{"id":5028,"date":"2021-10-14T07:57:14","date_gmt":"2021-10-14T06:57:14","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2021-10-14T08:00:29","modified_gmt":"2021-10-14T07:00:29","slug":"liquor-is-one-of-the-greatest-enemies-of-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/5028\/liquor-is-one-of-the-greatest-enemies-of-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"Liquor is one of the greatest enemies of the nation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Liquor is one of the greatest enemies of the nation<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Liquor is one of the greatest enemies of the nation: <\/strong>\u201cO\u2019 Ye who believe, intoxicants and gambling and dedication of stones and divination of arrows are abominations of Satan\u2019s handiwork: keep away from such abominations\u201d, (Qur\u2019an, 5:90).<\/p>\n

The most precious gift of Allah to mankind is the intellect. It is because of his reasoning power that man is called the best creation of God.
\nIntellect has two very strong enemies: Desire and Anger. These two rivals of intellect get reinforcement by alcoholic liquor. When alcoholic liquor enters the human body, the first victim is the highest cerebral centers which control such factors as judgment, sense of responsibility and moral integrity. When these higher factors are depressed, the lower instincts are released from captivity. Moral and social inhibitions become a dead thing. It is now that the intoxicated person becomes talkative, excited or even violent and aggressive. On lookers think that he is stimulated. In fact, it is not stimulation. What is often referred as alcoholic stimulation is the first sign of alcoholic depression. No amount of alcohol can stimulate intellectual functions.
\nSome people think that a small amount of alcohol can do no harm. But it is one of the myths which the scientific analysis has already exploded. Even such a tiny concentration of alcohol in blood as 0.15% (i.e. one-seventh of one percent) impairs the faculties so much that driving becomes extremely dangerous. Also, it requires a strong well-power to restrict a drinking person\u2019s intake of alcohol. As the alcohol destroys the power of judgment, as it frees man from every inhibition, it is foolish to believe that once started a man can control his drinking habits. When the will-power is weakened by the effect of alcohol, drinking leads to drunkenness and finally to alcoholism. Islam does not want to tempt a man into this trap. It was for this reason that the Holy Prophet declared: \u201cAnything which intoxicates when taken excessively, even a drop of it is forbidden to take\u201d.<\/p>\n

Liquor and \u2018Nation-Building\u2019<\/strong>
\nLiquor is one of the greatest enemies of nation. Every now and then the leaders appeal to the public to give up this bad habit because it interferes with the nation-building activities. This week the president of Kenya threatened to close the bars of a certain area if the people of that locality did not give up drinking.
\nThe poisonous effects of liquor on the health and family life of an individual are too obvious to need any description. Also, it is common knowledge that liquor is one of the main causes of absenteeism in the factories and offices, resulting in thousands and thousands of lost man-days. Further, it is admitted that drunk drivers are responsible for an unbelievable ratio of road accidents, resulting in loss of limbs and lives. And every social worker and priest knows that this abominable habit is the direct cause of great many cases of broken-up families, frustrated children and poverty-ridden homes.
\nLiquor, thus, has these disturbing effects on the public\u2019s health, productivity, prosperity and happiness. Yet, one is amazed to see in the nation\u2019s newspapers advertisements urging people to drink liquor \u201cto help in the nation-building\u201d But I can not see any connection between drinking and nation-building.
\nIf \u2018nation\u2019 means \u2018brewery\u2019, then of course drinking will help it. But I have not seen \u2018nation\u2019 defined as \u2018brewery\u2019 in any dictionary. If \u2018nation-building\u2019 means \u2018being absent on Monday because of Sunday\u2019s hangover\u2019, then the advertisers are right. But is this definition correct? If a man \u2018builds the nation\u2019 by reaching home after mid-night, by beating his wife and children, by keeping them hungry, then the drunkards would be regarded as the great nation-builders, no doubt. But neither society nor the government would accept this meaning.
\nSuch advertisements and statements grossly mislead the nation. It is high time that people were protected from such misleading advertisement.<\/p>\n

On Gambling<\/strong>
\nGambling is, perhaps, the most wide-spread evil of our times. It has countless forms and names. Chess, cards, bridge, pool, sweepstake, raffle, lottery, roulette and various other plays are just plain gambling \u2013 by whatever civilized name they may be called. And these are the standard entertainment of our times.
\nGambling, however mild, has been forbidden in Islam. Some people play such games to \u2018kill time\u2019. They fail to understand that the \u2018life\u2019 given to them is just a span of \u2018time\u2019 \u2013 so many hours or days or years. \u2018To kill time\u2019 means, in more clear language, \u2018to kill life\u2019 and life was not given us to be destroyed.
\nOthers indulge in such activities in expectation of some monetary gain. It is true that the urge to get something for nothing is very old; but Islam does not encourage it. After all, forgery, robbery and fraud also are the manifestations of the same urge; but nobody ever thought of legalizing such practices on the plea that they are the result of a \u2018natural urge\u2019. So why tolerate gambling?<\/p>\n

On Future \u2013 Reading<\/strong>
\n\u201c(God alone is) the knower of the unseen; He does not reveal His secrets unto anyone, except unto that of the Apostles whom He chooses \u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..\u201d (Qur\u2019an, 72:26-27).
\nEast Africa is teeming with \u201cwise men\u201d who claim to know the destiny of every person (except their own, of course). People talk about African or pagan superstitions; but, in fact, this is a field which has no racial or religious bar. Muslims, Christians and pagans; Indians, Africans and Europeans: all are victim of this hoax. There is complete \u201cintegration\u201d of races and tenets in this area.
\nAccording to the Qur\u2019an, only God knows the future; and He informs His chosen apostles of the coming events when and if He wishes. But in East Africa almost every book-shop (especially so, if it is owned by a Muslim) has one or more books purporting to reveal the future of anybody who can afford a few shillings. The operative words is \u201cshillings\u201d.
\nThere was a time when primitive people believed that their lives were governed by sun, moon and other natural phenomena. They started worshipping the sun and\/or moon. That superstition gave birth to astrology, which claimed that the destiny of every person was governed by seven \u201cstars\u201d which rotate around 12 \u2018houses\u201d. Thus the destinies of the whole mankind (numbering more than 3,000,000,000 persons, at present) is listed under 12 groups.
\nMan, thy name is naivety. Many people believe in such forecasts, though all must be aware that the destiny of one man is as different from all the world as his thumb-impression.
\nThese \u201cwise men\u201d know the weakness of human nature. They know that if they forecast 100 events, at least a certain percentage will come out to be true. (And this can be done by any shrewd person without any help from astrology). Then they bank their propaganda on the small percentage which comes to pass, conveniently forgetting what proved false.
\nTheir forecasts, for the most part, are vague and capable of meaning whatever the astrologer would like them to mean in any future eventuality. There is a story of a \u201cwise man\u201d who informed his client that his wife (who was pregnant) would give birth to \u201cson not daughter\u201d. Thus he made sure that he would prove right in any event. If she gave birth to son, he would say: \u201cI had already forecasted \u201cson: not daughter\u201d. Otherwise, the prophecy would be interpreted as \u201cson not; daughter\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Witchcraft<\/strong>
\nWitchcraft, uchawi or uramali, call it whatever you like, is the most believed-in and most-feared in East Africa. But it has no power, except the power of suggestion. All its power depends upon creating a psychological impression of fear etc., in the mind of the victim. So, ultimately, the victim himself accomplishes his own undoing. Such an impressionable person is his own enemy.
\nBe it sickness of a child, or discord between husband and wife, or failure in the business \u2013 everything here is attributed to some kind of witchcraft. Even if you point out that the parties concerned are themselves responsible for, say, the discord in marriage, they would still say that their objectionable behavior towards each other was the result of their \u2018being be-witched\u2019.
\nI have seen people of every color and creed shifting the responsibility of their trouble to some imaginary \u2018enemy who is be -witching me.\u201d And so deep-rooted is this superstition that when you tell them that they were mistaken in that belief, they will go out to find \u201csomeone who has real \u2018elimu\u2019.\u201d Such people are happiest when they are exploited by some unscrupulous \u2018wise-man\u2019. When they provide him with goat of a particular color and pieces or clothes of specific designs to counter-act the supposed witchcraft, they think they would now be relieved of their worries. Actually, they are relieved of their money only.<\/p>\n

Islamic Generosity<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n