سورة المائدة

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Regarding the words of Allah the Exalted: "They ask you about wine and gambling" (Baqara/219). From a group of the commentators [something] has been narrated concerning the occasion of the revelation of this verse, the summary of which is this: A group of the Companions said, "O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! Give us a ruling concerning wine and gambling, for the two of them take away the intellect and squander wealth." As a result, this verse was revealed, and a group abstained from wine, and a group did not abstain because of the benefits that were in it, until Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf hosted a group and prepared food and invited a gathering. When they had eaten, he gave them wine to drink. Then the time of the Maghrib prayer entered while they were drunk; so they put one of them forward to lead the congregational prayer with them. He recited al-Hamd and قُلْ یَا أَیُّهَا الْکَافِرُونَ [Say: O you disbelievers], and in it, in place of لا أَعْبُدُ ما تَعْبُدُونَ [I do not worship what you worship] he recited to the end of the prayer أَعْبُدُ ما تَعْبُدُونَ [I worship what you worship]. ... So this verse was revealed: "O you who have believed, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated, until you know what you are saying!" ... (Nisa/43). So another group abstained from wine and said, "There is no good in something that keeps us away from prayer and in which there is sin." And another group used to drink it outside the times of prayer, until one day one of the Muslims drank it and became drunk and remembered the slain of Badr [who were disbelievers], and wept and wailed and recited elegies over them ... His story was reported to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family); so he came before him, and in the hand of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) was something with which he wanted to strike him; he sought refuge with him and apologized and repented." Then he related the story of Hamza (may Allah have mercy on him) close to what has already passed, [and continuing] said: Then Utban ibn Malik prepared food and roasted the head of a camel and invited a group in which was Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas. When they became drunk, they expressed their glories by composing poetry, and Sa'd composed an ode in praise of his people, and an Ansari man rose and took the bone of the head and with it broke Sa'd's head; so he complained before the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), and one of the Companions said, "O Allah, declare to us a decisive statement concerning wine"; as a result Allah revealed this verse from Surah al-Ma'ida: إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَ الْمَیْسِرُ... [Indeed, wine and gambling...]

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Hasan al-Basri said: Ali (peace be upon him), Uthman ibn Maz'un, Abu Talha, Abu Ubayda, Mu'adh ibn Jabal, Sahl ibn Bayda and Abu Dujana al-Ansari gathered at the house of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas and ate something. After that, he brought them some wine. Ali (peace be upon him) rose from his place to leave them. Uthman asked him the reason, and Ali (peace be upon him) said: "Allah has cursed khamr (wine). By Allah, I will not drink something that causes my intellect to be lost, that makes people laugh at me when they see me, and that would make me give my daughter in marriage to someone I do not know." Then he left them and went to the mosque. At that moment, Jibra'il brought down this verse: يَا أَیُّهَا الَّذِینَ آمَنُواْ [O you who believe] — meaning those who had gathered at the house of Sa'd — إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَیْسِرُ [Indeed, intoxicants and games of chance…]. And Ali (peace be upon him) said: "May Allah destroy wine. O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! By Allah, even when I was small, I was aware of this matter."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): يَا أَیُّهَا الَّذِینَ آمَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَیْسِرُ وَالْأَنصَابُ وَالْأَزْلَامُ [O you who believe! intoxicants and games of chance and (sacrificing to) stones set up and (dividing by) arrows are only an uncleanness]; as for khamr (wine), it must be said: every intoxicating drink, if it is left and ferments, is counted as khamr, and whatever intoxicates in large amounts, a small amount of it is also forbidden. This is because Abu Bakr, before wine was forbidden, drank wine and became drunk and began reciting poetry and weeping over the polytheists of the people of Badr who had been killed. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) heard this and said: 'O Allah! Hold back his tongue,' and Allah did so. He did not speak until the intoxication left him, and after that, Allah revealed to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) the command forbidding it. On the day wine was declared forbidden in Medina, in that city there was only wine made from fadikh of unripe dates (busr) and dates (tamr), and when the command forbidding it was revealed, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) went out and sat in the mosque and then asked that the vessels of wine in which they used to make wine be brought. Then he overturned those vessels and emptied them and said: All of these are wine, and Allah has forbidden it. The greatest amount of wine that was poured on the ground that day was fadikh wine, and on that day I do not know of any vessel of grape wine that was overturned; only one vessel that contained raisins and dates together was overturned. At that time in Medina, grape wine was not to be found. Allah has forbidden wine, whether little or much, and the buying and selling of khamr and profiting from it ... As for maysir, it is backgammon and chess, and every form of gambling is counted as maysir. Ansab means the idols that the disbelievers used to worship, and azlam means the arrows with which the Arab polytheists used to divide things among themselves, which is one of the customs of the Age of Ignorance (Jahiliyya). All of these matters — including the buying, selling and profiting from them — have been declared by Allah as strictly forbidden, and it is a filthy work from the works of Satan, and Allah has placed the ruling of khamr and maysir on a par with the ruling of idol-worship.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): What is meant by khamr is every drink that intoxicates. And the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: 'Wine is from nine things: from tubba', which is honey; from grapes, from raisins, from dates, from wheat, from millet, from barley, and from sult (a kind of barley that has no husk).'

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): It is narrated from Jabir ibn Abdullah ibn Hizam al-Ansari and others: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) forbade the drinking of wine, and [some people] argued that it was permissible and that its prohibition had not been revealed in the Book of Allah the Mighty and Majestic... The Muslims said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! You did not forbid us from drinking it. Has anything been revealed concerning it from Allah the Exalted so that we may act upon it, or not?" So Allah the Exalted revealed: إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَ الْمَیْسِرُ وَ الْأَنْصابُ وَ الْأَزْلامُ رِجْسٌ مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّیْطانِ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ [Indeed intoxicants, games of chance, idols and divining arrows are only an abomination from the work of Satan, so shun it]. The Muslims said: "He has only commanded us to keep away from it and has not made wine forbidden upon us." So Allah the Exalted revealed: إِنَّما یُرِیدُ الشَّیْطانُ أَنْ یُوقِعَ بَیْنَکُمُ الْعَداوَةَ وَ الْبَغْضاءَ فِی الْخَمْرِ وَ الْمَیْسِرِ وَ یَصُدَّکُمْ عَنْ ذِکْرِ الله وَ عَنِ الصَّلاةِ فَهَلْ أَنْتُمْ مُنْتَهُونَ [Indeed Satan only wishes to cast enmity and hatred among you through intoxicants and games of chance, and to keep you away from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. So will you not then abstain?]; they said: "He has commanded us to refrain from it but has not made it forbidden upon us." So Allah revealed: They ask you about wine and gambling, say: "In them is a great sin and [material] benefits for people, [but] their sin is greater than their benefit." (Baqarah/219). The Muslims said: "In it there is sin and there are benefits, and even if the sin is greater than the benefits, that does not make [wine] forbidden upon us"; therefore Allah the Exalted revealed: Say: Allah has only forbidden shameful deeds, whether open or hidden, and [likewise] sin and unjust oppression. (A'raf/33); as a result, wine became forbidden, because they used to say: "ithm" is one of the names of wine.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah commanded Nuh (peace be upon him) to gather a pair of every thing in the ship. Nuh (peace be upon him) brought the male date-palm and the ajwa into the ship, which are a pair. When the water sank into the earth, Allah commanded Nuh to plant the vine. Iblis came and prevented him from planting it and said: "This is not for you and your companions, rather it is for me and my companions." The two of them disputed over it as long as Allah willed. Then Nuh (peace be upon him) accepted that two-thirds of it should be for Iblis and one-third for Nuh, and Allah said in His Book to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): And from the fruits of the date-palms and the vines you obtain an intoxicating drink and a goodly provision. (Nahl/67). And the Muslims used to drink wine until Allah revealed the verse of prohibition: إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَ الْمَیْسِرُ وَ الْأَنْصابُ ... الصَّلاَةِ فَهَلْ أَنتُم مُّنتَهُونَ [Indeed intoxicants, games of chance and idols ... from prayer. So will you not then abstain?]; O Sa'id! This is the verse of prohibition, and it has abrogated the previous verse.

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Ali ibn Yaqtin said: Al-Mahdi, the Abbasid caliph, asked Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) about wine: "Has the drinking of wine been forbidden in the Book of Allah the Mighty and Majestic? For the people only know that they have been forbidden from drinking wine, and do not know whether it is prohibited or not." Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) replied: "The drinking of wine has been prohibited in the Book of Allah." He asked the Imam: "O Aba al-Hasan (peace be upon him), in which verse has Allah the Mighty and Majestic prohibited it?" The Imam replied: "Allah has prohibited the drinking of wine in the verse: قُلْ إِنَّما حَرَّمَ رَبِّیَ الْفَواحِشَ ما ظَهَرَ مِنْها وَ ما بَطَنَ وَ الْإِثْمَ [Say: My Lord has only forbidden indecent acts, whether apparent or hidden, and sin] (al-A'raf/33). What is meant by مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْها [what is apparent of them] is open fornication and the raising of banners by which [the houses of] immoral women were known in the age of jahiliyya (pre-Islamic ignorance). What is meant by ما بَطَنَ [what is hidden] is the women whom your fathers married; for before the mission of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), if a man married a woman and then died after a time, the son of that man would marry that woman — provided she was not his own mother. So Allah prohibited this act. Likewise, what is meant by إثم (sin) is wine itself. Allah the Mighty and Majestic said in another verse: یَسْئَلُونَکَ عَنِ الْخَمْرِ وَ الْمَیْسِرِ قُلْ فِیهِما إِثْمٌ کَبِیرٌ وَ مَنافِعُ لِلنَّاسِ وَ إِثْمُهُما أَکْبَرُ مِنْ نَفْعِهِما [They ask you about wine and gambling. Say: In them is great sin and harm, and some benefits [of a material kind] for people, but their sin is greater than their benefit] (al-Baqara/219). What is meant by إثم is a great forbidden thing [and a major sin], and Allah the Exalted named it [in this very verse 90 of Surah al-Ma'ida] "rijs (uncleanness)", which is the foulest of names." Then the Imam said: "The first verse revealed concerning the prohibition of drinking wine is the verse: یَسْئَلُونَکَ عَنِ الْخَمْرِ وَ الْمَیْسِرِ قُلْ فِیهِما إِثْمٌ کَبِیرٌ وَ مَنافِعُ لِلنَّاسِ وَ إِثْمُهُما أَکْبَرُ مِنْ نَفْعِهِما [They ask you about wine and gambling. Say: In them is great sin and harm, and some benefits [of a material kind] for people, but their sin is greater than their benefit] (al-Baqara/219). When this verse was revealed, the people sensed that wine is forbidden, and realised that إثم (sin) is among the things which it is proper to avoid. Then Allah revealed the verse: إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَ الْمَیْسِرُ وَ الْأَنْصابُ وَ الْأَزْلامُ رِجْسٌ مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّیْطانِ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّکُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ [Wine, gambling, idols and divining arrows are only an uncleanness, the work of Satan; so shun it that you may be successful]. The prohibition of these matters in this verse was more severe and stricter than in the first verse. Then Allah revealed a third verse, which was more severe and stricter than both the first and the second. Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: إِنَّما یُرِیدُ الشَّیْطانُ أَنْ یُوقِعَ بَیْنَکُمُ الْعَداوَةَ وَ الْبَغْضاءَ فِی الْخَمْرِ وَ الْمَیْسِرِ وَ یَصُدَّکُمْ عَنْ ذِکْرِ اللهِ وَ عَنِ الصَّلاةِ فَهَلْ أَنْتُمْ مُنْتَهُونَ [Satan only seeks to cast enmity and hatred among you through wine and gambling, and to turn you away from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. So will you not desist?]. So Allah commanded the people to keep away from these things, and also explained the reasons for their prohibition." Then he said: "They are forbidden, and Allah unveiled their prohibition in the fourth verse — along with the indications He had given in the earlier verses — and said: قُلْ إِنَّما حَرَّمَ رَبِّیَ الْفَواحِشَ ما ظَهَرَ مِنْها وَ ما بَطَنَ [Say: My Lord has only forbidden indecent acts, whether apparent or hidden] (al-A'raf/33). In the first verse Allah had said: یَسْئَلُونَکَ عَنِ الْخَمْرِ وَ الْمَیْسِرِ قُلْ فِیهِما إِثْمٌ کَبِیرٌ [They ask you about wine and gambling. Say: In the two of them is great sin] (al-Baqara/219). So Allah [made the people aware] that إثم (sin) is in wine and in other things, and that the drinking of wine is forbidden. Whenever Allah wished to make a matter obligatory, He would reveal it gradually, so that it might settle in the hearts of the people and they might submit [with heart and soul] to Allah's command and prohibition concerning the drinking of wine. And Allah's action was according to wise planning and correctness, because by this means they would accept that ruling, and fewer of them would turn away from it."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Fatima (peace be upon her) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said to her: O beloved of your father, every intoxicant is forbidden and every intoxicant is khamr (wine).

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Rayyan ibn Salt said: I heard Imam Rida (peace be upon him) say: "Allah the Mighty and Majestic never sent any prophet except with the prohibition of wine."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَ الْمَیْسِرُ [Intoxicants and games of chance are only...]; if a drop of wine were to fall into a well, and in its place a minaret were built, I would not give the adhan on top of it.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Hisham in a reliable report: It was said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "It has been narrated from you that al-khamr (wine), al-maysir (gambling), al-ansab (idols) and al-azlam (divining arrows) are [certain] men?" The Imam said: "Allah does not address His servants with that which they cannot comprehend."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Whoever drinks wine, his prayers of forty nights will not be accepted. If he drinks wine again, his prayers of forty nights from the day he drank it will not be accepted, and if he dies within those forty days and nights without repenting from what he committed, Allah will give him to drink on the Day of Resurrection from tinat al-khabal (the putrid clay). From that day, the mosque in which the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) sat and declared the drinking of wine forbidden was named Masjid al-Fadikh, because most of the wines that were poured on the ground were of the fadikh type. As for al-maysir, it is backgammon and chess, and every kind of gambling is counted as maysir. Al-ansab means the idols which the disbelievers used to worship, and al-azlam means the arrows with which the Arab polytheists used to divide things, which is from the customs of the age of ignorance (jahiliyya). All of these matters — buying, selling and deriving benefit from any of them — have been declared by Allah as emphatically forbidden, and it is a filthy work from the works of Satan. Allah has equated the ruling of khamr (wine) and maysir with the ruling of idol worship. Likewise, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: Whoever drinks wine, lash him; if he drinks again, lash him; if he returns to it again, lash him; and if he drinks for the fourth time, kill him. The Messenger (peace be upon him and his family) said: It is a right upon Allah that He shall give those who drink wine to drink from what comes out of the private parts of the prostitutes; and the prostitutes are the fornicating women from whose private parts a discharge flows — this discharge is a mixture of a putrid substance and thick blood, the heat and stench of which torments the people of Hell.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): It is narrated from Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): The Noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) cursed ten [groups] concerning wine: the one who plants its [tree], the one who guards it, the one who presses it, the one who drinks it, the one who serves it, the one who carries it, the one to whom it is carried, the one who sells it, the one who buys it, and the one who consumes its price.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Hisham ibn Salim said: I heard Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) say: "While Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib — may Allah be pleased with him — and his companions were drinking a wine called Sukurka, they spoke of the fat of a camel's hump. Hamza (may Allah have mercy on him) said to them: 'How can we get it?' They said: 'This is the she-camel of your nephew Ali (peace be upon him).' He went out to the she-camel, slaughtered her, took her liver and her hump, and brought them to his companions. Then Ali (peace be upon him) came, and when he saw his she-camel he was distressed. They said to him: 'Your uncle Hamza (may Allah have mercy on him) did this.' Ali (peace be upon him) went to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and complained of this matter. He said: Then the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) went with Ali (peace be upon him) to Hamza's house (may Allah have mercy on him). Hamza was told that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) was at the door. Hamza (may Allah have mercy on him) came out while he was angry. When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) saw the anger and rage on his face, he intended to turn back. Then Hamza (may Allah have mercy on him) said to the Messenger (peace be upon him and his family): 'If the son of Abu Talib wished to lead you around by a halter wherever he pleased, he could.' So Hamza (may Allah have mercy on him) entered his house and the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) turned back. And this incident was before the Battle of Uhud. Then Allah sent down the order forbidding wine, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) ordered all vessels of wine to be overturned. Then the call to battle was given to the people for the Battle of Uhud. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), the people, and Hamza (may Allah have mercy on him) went out to battle, and Hamza (may Allah have mercy on him) stood near the Prophet. When the two armies met, Hamza (may Allah have mercy on him) charged into the heart of the crowd and disappeared among the people, then returned to his position. The people said to him: 'Fear Allah, fear Allah, O uncle of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! Do not go while the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) still holds something against you in his heart.' So he charged a second time until he disappeared among the people, and again returned to his position. And again they said to him: 'Fear Allah, fear Allah, O uncle of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! Do not go while the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) still holds something against you in his heart.' So he turned towards the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), and when the Messenger (peace be upon him and his family) saw him approaching him, he turned towards him, embraced him, and kissed him between his eyes. Hamza (may Allah have mercy on him) charged once more and was martyred, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) shrouded him in a namira (a striped cloak). [That cloak] was something like the curtain you see in my house. The size of the cloak was such that if it covered his face, his two feet appeared, and if it covered his two feet, his face appeared. So he covered his face with it and placed idhkhir (sweet rush) upon his two feet. The people who were with the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) at the Battle of Uhud were defeated, and Ali (peace be upon him) remained. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said to him: 'What are you doing, O Ali?' Ali (peace be upon him) said: 'I will not move from here.' He said: 'I did not expect anything else from you.' And the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: 'O my Lord! I call upon You by what You have promised me, unless You have willed that You not be worshipped.'"

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): When Allah revealed to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) this verse: إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَیْسِرُ وَالأَنصَابُ وَالأَزْلاَمُ رِجْسٌ مِّنْ عمَلِ الشَّیْطَانِ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ [Intoxicants, games of chance, stones set up and divining arrows are only an uncleanness, the work of Satan; so shun it], it was said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! What is meant by maysir?" He said: "Anything with which gambling is done, even if it be dice-playing or walnuts." They said: "What is meant by ansab?" He said: "That which the polytheists sacrifice for their gods." It was said: "What is meant by azlam?" He said: "The special arrows of gambling by which they divide something."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Maysir is backgammon and chess, and every form of gambling is maysir. As for "ansab," they are the awthan (idols) which the polytheists used to worship. And as for "azlam," they are the arrows by which the polytheists of the Arabs in the Jahiliyya used to draw lots [for shares of camel meat and the like]. Buying, selling and benefiting from any of these is forbidden by Allah, and it is a filthy act from Satan. And Allah has mentioned wine and maysir together with the awthan.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Playing chess and backgammon and other kinds of gambling fall under maysir; even children's playing with walnuts is a form of gambling.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Chess and backgammon are maysir.

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Chess, backgammon, arba'a 'ashar (the fourteen game), and everything on which gambling is done are counted as maysir.

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Maysir is the same as gambling.

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Maysir is also considered gambling.

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Indeed, Allah has forbidden all kinds of gambling and has obliged the servants to stay away from them, and has called them filthy and vile. So He said: رِجْسٌ مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّیْطانِ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ [an uncleanness of Satan's work, so shun it] — like chess, backgammon and other forms of gambling; and backgammon is worse than chess. As for chess, keeping it is disbelief in Allah the Great, and playing with it is polytheism, and moving and turning its pieces is a destructive major sin, and greeting one who plays with it is disbelief, and the one who moves its pieces is like one who gazes at his mother's private parts. And the one who plays with backgammon is like one who eats the flesh of swine, and the likeness of one who plays with it without gambling is the likeness of one who places his hand in blood and the flesh of swine. And the likeness of one who plays with any of these things is the likeness of one who persists in fornication. And keep yourself from playing with rings and arba'a-'ashar (fourteen) and every form of gambling — even [such as] children's play with walnuts, almonds and knucklebones. And avoid playing polo, for Satan runs alongside you and the angels flee from you; and whoever's horse stumbles and he dies, enters the Fire.

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Yasir the servant narrates: I asked Imam Rida (peace be upon him) about maysir. He said: "Al-thaqal (the stake) of everything." Husayn said: "Al-thaqal is the money and other things which are put out between the two contending parties for the winner."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Staying away from idols and forms of gambling, who were the leaders of misguidance and chiefs of oppression, is obligatory — all of them, from the first to the last.

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Instructions from Imam Rida (peace be upon him) to al-Ma'mun on true Islam and the laws of the religion: keeping away from idols and games of chance, which were the leaders of misguidance and the chiefs of oppression.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Dawud ibn Kathir said: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: O Dawud, what is meant by prayer, zakat, fasting, hajj, the sacred month, the sacred land, the Ka'ba, the qibla of Allah, and the Face of Allah is us. Allah the Exalted said: فَأَیْنَما تُوَلُّوا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللهِ [So wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah] (Baqara/115). We are the signs (ayat) and the clear proofs (bayyinat); and our enemies in the Quran are indecency, wrong, transgression, wine, gambling, al-ansab and al-azlam, images, idols, al-Jibt and al-Taghut, carrion, blood and the flesh of swine.