The verse is addressing the believers, who have believed in Allah (swt). When a verse starts with: O you have believed, then it contains duties which prove the belief. There will be do’s and don’ts and the lawful and unlawful. The believers realize that they have to obey Allah (swt) totally to seek His pleasure, not for any other reason. After having total obedience, if the wisdom for the command is made apparent for them, this will show them its greatness and beauty. However, if the wisdom is unclear, they will still carry it out as a form of worship and obedience to Allah (swt).

(… إِنَّمَا… ) (…indeed …): Indicating that evil is confined to these acts stated in the verse.

(… الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ وَالْأَنصَابُ وَالْأَزْلَامُ رِجْسٌ مِّنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ… ) (…intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, …): In this verse, there are tangible things such as intoxicants, and intangible things, such as gambling, sacrificing on stone altars and divining arrows.

Intoxicants: Consists of everything which engrosses and covers the mind. The Prophet (saws) has said:

“All intoxicants (i.e. all alcoholic drinks) are prohibited.”[1]

This verse needs precise, clear and scholarly explanation for all of mankind. The Quran, Sunnah of the Prophet (saws) and Islam have come to ensure the preservation of the religion, self, mind, honour and wealth. In order to preserve the self, transgression upon anyone else by killing, or other than it, is disallowed. In order to preserve the mind, transgression upon it through any means which will block its mechanism to choose between alternatives is disallowed. In order to preserve honour, transgression upon another person’s honour is disallowed, to preserve the lineage. In order to preserve wealth, transgression upon a person’s efforts and life activities is disallowed. Thus, this forms the main principles when discussing the topic of intoxicants.

Intoxicants block the mind, which is used to differentiate between the choices presented to a person. This mind is the very thing which differentiates human beings from animals. Animals move and defend themselves instinctively, whereas human beings can choose. To illustrate this point, if a human being comes to transgress upon another person or to attack him, the latter has a variety of alternatives to choose from; he can either repel the attack, or he can say a few words to defend himself, or he can just walk away. On the contrary, an animal must succumb to its instincts and does not have the liberty to make choices. So, the human being is protected through his mind while the animal is protected through its instincts, and what a great difference there is between these two means of protection! In summary, it is not allowed to block the mind through intoxicants and is considered as a transgression upon the mind.

Gambling: The Arabic word used for gambling comes from the root-word which means ease. Gambling is the desire to take wealth from the pockets of others and it is an act of transgression upon the wealth and efforts of others. It is named so by Allah (swt), as the one who gambles believes that wealth is easily attained through taking from the pockets of others, without having to put in the effort to work.

[Sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah]: The Arabic word used here is taken from the root-word which means to erect or set up. So, it refers to things which are set up and used by the polytheists to sacrifice on, as a form of worship to their Gods.

Divining arrows: The Arabic word used here refers to things which they used to swear by and write on them. One arrow would have (to do) written on it, the second would have (not to do), and the third would have nothing written on it. If they wanted to do something which they were unsure of, they would pull out one of the three arrows. If the arrow with (to do) on it was pulled out, they would carry out the intended act. On the contrary, if the arrow with (not to do) was pulled out, they would not carry it out. However, if the arrow without anything written on it was pulled out, they would put it back in and then pick again. 

     These above-mentioned acts are named defilement by Allah (swt), which means harmful and dirty things. They are also:

from the work of Satan: This is because, Satan had said the following when he was sent down to the earth:

 قَالَ فَبِعِزَّتِكَ لَأُغْوِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ (82) إِلَّا عِبَادَكَ مِنْهُمُ الْمُخْلَصِينَ

(Satan said, “By Your Glory! I will certainly mislead them all, (82) except Your chosen servants among them.”) (Saad: 82-83)

And said:

 قَالَ فَبِمَا أَغْوَيْتَنِي لَأَقْعُدَنَّ لَهُمْ صِرَاطَكَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ (16)  ثُمَّ لَآتِيَنَّهُم مِّن بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ وَعَنْ أَيْمَانِهِمْ وَعَن شَمَائِلِهِمْ ۖ  وَلَا تَجِدُ أَكْثَرَهُمْ شَاكِرِين

(He said, “For leaving me to stray I will lie in ambush for them on Your Straight Path. (16) I will approach them from their front, their back, their right, their left, and then You will find most of them ungrateful) (Al-A’raf: 16-17)

The Satan will lie in ambush on the straight path and not the crooked one, for he wants to lead people astray. He is our enemy, as Allah (swt) informs us:

 إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ فَاتَّخِذُوهُ عَدُوًّا ۚ إِنَّمَا يَدْعُو حِزْبَهُ لِيَكُونُوا مِنْ أَصْحَابِ السَّعِيرِ

(Surely Satan is an enemy to you, so take him as an enemy. He only invites his followers to become inmates of the Hellfire) (Fatir: 6)

(… فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ… ) (…so avoid it …): Here, Allah (swt) commands us through this imperative verb to avoid it. There are some people who argue regarding the prohibition of intoxicants. They are not people who have knowledge of the Arabic Language nor of the Holy Quran and of Islam, as these people would not have any arguments whatsoever regarding this issue. This group of people who do not know, question why the verse which contains the prohibition did not come as: (intoxicants is forbidden upon you) but instead, Allah says: so avoid it? In answer to this, we say: The Prohibition is a direct stipulation that drinking alcohol is prohibited, thus if Allah (swt) says: (Alcohol is prohibited), it refers to the fact that it cannot be drank. However, when the stipulation is that it must be avoided, it refers to the fact that you should not even exist at its place. Hence, the difference between these two clauses is great. Of course, not having its existence by one’s side is stronger in prohibition! Due to this, the prohibition of intoxicants came step-by-step, as opposed to matters of the creed, which were implemented all at once. For example, we are to be taught all at once that ‘There is no God but Allah’ and that in our creed, Paradise is Paradise, Hellfire is Hellfire, the Day of Judgement is the Day of Judgement, the Angels are the Angels, the Divine Scriptures are the Divine Scriptures, the Quran is the Quran. We are not to be taught these matters step-by-step. However, in matters which had become the prevailing norms, the rulings for them came gradually so that people’s minds and hearts could get used to them and could subsequently leave them. Accordingly, the Holy Quran speaks of alcohol in various ways, among them:

 وَمِن ثَمَرَاتِ النَّخِيلِ وَالْأَعْنَابِ تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا

(And from the fruits of palm trees and grapevines you derive intoxicants as well as wholesome provision.) (An-Nahl: 67)

This is the first verse sent down concerning alcohol. A point to note from this verse is that Allah (swt) describes the provision as wholesome which means good whereas the intoxicate is not described so. Therefore, it is clear that intoxicants are not good and wholesome. After that, the second verse regarding alcohol was revealed:

 يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْخَمْرِ وَالْمَيْسِرِ ۖ قُلْ فِيهِمَا إِثْمٌ كَبِيرٌ وَمَنَافِعُ لِلنَّاسِ

(They ask you (O Prophet) about intoxicants and gambling. Say, “There is great evil in both, as well as some benefit for people) (Al-Baqara: 219)

In this verse, Allah (swt) informs us that there is great evil in both, as well as some benefit. After a while, the third verse was sent down:

 يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَقْرَبُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَأَنتُمْ سُكَارَىٰ حَتَّىٰ تَعْلَمُوا مَا تَقُولُونَ

(O believers! Do not approach prayer while intoxicated until you are aware of what you say) (An-Nissa: 43)

Since there are five prayers, the time for the consumption of alcohol and intoxicants became very limited and constricted. So, when this verse in Surah Al-Maidah was revealed, all the Prophet’s Companions and believers who came after them understood that the avoidance mentioned in the verse indicates that it is harsher than prohibition itself, as they are to avoid all places in which alcohol is found.

(  لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ… ) (…that you may be successful): Success and safety in the hereafter are not achieved except by submitting to the commands of Allah (swt).

[1] Sahih al-Bukhari: Book of Good Manners, Chapter: “Make things easy for the people and do not make things difficult for them.”, Hadith No. 5773.