The Major Sins Series - Drinking Alcohol - Abu Usama 1617

The Major Sins Series - Drinking Alcohol

Speaker: Abu Usama

Opening

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Introduction to the Fourteenth Major Sin

يَقُولُ الْمُصَنِّفُ رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى : الْكَبِيرَةُ الرَّابِعَةَ عَشَرَةَ شُرْبُ الْخَمْرِ وَإِنْ لَمْ يُسْكِرْ مِنْهُ - الْإِمَامُ الذَّهَبِيُّ

The author, may Allah have mercy upon him, says: The fourteenth major sin is the sin of drinking alcohol, even if a person doesn't become intoxicated or drunk as a result of drinking it. It is still considered to be a Kabira (major sin) from the Kaba'ir (major sins).

Concerning this issue, the Kabira of Al-Khamr, as you're going to see, is one of the major of the major crimes and the major sins and indiscretions that the abd al-mu'min (believing servant) can fall into. And Al-Khamr is everything that causes the mind to be closed. Any and everything that will cause the mind to be closed is Al-Khamr.

Definition of Al-Khamr

Hadith on the Sources of Khamr

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim

As Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim have narrated in their books on the authority of Umar ibn al-Khattab رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ, a member of the family of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ he said:

نَزَلَتْ آيَةُ الْخَمْرِ وَالْخَمْرُ مِنْ خَمْسَةٍ مِنَ الْعِنَبِ وَالتَّمْرِ وَالْعَسَلِ وَالْحِنْطَةِ وَالشَّعِيرِ ، وَالْخَمْرُ مَا خَامَرَ الْعَقْلَ

"Verily the ayats of Khamr were revealed, and Khamr comes from five things, five basic things. Intoxicants come from grapes, dates, from Al-Hinta (wheat), it comes from barley, and it comes from honey. And Khamr is the thing that causes the mind to become lost, closed, covered."

And that's why the headpiece of the woman is called the Khimar from the word Khamra and Khamr. The intoxicant is from that. The covering on the head is called the Khimar because it covers the head. So those five basic things are what Khamr comes from; intoxicants come from.

Butt, crack, cocaine, marijuana, heroin—all of those narcotics are considered to be Khamr as well because they cover up a person's intellect. When a person drinks Khamr or uses drugs, depending upon the type of drug it is, you will see his intellect become affected. He becomes a person who, even though he's a grown man, he's an adult, he can't articulate and speak clearly.

He vomits like a little child in front of people. He may even use the bathroom on himself in front of other people. He falls down like a child because his mind has become preoccupied with the Khamr.

So the Khamr is any and everything that causes the mind to become closed.

Al-Imam Al-Dahabi, rahimahullah ta'ala, made a point that we have to draw your attention to. He said: From the major sins, number 14 is Al-Khamr, even if it doesn't make you drunk.

The Prophecy About Making Haram Things Halal

Hadith About People Making Haram Halal

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari

Because there are some Muslims, unfortunately, who have proven Rasulullah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ right when he said in an authentic hadith that's been collected by Imam Al-Bukhari and other than him:

لَيَكُونَنَّ مِنْ أُمَّتِي أَقْوَامٌ يَسْتَحِلُّونَ الْحِرَ وَالْحَرِيرَ وَالْخَمْرَ وَالْمَعَازِفَ

"There will be from my Ummah people who will make halal Al-Hirr (zina), silk, Khamr, and musical instruments, and they're going to make it halal."

They're going to attempt to make halal zina. He's going to be told you cannot marry your wife's daughter after consummating with her mother, and he says I'm going to do it anyway. It's okay in the deen, as we've seen happen.

He's going to try to make that halal and other issues of zina. And they also are going to try to make silk that is worn by men halal. "Well, it's only a tie. Well, it only has so much percentage of silk in it." Silk is haram on the men of this ummah, unless the man has an udhur (excuse). He has some type of skin condition that he's compelled and forced to wear silk. As the companion Ka'b ibn Ujrah رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ was allowed to wear silk because he suffered from al-kamil and he suffered from a skin disease.

They will also try to make Khamr halal, make it permissible. And they will try to make music, musical instruments halal. If the instruments are haram, what comes as a result, the product of the instruments, is haram.

So those people will come, and we see those people.

Those Who Try to Make Khamr Halal

As it relates to al-Khamr, when you listen to the people who say that Khamr is halal, you would actually laugh, Ikhwani (my brothers), at some of their daleel (proofs) and their hujjaj (arguments). From the proofs that they use:

Muslims, and from them the fuqaha (jurists) even, especially from the Hanafi madhab—and this is not to pick on the Hanafi madhab-but what we have to do, no matter what madhab you come from, no matter what masjid you're in, no matter who your imam is, you have to refer your affairs back to the Quran and the Sunnah, the way the companions understood it.

And you cannot hide behind that thing: "what my imam said" or "my madhab said." Some of the major scholars of Al-Islam allow the drinking of Khamr—some major scholars—because it requires a lot of consumption in order to make you become drunk. And that's why Imam al-Dahabi said it's haram even if you don't become drunk.

Some of the ulama from the top of the Hanafi madhab used to say it was permissible to drink the Nabid, which was a type of alcoholic beverage that will get you drunk. It's like today, there are some alcoholic beverages that say "5% alcohol, no alcohol." But then when you read it, it says 5% alcohol. "No alcohol" means it's not enough to get you drunk. That is haram. And it's not permissible for you to drink.

So Imam al-Dahabi made that distinction. It's not just with the Hanafi ulama. It's not all of them, just some of the major ones from amongst them. Al-Imam Sufyan al-Thawri was of that opinion. And the scholars and the ulama of Al-Islam used to say: Beware of the ulama from al-Basra and al-Kufa, because they used to allow the drinking of certain aspects of the khamr that were clearly impermissible.

Hadith: A Little of What Intoxicates in Large Amounts is Haram

The Prophet's Prohibition

Reference: Sunan Abu Dawud, Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Sunan Ibn Majah

The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said:

مَا أَسْكَرَ كَثِيرُهُ فَقَلِيلُهُ حَرَامٌ

"Whatever intoxicates in large amounts, then a small amount of it is also haram."

I prohibit you people from drinking a little bit of that liquid which, if you consumed a lot of it, would make you drunk then a little bit of it is also haram. He said صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : Whatever you can drink with two hands and it makes you drunk, then one hand is also haram for you.

So whether the person gets drunk or he doesn't get drunk, it is Khamr and it's not permissible to be consumed by the Muslim.

He went on to use the Book of Allah as his Sunnah and his custom.

Quranic Evidence Against Khamr

First Ayah: Surah Al-Baqarah

Reference: Quran 2:219

The first ayah that he brought is the statement of Allah in Surah Al-Baqarah:

يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْخَمْرِ وَالْمَيْسِرِ قُلْ فِيهِمَا إِثْمٌ كَبِيرٌ وَمَنَافِعُ لِلنَّاسِ وَإِثْمُهُمَا أَكْبَرُ مِن نَّفْعِهِمَا

"They ask you, O Muhammad, about the consumption of alcohol and they ask you about gambling. Tell them that in Khamr and gambling is an ithm (sin) that is great, and some benefit for the people, but the sin of them is greater than their benefit."

So it's clear that Khamr is a kabira from the kaba'ir.

And this ayah was revealed at the beginning of Al-Islam, in which our mother Aisha رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهَا said: "Had Allah revealed immediately the prohibition of al-Khamr, many of the Arabs would have left this religion and they wouldn't have given up their desire and their need to drink Khamr. But it came in stages, in a tadaruj (gradual process). This ayah was one of those ayahs that allowed them to drink."

But it made it clear that in the Khamr is an ithm that is kabir (great). Because Allah called the Khamr ithm, the scholars of Al-Islam said: From the adillah (proofs) that make al-Khamr haram is the statement of Allah Ta'ala:

Supporting Ayah: Prohibiting Sins

Reference: Quran 7:33

قُلْ إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ رَبِّيَ الْفَوَاحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَمَا بَطَنَ وَالْإِثْمَ وَالْبَغْيَ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ

"Say: My Lord has only forbidden immoralities—what is apparent of them and what is concealed—and sin (al-ithm), and oppression without right."

Tell them what my Lord has made haram is all of the fawahish (shameful deeds) done openly and done in secret, and the ithim (all of the sins). From the sins is al-Khamr, because Allah called it al-ithm.

Analysis of the Benefits and Harms

The rest of the ayah that al-Imam al-Dhahabi only used that portion to show that it was a kabira from the kaba'ir, is that Allah Ta'ala said the sin in both of them is great, and some benefit for the people. In Khamr there is benefit, and gambling there is benefit, but the harm and the evil of it far outweigh the benefit.

From the benefit of Khamr for the abna (children) of the dunya, the people who sell Khamr, is that you're going to make money. And if you're a businessman and you have one of those shops that we have in our local communities, or you have a restaurant, it's a well-known fact: If you wanna make a killing and you wanna make a lot of money, then you have to put Khamr in there, according to what people believe and think.

The businessman who wants to be supported, and he wants you to invest in his business, or he wants you to become a partner—when he tells the person, "We won't have any Khamr," he's going to pull out and say, "I'm not going to be a partner, because that's not a successful business. You have to have the Khamr." In it is benefit, but it is a temporary benefit.

From the benefit of Khamr, and there's no doubt about it, is that when you eat and you drink wine, it helps you to digest your food, it makes you brave. The Arabs used to drink Khamr, like Quraysh were drinking Khamr on the night prior to Badr, and they would give their poetry, because the creative juices start to flow, and a man is able to tap into that creative source.

So there's some benefit in Khamr and in gambling, but the evil far outweighs the benefit. So we should leave the Khamr alone altogether.

Second Ayah: The Complete Prohibition

Reference: Quran 5:90

The second ayah is the statement that Allah Ta'ala said in the Quran:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ وَالْأَنصَابُ وَالْأَزْلَامُ رِجْسٌ مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ

"O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful."

Trying to decide what you're going to do based upon pulling an arrow or pulling the lots—which is permissible in Al-Islam in a very restricted sense. The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ if he wanted to travel with one of his wives, because he had multiple wives, he would choose which wife he would travel with by pulling out her lot. So that fate, the Qadr, can decide what's going to happen.

That's permissible. But what's not permissible is a person pulling an arrow or trying to decide what's going to happen based upon the arrow or the piece of paper that's pulled, thinking that that paper is the thing that, when he pulls it, some catastrophe is going to happen in the trip. Some catastrophe is going to happen if he marries her. Some catastrophe is going to happen if he invests in that particular business.

So the Khamr, and the gambling, and the divination, and slaughtering on the altars—all of that is rijis (filth), and from the amr (work) of Shaitan. It is dirty, it is khabith (evil), it is no good, and it is from the actions of Shaitan.

So both of those ayahs are clear.

Hadiths About the Prohibition of Khamr

He went on to bring a number of hadiths of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ that are qawiyah jidden (very strong) in their istidlal (evidence).

The Companions' Reaction to the Prohibition

He brought the statement of al-Imam al-Dhahabi: "Wa thabata (and it is established) that Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: When the prohibition of al-Khamr came down, the companions went to each other and said that al-Khamr was prohibited and it was made a means of shirk."

And Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, went to them and said that al-Khamr is the biggest of all kaba'ir (major sins). And it is without a doubt the mother of all khabith (evil things). And it has been cursed in other than its hadith.

He said that the ayahs of al-Khamr, when they were revealed that made the Khamr haram, the companions started going out in the streets of al-Madina and they started to inform each other: "Al-Khamr has become haram, totally, completely haram." And they took their vessels and their bottles of al-Khamr, and they started to throw them in the streets.

So much so that the streets of al-Madina were flowing with Khamr down the alleyways and down the main parts of the street. And you could smell Khamr because there were so many alcoholics and so many people were drinking at that time.

Story of Abbas ibn Abdul Muttalib

Some of the best of the companions were drinking, like Abbas ibn Abdul Muttalib, may Allah be pleased with him, the uncle of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ who sat with some of his friends and became intoxicated.

Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, drove up to the masjid on his camel, got off of his camel and tied his camel up, and went into the masjid to rest. And Abbas, the uncle of Rasulullah, may Allah be pleased with him, said to the people, "You wanna see something?" They said, "Sure."

He got up, he slaughtered Ali's camel, cut off the hump, and they had a big laugh at the expense of Ali. Ali came out and saw his slaughtered camel, saw his money and his property destroyed, his riding beast for the jihad. And he was a poor man.

He didn't go to his uncle and rebuke his uncle. He didn't take the affairs into his own hand and slap his uncle and get into a fight. He went to Rasulullah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ told Rasulullah what his uncle did.

Rasulullah didn't say, "Ali, you're my nephew, you accepted Islam way before Abbas, you must be telling the truth, you're from Ahlul Bayt." He didn't say that. He went to Al-Abbas to find out what happened to Al-Abbas.

Instead of Al-Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, making istighfar (seeking forgiveness), making tawbah (repentance), he said a word of kufr (disbelief) to Rasulullah as a result of being drunk. Al-Khamr will put on your mind a cover. He said صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ to the Prophet:

مَا أَنْتَ وَأَبُوكَ إِلَّا عَبِيدِي

"You and your father are my slaves."

That is a statement of disbelief to say that to Rasulullah.

Khamr: The Mother of All Evil

And then he said صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ :

"Verily the Khamr is the mother of all dirty and nasty things. And it is the biggest of the major sins. Whoever drinks it, he will have relations with his mother, his maternal aunt, and his paternal aunt."

All of them, not just this one or that one or this one, because his mind is covered by the Khamr. So that's why Imam Al-Dhahabi said: It is no doubt that it is the (أُمُّ الْخَبَائِثِ - mother of all evil things).

It will cause a man, as it happened here in the UK, to go into his brother's house and to stab his sister-in-law with a Rambo knife and kill her because he uses drugs, he smokes crack. It's the (أُمَّ الْخَبَائِثِ)

He said that Abdullah ibn Abbas رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُمَا was of the opinion that Khamr is the (أَكْبَرُ الْكَبَائِرِ - biggest of the major sins), based upon that hadith.

But the way we understand that statement and that position of Abdullah ibn Abbas رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُمَا is that Khamr is the (أَكْبَرُ الْكَبَائِرِ) after Ash-Shirk. Abdullah ibn Abbas knew that. He knew that better than anyone in this dunya. That Ash-Shirk is the (أَكْبَرُ الْكَبَائِرِ)

So the statement of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ the way we understand it, Khamr being the (أَكْبَرُ الْكَبَائِرِ) means it is from the serious and most major of the sins. But no doubt, shirk is greater than that, and no doubt, murdering someone is greater than that. As a result of that, you get killed when you murder someone unjustly. You don't get killed when you drink al-Khamr.

The Curse Upon All Who Deal With Khamr

He went on to say, Ikhwani (my brothers), that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ has cursed the person who drinks Khamr. But it is beneficial for us to remind you that not only did Rasulullah curse that individual صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, but Allah جَلَّ وَعَزَّ also cursed those individuals.

And they didn't just curse the one who drinks the Khamr. Everyone who cooperates in the spread of narcotics, Khamr, crack, marijuana—even the doctor or the pharmacist who unnecessarily gives people narcotics—he's inside of this hukum (ruling).

Hadith: Ten Categories Cursed

He said: Jibril said:

"Allah has cursed Khamr, the one who drinks it, the one who pours it, the one who sells it, the one who buys it, the one who squeezes it (the grapes/dates), the one for whom it is squeezed, the one who carries it, and the one to whom it is carried. All of them are equal in sin."

O Muhammad, Khamr—and he cursed the one who picks the dates or he picks the grapes in order to squeeze it. And he cursed the one who actually squeezes it and his need is to squeeze it or to pick it for Khamr. As for the one who picks it to drink what is halal, there's nothing wrong with that. He also cursed the one who drinks it, the one who carries it.

His job is he drives a big Heineken truck, a Budweiser truck. He's cursed. The one who buys it, the one who sells it, the one who pours it, the one who was poured for all of them are cursed and they're equal in the sin.

Not only that, he said:

الْخَمْرُ مَلْعُونَةُ، الْمَائِدَةُ الَّتِي تُشْرَبُ عَلَيْهَا

"The table in which the Khamr is consumed on it is cursed."

So when you go to a business meeting, when you go to the restaurants that serve Khamr, it's not permissible for us to go to the restaurant that serves Khamr. It's not permissible.

Muslim or non-Muslim, the Muslim halal restaurants that serve Khamr—we say here today: Don't go there, because the place that has a bar is مَلْعُونَة (cursed). The table where the Khamr is being passed around is مَلْعُونَة So Allah and His Messenger صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ have cursed all of these people.

The Punishment for Drinking Khamr

Hadith About Flogging and Killing

Reference: Sunan Abu Dawud, Sunan al-Nasa'i, Sunan Ibn Majah

He went on to say, rahimahullah ta'ala:

(Source Name)

"If a person drinks Khamr once, then flog him. If he drinks it a second time, then flog him. If he drinks it a third time, then flog him. If he drinks it a fourth time, then kill him."

That's the religion of Al-Islam. This hadith, Ikhwani, is a حَدِيثُ مُشْكِلَة (problematic hadith).

And that's why the scholars who wrote books about the hadith that have some إشكال (problems) with understanding, they put this hadith in those books, like Imam At-Tahawi's مُشْكِلَةِ الْحَدِيثِ

Those hadith that are difficult to understand or what they're saying is hard to accept because something is happening. There was a companion who was a prankster from amongst the companions of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ . He used to drink Khamr quite often.

And he was flogged more than three times. When he was being flogged the fourth time, Umar رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ said:

بِئْسَ الرَّجُلُ أَنْتَ، مَا أَكْثَرَ مَا يُؤْتَى بِكَ! أَفَلَا تَسْتَحْيِي؟

"You are a terrible man. How many times are you going to be brought and you're going to be flogged. Don't you have some حَيَاء (shame)?"

Rasulullah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ looked at Umar رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ saw the ghira (protective jealousy) of Umar, and he said:

لَا تَكُونُوا عَوْنًا لِلشَّيْطَانِ عَلَى أَخِيكُمْ، إِنَّهُ يُحِبُّ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ

"Don't be a helper to Shaitan over your brother. That man loves Allah and His Messenger."

That's how we also should look at the one who's trying to kick the habit of drugs. He's been hooked on drugs and he's making a serious effort, committed himself to a place in order to kick the habit. We shouldn't ostracize him and isolate him. We see from him efforts. We should try to help him.

Khat is a narcotic. Khat is a Khamr that's not permissible. It's not on the level of Johnny Walker Red. It's not on the level of crack cocaine. But khat gets you high.

When we see people making efforts to kick the habit, we should cooperate the way Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ took this man's situation into his consideration.

So the point is: If a man drinks Khamr after the fourth time and he's to be killed, why didn't Rasulullah kill that particular man? And that man accepted Islam in Medina in the latter part after the hijrah.

So what the scholars said: Those who said that this ruling is abrogated—to kill him is abrogated—it is a very weak position.

So it seems like the statement of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ "Whoever drinks it the fourth time, kill him," is just to show the seriousness and the severity of the crime of drinking Khamr. But the actual hukm or the hadd (legal punishment) of killing doesn't seem to be what should be applied. Wallahu a'lam (Allah knows best), it is a mas'ala khilafiyah bain al-ulama (a matter of scholarly disagreement).

Punishment in the Hereafter

Hadith About Missing Prayer Due to Khamr

Reference: Sunan Abu Dawud, Musnad Ahmad

وَقَالَ عَمْرُو بْنُ الْحَارِثِ، حَدَّثَنِي عَمْرُو بْنُ شُعَيْبٍ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ جَدِهِ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو وَرَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ

Amr ibn al-Harith narrated, and Amr ibn Shu'ayb from his father from his grandfather رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ and Abdullah ibn Amr and Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ

The hadith said that the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said: Whoever abandons the prayer one time as a result of drinking Khamr, it is as if that individual has in his possession all of the dunya, and because he left the salah, all of what he owned was taken away from him. And if he were to leave the salah four times as a result of drinking Khamr, it is an obligation upon Allah to cause him to drink from the sweat of the people of the Hellfire.

That's an authentic hadith. It's been collected by Imam Muslim with another narration:

إِنَّ عَلَى اللهِ عَهْدًا لِمَنْ يَشْرَبُ الْمُسْكِرَ أَنْ يَسْقِيَهُ مِنْ طِينَةِ الْخَبَالِ. قِيلَ: يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ، وَمَا طِينَةُ الْخَبَالِ؟ قَالَ: عَرَقُ أَهْلِ النَّارِ ، أَوْ قَالَ: عُصَارَةُ أَهْلِ النَّارِ

The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said: "It is an obligation upon Allah that whoever drinks intoxicants, He will cause him to drink from طِينَةُ الْخَبَالِ (the clay of al-Khabal)." It was said, "O Messenger of Allah, what is طِينَةُ الْخَبَالِ?" He said, "The sweat of the people of the Hellfire, or the pus of the people of the Hellfire."

Another Problematic Hadith About Tawbah

We want to discuss with you very briefly and mention an authentic hadith that is another حَدِيثُ مُشْكِلَة because it was suggested that the person cannot make tawbah, and that is a statement:

مَنْ شَرِبَ الْخَمْرَ لَمْ يَقْبَلِ اللَّهُ لَهُ صَلَاةً أَرْبَعِينَ صَبَاحًا، وَإِنْ تَابَ لَمْ يَتُبِ اللهُ عَلَيْهِ، وَكَانَ حَقًّا عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسْقِيهِ مِنَ الْخَبَالِ

Whoever drinks the Khamr, Allah won't accept for him his prayer for 40 days. And if he makes tawbah, Allah will forgive him after that. And if he returns the second time and he drinks Khamr, Allah won't forgive him—his prayer—for 40 days. He won't accept it for him for 40 days. But if he makes tawbah, Allah will forgive him.

If he returns to the Khamr the third time, Allah won't accept his salah for 40 days. If he makes tawbah, Allah will forgive him. If he returns to drinking the fourth time, Allah won't accept his tawbah. And if he makes tawbah, it won't be accepted from him. And Allah will cause him to drink from the Khabal. And the Khabal has already been mentioned and explained: It is the pus and the sweat of the people of the Hellfire.

Who is this ruling for? There are people who drink Khamr from the Muslims right now, and they're praying as well. So does that mean that that individual is going to be in the Hellfire?

As we mentioned so many times, the way we understand this particular hadith is: The person who says that Khamr is halal—he becomes a non-Muslim, and the punishment yawm al-qiyamah is this. But the Muslim, if he drank Khamr 6, 7, 8 times, he returned to it, he has an addiction, he keeps falling into it—if he makes true tawbah, Allah will forgive him. And if he

doesn't make tawbah, he's under the mashi'ah (will) of Allah. If he dies with the kalimah of the tawheed, if Allah wants, Allah will forgive him. If Allah doesn't want, Allah will put him and punish him in the Hellfire, but he'll come out of the Hellfire eventually.

So the one who drinks Khamr and he has that fitnah right now—since he knows Allah won't accept his salah—can he abandon the salah? Because he's drinking Khamr? That is a bigger kabira than the drinking of the Khamr itself, because abandoning the salah is kufr. And that's one of the natural results and causes of al-Khamr.

Ayah: Shaitan's Goal With Khamr

Reference: Quran 5:91

"Verily Shaitan, with this Khamr and gambling, all he wants to do is to create between you people enmity and hatred—make you enemies one to another. And he wants to also cause you not to remember Allah and to turn you away from the salah. So won't you people abandon it and stop drinking Khamr and trafficking in Khamr and drugs?"

So al-Khamr, Ikhwani, one of the natural results of it is that people are going to not remember Allah and they're not going to pray. Praying will break a man's heart. He's getting high, and if he had to make salah, that's going to take his high away. He's not going to think about praying. But if he drinks and he comes to his senses, he still has to pray. But his salah won't be accepted for 40 days. This is not a green light or ticket to say you can abandon the salah.

Final Hadith: No Khamr in the Hereafter for Those Who Drink It in Dunya

Hadith About Prohibition in Paradise

Al-Imam al-Dhahabi finished this particular chapter with the hadith of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ :

مَنْ شَرِبَ الْخَمْرَ فِي الدُّنْيَا فَهُوَ حَرَامٌ عَلَيْهِ فِي الْآخِرَةِ

"Whoever drinks the Khamr in the dunya, Allah will not allow him to drink Khamr in the Hereafter."

The Muslims who say that Khamr is permissible—from their fiqh of saying Khamr is permissible—is that Khamr is allowed to be consumed for Ahl al-Jannah. So therefore, since you can drink it in Ahl al-Jannah, you can drink it here in the dunya if you don't drink a lot of Khamr. Then it is permissible.

"Allah 'azza wa jal allowed Khamr at one time, looking at the condition of the people. So now my condition is that I need to drink the Khamr in order to calm down, in order to do my work," and so forth and so on.

Fiqh that is sick, has no daleel (proof). And what we've been mentioning of the ahadith: None of the ahadith said, "If you drink a lot or you drink a little." It says:

مَنْ شَرِبَ الْخَمْرَ

"Whoever drinks Khamr—a lot, a little, whatever the case is—it will be haram for you in the akhira."

Because Allah ta'ala has made it haram as a test here, just as He made it haram for a man to have more than four wives. In the akhira, he'll have multiple women. So we cannot compare apples with oranges.

In this dunya, Khamr is haram here; it's halal in Jannah. The milk in the Jannah doesn't smell, it doesn't spoil. And whoever saw a river in which milk is flowing and honey is flowing—who saw that? Those are from the ahkam (rulings) and the affairs of the akhira, and they should not be applied to the affairs of the dunya.

Stop being an absent father, an absent parent, leaving everything to your wife. That's your child. That's your daughter. Both of you—you and your wife—are responsible for the amanah (trust) of taking care of our children.

Closing Remarks

We're going to stop here, insha'Allah, and we're not going to deal with any questions today. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to save the youth and the shabab (young people) of the Muslims, especially here in the city of Birmingham, where marijuana use is rampant in all of the Muslim communities—whether it's the Somalians, whether it's the Asians, wherever you go. This is a problem, an ongoing problem that needs to be tackled.

And good leadership, Ikhwani, good leadership for the Muslims are the people who can put aside their petty differences—the petty differences—and come together to tackle issues like this. How are we going to stop our children, and how are we going to address the drug problem in the schools, our children, and our tahfiz al-Quran?

I ask them all the time, "How many of you are in Muslim school? How many of you are in non-Muslim school?" Those ones who are in the Muslim school, they said Muslim children smoke cigarettes. Muslim children, they're smoking marijuana in the Muslim school, on the grounds of the Muslim school, before they go into the Muslim school.

So the leadership of the Muslims, they need to address these issues. And if they don't, they're not qualified and competent leaders—no matter what masjid they come to, no matter what masjid they're a part of. They're not qualified, competent leaders to have them at each other's throats and necks over these other peripheral, smaller issues.

It is a shame we need to get plugged into what's going on in the schools as it relates to our Muslim children, who are the future of our ummah.

Closing Dua

I say this, and I ask Allah to forgive me and you.

And we ask Allah to help us.

And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.