Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India c7.s2.22

c7.s2.22

Many Muslims cannot forgo the pleasure of drinking wine in this world when it is promised to them in the next. The description of Paradise in the Quran specifically mentions free flow of wine (*kasir-ut sharab* and *utuf-ul-yeham*) as one of its blissful contents (*Surah* 38 *ayat* 51, also 37: 45-46). Prophet Muhammad in one verse of the Quran praises wines of different colours (*sharab-i-mukhtalif alwana*) as signs of God's grace to mankind and cure of many diseases (Quran 16:69). Nasai devotes many *ahadis* to the discussion of drinking in Islam. According to him Muslims drank wine of wheat and barley. They were advised by the Prophet to dilute strong wine with water and not to get intoxicated.⁹² According to Bukhari many Muslims drank wine on the day of *ghazwah*.⁹³ However, as the early companions of the Prophet got drunk, Muhammad was obliged to show some disapproval. He found that drinking led to gambling, quarrelling and stealing and, worse still, to neglecting the namaz. Consequently, he forbade it outright (Quran 2:216; 5:90-92). Wine-drinking became punishable by eighty lashes, and according to some traditions drinking of wine is punishable by death.⁹⁴