WI Islam wasn`t anti-alcohol?

[Riain]

I was reading about the history of wine in Israel and Lebanon on wiki (the world`s most trustworthy source) and it said that the Islamic conquest of the 7th century meant that the vineyards were torn up and indigenous vine species were lost.

Which got me thinking, WI Mohammud didn`t prohibit alcohol consumption? Apart from different viticulture throughout the entire mid east would much be different?

 

[Laqueesha]

Although Islam is anti-alcohol, there are plenty of Muslims who drink it. The Prophet Mohammed hated dogs, but plenty of Muslims like dogs, especially those in North America.

Hell, I even personally knew a Hindu who ate beef, if you could believe that. I wouldn't be surprised if there were even some Muslims who eat pork.

 

[Kosta]

I was reading about the history of wine in Israel and Lebanon on wiki (the world`s most trustworthy source) and it said that the Islamic conquest of the 7th century meant that the vineyards were torn up and indigenous vine species were lost.

Which got me thinking, WI Mohammud didn`t prohibit alcohol consumption? Apart from different viticulture throughout the entire mid east would much be different?

It could expand the Persian economy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirazi_wine.

 

[LSCatilina]

In Al-Andalus it was accepted to drink alchools, as the Coran was interpreted in a way that allowed some of them, including wine made of some manner.

 

[Amedras]

Which got me thinking, WI Mohammud didn`t prohibit alcohol consumption? Apart from different viticulture throughout the entire mid east would much be different?

Probably less than you'd think. The Qur'an and hadith never stopped the Muslim world from drinking, although it did lead to viticulture becoming a Christian-specific job in Spain.)

On the other hand, it could affect the decisionmaking that led Volodymyr the Great to convert Kievan Rus' to Orthodoxy. That would make world history unrecognizable in short order.

 

[SlideAway]

I believe the Qu'ran only specifically advises against imbibing wine. In some areas, consumption of other alcoholic beverage is considered permissible. Bosnian Muslims, for example, make and drink beer.

 

[Hyperbolus]

Have one of the main schools of Islamic jurists (Hanafi, Hanbali etc.) endorse alcohol, perhaps initially being anti-liquor but tolerating alcohol when it forms part of the local culture. Or alternately have an especially harsh repression of alcohol generally in an Islamic region, and perhaps drinking becomes more prominent as a reaction.

 

[Riain]

6 replies in half an hour, I`m surprised at the interest.

Mohammed hated dogs and kept a cat, so when the Indonesian army withdrew from East Timor in 1999 they left behind huge amount of cats with nobody to care for them.

Muslims do drink alcohol in private an in niche areas but that`s not enough to see the fertile crescent with a large wine industry with indigenous vine species. I wonder what the globalisation of wine would look like with those thrown into the mix.

 

[tonsofun]

I wouldn't be surprised if there were even some Muslims who eat pork.

Some do. I remember reading a report on bbc a few years ago about people in Turkey who hunted wild boars for food. According my muslim ex. Pork is only forbidden as pigs are more than willing to eat their own waste (and others) and the farmers don't stop them.

 

[SlideAway]

Have one of the main schools of Islamic jurists (Hanafi, Hanbali etc.) endorse alcohol, perhaps initially being anti-liquor but tolerating alcohol when it forms part of the local culture. Or alternately have an especially harsh repression of alcohol generally in an Islamic region, and perhaps drinking becomes more prominent as a reaction.

This is in fact true - The founder of the Hanafi school said only intoxication was forbidden, which is why many (Hanafi) areas of the former Ottoman Empire - Turkey, Bosnia, etc. - consume alcohol. Again, wine is specifically frowned upon, but other alcohols such as raki and beer are generally permitted.

The dominant view within Hanafi Islam is still that alcohol is forbidden, but there is a strain that continues to tolerate it.

 

[Nassirisimo]

A little point I would like to clarify - Muhammad didn't actually hate dogs, he just thought that they were unsuitable as pets for people who did not hunt for a living, and in addition, Islam teaches that the saliva of dogs is unclean, not the dogs themselves. And of course, that can be easily cleaned off.

I would also like to offer a voice in support of those noting that Islam isn't monolithically anti-Alcohol. The Abbasids were also known to be consumers of wine, as were the upper classes of golden-age Islamic societies, though getting intoxicated on alcohol in these societies was somewhat frowned upon. Even today, a significant proportion of Muslims consume alcohol, sometimes circumventing the laws of their country in order to do so.

 

[Monty Burns]

Can you imagine how one of those Hamas/Hizbollah "parades" could turn out with alcohol being widespread?

 

[Falecius]

Although Islam is anti-alcohol, there are plenty of Muslims who drink it. The Prophet Mohammed hated dogs, but plenty of Muslims like dogs, especially those in North America.

Hell, I even personally knew a Hindu who ate beef, if you could believe that. I wouldn't be surprised if there were even some Muslims who eat pork.

There are. Parma's ham has a considerable market in Turkey; I also read about pork being sold with halal certification among Chinese Muslims. However, alcohol is a much more tolerated sin than eating pork among Muslims. There is a lot of them who drink alcohol, while being disgusted at idea of eating pork. Alcohol is simply prohibited because it causes drunkenness (its use as a medicinal was allowed in the Islamic Middle Ages, frex), while pork is felt as impure (though refusing to eat it if it is the only alternative to starvation is tantamount to suicide; a tenet of Islamic law holds that necessity makes permitted what would be otherwise prohibited).

 

[Falecius]

Probably less than you'd think. The Qur'an and hadith never stopped the Muslim world from drinking, although it did lead to viticulture becoming a Christian-specific job in Spain.)

On the other hand, it could affect the decisionmaking that led Volodymyr the Great to convert Kievan Rus' to Orthodoxy. That would make world history unrecognizable in short order.

This.

Of course, one has to consider how much that report about alcohol prohibition influenced Volodymyr is trustworthy.

 

[VidaLaVida]

On the other hand, it could affect the decisionmaking that led Volodymyr the Great to convert Kievan Rus' to Orthodoxy. That would make world history unrecognizable in short order.

Whoa, definitely this. A scenario culminating in a Muslim Russia is just begging for a TL. The mind reels.

 

[Riain]

There are a lot of exceptions to the rule, but I think it still stands mainly because mainstream Islam doesn`t go around drinking alcohol. If it did there would be thriving alcohol industries in Islamic countries, large scale wine and beer production in the places where it was invented.

 

[PenguinOverlord]

hmm...if Islam didnt prohibit alcohol...I think that the world would be a different place that's for sure...for example...you might have more muslism breweries and perhaps maybe a happier culture on the whole

 

[Nassirisimo]

hmm...if Islam didnt prohibit alcohol...I think that the world would be a different place that's for sure...for example...you might have more muslism breweries and perhaps maybe a happier culture on the whole

As a Muslim, I consider killing myself every night because I cannot drink. Oh, unless I convert, I will never know the joys of hangovers, alcoholism, a depleted bank account...

 

[wcv215]

This.

Of course, one has to consider how much that report about alcohol prohibition influenced Volodymyr is trustworthy.

I asked a question similiar to what this is leading to a while back. The consensus was that the Rus converted to Orthodox Christianity because their main trading partners were the Romans and they wanted to keep them as allies. Alchohol had little to do with the decision.

 

[Russian]

hmm...if Islam didnt prohibit alcohol...I think that the world would be a different place that's for sure...for example...you might have more muslism breweries and perhaps maybe a happier culture on the whole

Are you sure that alcohol makes cultures happier?

Have you ever seen a family where the parents are alcoholics?

Prohibition of alcohol is one of the main things that I respect in Islam.