By Rabia Terri Harris, Founder and Director of Muslim Peace Fellowship
In the Name of Allah All-Beneficent Most Merciful
It is well known that in Islam, the consumption of alcohol is prohibited. It is less well known that it was not always prohibited. The earliest companions of the Prophet drank wine – as the whole society around them drank wine – as a matter of course. It was only later in the evolution of the community, after trust in God and an aspiration to character development had become better established in the hearts of the faithful, that this particular refinement of behavior was introduced.
We learn from this progression that certain prohibitions are not imposed by God on a people still unready to accept them. Human beings, unfortunately, all too often do not emulate the divine discretion. We seek to develop character by force. Practical experience shows that this is a losing battle. When the laws of a society are too far removed from the beliefs and practices of its people, then those laws will be routinely flouted, and the dignity of the law itself –of the principle of law – will suffer in consequence.
|
