[fotodemujerahldesnugdo]

IT IS Ramadan, Islam’s holy month of fasting. But even now Suleiman, a Muslim hotel worker in the Turkish town of Antakya, sees no reason not to drink alcohol, widely considered by Muslim believers to be forbidden by the Koran and the Hadith, the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. “The Koran bans getting drunk, but a beer or two doesn’t hurt,” Suleiman says. “This is a matter between me and Allah.”

Centuries ago many of his co-religionists would have agreed (although not on the need for moderation). Historians believe alcohol originated in the Middle East. Indeed, the word may come from the Arabic al-kohl, eyeliner made by mixing distilled ethanol and antimony salts. Similar substances without the powder soon became popular drinks. Debauched nights in the courts of caliphates were enshrined in the khamriyaat, or odes to wine, by Abu Nuwas, an eighth-century poet.

That has long since changed. Nobody knows exactly when Islamic scholars decided that booze was sinful. In the 1970s political Islam led some countries such as Iran and Pakistan to ban alcohol (see table), although many do not and exceptions are made for non-Muslims. In some countries the punishment for Muslims caught quaffing are severe: 80 lashes in the case of Iran. Things may get more arid yet as Islamist parties from Indonesia to Tunisia moot restrictions on alcohol.



Prohibition has pushed imbibing behind closed doors, but many Muslims still admit to enjoying a tipple. How many people drink varies, but some put the total at 5% of those identifying themselves as Muslim. The black market for spirits flourishes in Libya. Iranians are adept at producing home brew. And in Pakistan “drinks can be ordered to the door quicker than pizza,” says Sadaqat Ali, who runs Willing Ways, a chain of clinics to treat alcoholics.

Drinking may even be on the rise, reckons Humphrey Serjeantson of IWSR, a London-based market-research firm. Between 2001 and 2011 sales of alcohol in the Middle East, where Muslims dominate, grew by 72%, against a global average of 30%. That rise is unlikely to be accounted for by non-Muslims and foreigners alone.

In some Muslim circles drinking is about status. Secular-minded Beirutis like to boast of Lebanon’s wineries. In the Gulf rich people serve imported spirits to impress their guests. Emulating the rich and famous—as well as coping with stress—accounts for a burgeoning drinking culture in Pakistan, says Dr Ali.

Could Islam become more tolerant of drinking? A handful of scholars permit alcohol as long as it is not made from grapes and dates, because these are specifically mentioned in the Koran. But nobody dares open the debate. “No religious scholar is ready to accept the consequences of a fatwa by now saying that beer, spirits, vodka are halal,” says Anas Aboshady, a scholar at the influential al-Azhar University in Cairo.

What is more, since the scrutiny of Islam in the wake of the September 11th 2001 attacks, piety has risen in some quarters. “For many Muslims, alcohol is a question of identity,” says Sami Zubaida, a sociologist at Birkbeck College in London. “Not drinking has become part of a backlash to decadence in the West, where alcohol is associated with loose living.”

Yet Muslim countries will have to face reality. In June health officials in Iran warned of rising numbers of alcoholics and drink-drivers. Since Dr Ali set up Willing Ways in 1980, he has treated hundreds of the 1m Pakistanis he estimates are alcoholics, including judges, politicians and sportsmen. “Most aren’t keen to seek treatment because drinking is still taboo,” he says. “We need to change that.”

[U2DnBGFE]

IT IS Ramadan, Islam’s holy month of fasting. But even now Suleiman, a Muslim hotel worker in the Turkish town of Antakya, sees no reason not to drink alcohol, widely considered by Muslim believers to be forbidden by the Koran and the Hadith, the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. “The Koran bans getting drunk, but a beer or two doesn’t hurt,” Suleiman says. “This is a matter between me and Allah.”

Centuries ago many of his co-religionists would have agreed (although not on the need for moderation). ....

That has long since changed. Nobody knows exactly when Islamic scholars decided that booze was sinful. In the 1970s political Islam led some countries such as Iran and Pakistan to ban alcohol (see table), although many do not and exceptions are made for non-Muslims....

Could Islam become more tolerant of drinking? A handful of scholars permit alcohol as long as it is not made from grapes and dates, because these are specifically mentioned in the Koran. But nobody dares open the debate. “No religious scholar is ready to accept the consequences of a fatwa by now saying that beer, spirits, vodka are halal,” says Anas Aboshady, a scholar at the influential al-Azhar University in Cairo.

What is more, since the scrutiny of Islam in the wake of the September 11th 2001 attacks, piety has risen in some quarters. “For many Muslims, alcohol is a question of identity,” says Sami Zubaida, a sociologist at Birkbeck College in London. “Not drinking has become part of a backlash to decadence in the West, where alcohol is associated with loose living.”

The Economist articles are usually quite well researched and its analysis if world events is much better than that found in the newspapers, but this one shows a total ignorance of what was well established in Islamic Fiqh (prohibition of alcohol) since the time of the Sahaba. Either that or it is deliberately trying to give a distorted image.

The only Madhab to ever allow non-grape alcohol was the Zahiris and they were never a major school and now they are a dead school. Altogether this is a misleading article that is clearly trying to imply that drinking alcohol is acceptable to Muslims and that Muslims prohibiting alcohol is something to do with extremism.

[casinobonusa]

Indeed.

The Economist is a kafir British enterprise which celebrated the fall of the caliphate and demise of Islam and still maintains the same ideological enmity towards Islam as a rival to Western global dominion.


That being said, there are hard truths from the stats form this article which we Muslims should realize.
First, Islam does NOT forbid khamr for disbelievers living in Muslim lands within their private residences.
So there could be a fair trade among disbelievers in khamr in say Lebanon, Egypt, etc.
But we are not in the time of Darul Islam.


Second, Muslim countries ARE STILL UNDER CULTURAL COLONIZATION even if the colonial armies and navies have departed.
First came the Western 'discoverers'. Then the naval merchants. Then the colonial navies who eventually set up embassies if the didn't outright take over. And then kafir colonies that propagated their ways.


How did it work from there?

Third,
Embassies in contemporary times means international hotels. Hotels are the primary centers of kufar visitors and khamr in any Muslim country. Where you find an international hotel, you will find liquor, and following that zina`, and deviant kufar.

Here in the Khaleej, anywhere there is a major international hotel, and you will find all the vices of munkar. Even here in Abu Dhabi, it is known that a certain 'intercontinental' hotel is a hang out for gays-both expat and local. Hotels have been allowed bars run by kufar who don't care who they serve. I made a mistake passing through a hotel bar once and saw a local sitting at the bar surrounded by kufar. I tried to catch his eye as I passed but he looked away purposefully. I didnt see a drink in front of him- If I did I would have said something.

Fourth,
Kafir Expats. Muslim countries run by greedy, deviant and diabolical regimes have opened the doors of Muslim lands to deviant kafir expats who carry and propagate their deviant shaytanic ways. Kufar in particular are granted more and more 'tolerance' to engage in zina`, to consume khamr in public, to cause fitnah, etc.
the liqour consumption in a country like Saudia can be tied to kafir expats. And they in turn expose entice, invite, and tempt Muslims with khamr so that the kafir US expat who first exposes a Saudi man to a beer or such. That Saudis get to loving beer and when the next kafir US expat shows up, the Saudi invites him to a beer.

Fifth,
Greed for capitalist business is AMORAL- promoting images of drinking khamr from the West is commonplace in Muslim lands. Print media, but satellite TV in particular promotes images of drinking khamr on Arab and Turk Muslm TV shows, movies, commercials. It is in every satellite broadcast. It is undeniable.

Sixth,

Certain cities are the hubs of munkar, fasq, fahsha, and fitnah: Beirut is a major hub. Cairo. Dubai. Each one is a center of major evil in Muslim societies. And they and the kufar use them to propagate evil: via satellite and media and commerce and trade.



Yes, I have a lot of hostility

I hate to see disbelievers brought to Muslim lands because they are more servile and greedy for dunya. Meanwhile, Muslims are neglected, betrayed, undermined, placated, distracted, misled.