake of Almighty Allah Azza Wajjal, if necessary, whatever is dear to you. In many affairs of our lives Almighty Allah¹s Commandments beckon us in one direction while our own desires urge us in another. Allah commands us to do a certain deed but we think that it will cause trouble and loss. Allah forbids us from indulging in certain heinous actions like drinking etc. but we consider it to be pleasant and beneficial. On one side is Allah¹s Pleasure and pitted against it is almost everything in this world. At every step in life we are faced with two paths.

By giving up the evil things of this world and bowing to the Commandments of our Creator, we adopt the path of Islam. By rejecting Allah¹s Commandments in order to satisfy the desires of our selfish hearts and the evil temptations of the world, we take the path of Kufr and hypocrisy. Almighty Allah sent us His Holy Book so that we may know Him and learn how to obey Him. Have we ever tried to discover what is written in it? Allah sent us His Beloved, His final and last Prophet Muhammad Sallallahoo Alayhi Wasallam to

Allah explicitly informed us of behaviour that debases man in this world and in the Hereafter. Do we avoid such behaviour? What answers do we have to these questions? We know that the only difference between Muslims and unbelievers is in the matter of knowledge and actions. Those who claim to be Muslims but whose knowledge, behaviour, knowledge and actions are the same

Unbelievers follow their own desires instead of Almighty Allah¹s Commandments. If Muslims are similarly willful and undisciplined, setting up their own ideas and opinions on an illusionary pedestal, indifference to the Holy Sharia¹h and a slave to drinking, and to other lusts, what right have they to call themselves Muslims? Unbelievers do not distinguish between Halal and Haram and make indiscriminate use of everything and anything, irrespective of whether it is Halal or Haram. If Muslims behave the same as unbelievers, what difference is there between them and the Kuffar?

These are the Muslims who are not versed in the knowledge of Islam and who are misled by flowery expressions and Œscientific¹ knowledge. They are diverted far away from the Path of Seerathal Mustaqeem and directed in a course away from Imaan.

Imaan is the most valuable treasure in possession of a Muhmin. There is no greater blessing of Almighty Allah upon man than the bestowal of Imaan. Imaan, is therefore not an entity to trifle with. Imaan is not a vague concept that can be dissected, mutilated and offered in a new garb cut by fanciful interpretations. That, surely, is the way of Shaythaan.