“Ah, history!” declares author and YouTuber John Green, “always resisting simplicity!” And you can definitely see these sentiments realized in this brass-and-silver-inlay Islamic wine jug. Inscribed on it are the words “To Allah belongs . . . Might. . . Victory . . . Strength”. But we all know that drinking alcohol is forbidden in Islam — so what the heck?
Some modern Islamic teaching argues that alcohol was never acceptable for Muslims. The Qur’an states “O believers! Intoxicants, gambling, idols, and drawing lots for decisions are all evil of Satan’s handiwork.” (5:90) Elsewhere in the Qur’an the evils of alcohol are tempered, such as in the statement that “there is both great sin and great profit for men (regarding both wine and gambling). But the sin is greater than the profit (2:219).” However, many Muslims believe the former statement to carry more weight, it being a later revelation that abrogates or explains better the latter.
But the history of Islam doesn’t reflect a monolithic treatment towards alcohol consumption. This, the 9th century Muslim scholar Abu Zayd al-Balkhi wrote that wine brings “an abundance of happiness, animation, openness, stimulation, self-contentment, generosity, and freedom from cares and sorrows.” The famous Muslim polymath Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (d 1274) wrote a whole tract about how to have good manners whilst imbibing wine. And the painting in the second slide by the 16th century Sultan Muhammad is entitled “The Allegory of Worldly and Otherworldly Drunkenness,” which intimates a familiarity with intoxication as well as an idea that wine might not be completely debaucherous.
Sources: _Prospect Magazine_ prospect magazine.co.uk, “What this Medieval wine jug might tell us about Islam,” 2/22/2016, Sameer Rahim. The Qu’ran.
