Introduction
Raised to the rank of a god by the Greeks and Romans, wine is celebrated by most civilizations around the world. Used as a ceremonial drink in many religions, notably among Jews and Christians, it was also appreciated for its medicinal virtues—real or supposed. However, there is one civilization that has attempted to suppress wine, and more broadly fermented beverages, seen as the "work of the devil." Of course, this is the Islamic civilization. Ironically, it is from Arabic that the word "alcohol" originates, which entered European languages in the Middle Ages. The Arabic "al-kohl" initially referred to various substances women powdered on their eyes—sorts of eyeliners before their time. From this, it came to mean "any pulverized and refined substance, pure." And what better than wine to fit this definition? In the 16th century, the physician and alchemist Paracelsus used the term "alcohol vini" to refer to distilled wine. The word "alcohol" with its modern meaning was born. But let's return to our subject. It is well known that Islam, at least in theory, bans the consumption of wine—the prohibition dating back to the Quran itself. Yet, we will see that the Quranic text shows particular ambiguity regarding the nature of wine, sometimes seen as a divine sign, promised to men in paradise, and other times perceived as diabolical. We will also see that, despite the prohibition, wine and other alcohol consumption were notorious among the first generations of Muslims—and even afterwards!Wine among Pre-Islamic Arabs
The culture and consumption of wine were common in Arabia before Islam. According to some lexicographers, the Arabic language has several hundred words for wine, indicating its importance in the material culture of pre-Islamic Arabs. Diodorus of Sicily (~ - 20) reports that Osiris, the Egyptian god master of agriculture, discovered viticulture and taught it to the inhabitants of the southern Arabian city of Nysa: "It is said that he discovered the vine in the land of Nysa, and having thought of using its fruit, he was the first to drink wine, and taught men the cultivation of the vine, the use of wine, its preparation, and preservation" (Bibliothèque historique, I, 16-17). Arabs produced wine from dates, vines, honey, and cereals such as wheat and barley, mainly consuming red wine. The use of wine sometimes took on a religious connotation. The precious beverage could be offered to gods or served to priests during ceremonies. Among the Nabataeans, Dusares, the main deity of the kingdom, was traditionally identified with Dionysus, the Roman god of wine. Strabo also reports that Nabataean kings held banquets with singing and drinking: They dine at tables of thirteen, and each table has two musicians. The king has a large hall for frequent banquets. At these banquets, no one drinks more than eleven cups (the custom being, after each drink, to exchange the gold cup for another). The king is so involved in social life that, not content to serve himself often, he sometimes serves others with his own hands (Geography, XVI, 4, 26).The Status of Wine in the Quran
As the primary source of Islamic law, the Quran exhibits a certain ambiguity concerning wine, displaying apparently contradictory positions. Scholars note a "conceptual tension" or a "very ambivalent attitude" within the Quranic text. Indeed, wine is initially described positively and called a divine "sign" (âya): "From the fruits of the date palms and the vineyards, you derive intoxicating drink (sakaran) and a goodly provision. There is a sign for those who ponder" (16:67). Another verse is more ambiguous: "They ask you about wine (al-khamr) and gambling. Say: 'In them is a great sin, and some benefit for men, but their sin outweighs their benefit'" (2:219). Although the verse recognizes negative aspects, it does not explicitly prohibit wine consumption. The clear prohibition is stated in another verse: "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" (5:90). Furthermore, verse 4:43 forbids believers to pray while intoxicated—implying that wine consumption is permitted at other times. To complicate matters, the Quran states that rivers of wine will flow in Paradise (83:25).
Many questions arise: how can wine be both a divine sign and a work of the devil? If it is diabolical, how can it be in Paradise? Did the devil somehow go there to introduce it? Also, how can something promised in Paradise be so negatively perceived here? The contradictions within the Quranic text caused embarrassment among religious scholars, particularly jurists tasked with shaping Islamic law: which Quranic provisions are correct, and on what basis should the decision be made? To clarify the situation, jurists developed the principle of abrogation. According to this principle, the latest revelations override the earlier ones. However, understanding the order of revelation of the verses is challenging, since the surahs are generally arranged from longest to shortest. The chronological order of the Quran was reconstructed later by Muslim exegesists based on arbitrary and unconvincing criteria. Moreover, the first treaties on "the abrogating and the abrogated" (al-nāsikh wa-l-mansūkh), which aimed precisely to resolve legal contradictions in the text, appeared at a late period. Regardless, the different positions within the Quran concerning wine's status should not necessarily be seen as the evolution of a single person's thought but rather as reflecting diverging opinions existing among those who produced the Quran.
Finally, it is worth mentioning an ancient Quranic manuscript, probably from the early 8th century, containing only Surah 2, "The Cow." It seems that in the early decades of Islam, this surah circulated independently of the entire Quran, as evidenced by the theologian and former high official at the Umayyad court Jean Damascène. This manuscript has recently been studied in depth by two French researchers, Mathieu Tillier and Naïm Vanthieghem. They note the presence of "significant variants" and "large textual gaps" compared to the official recension known as the "Uthmanic" version. One of these variants concerns our topic directly. It relates to verse 2:219, which describes wine as a "greater sin" than the benefit it provides. However, this verse, which served as a basis for Islamic legal prohibition, is absent from the manuscript. Is it an error by the scribe, a deliberate omission, or a physical witness of an earlier Quranic recension where wine was not depicted negatively? There is not enough evidence to answer this question definitively today.
The Reasons for the Prohibition
The prohibition of wine established by the Quran has many antecedents among certain pre-Islamic groups. We have seen that wine's culture and consumption were widespread among Arabs before Islam. Yet, some communities apparently had prohibitions against wine. Diodorus of Sicily, already cited, reports that the Nabataeans did not drink wine under threat of death: "According to a law of the land, they do not sow wheat, plant fruit trees, drink wine, or build houses. Those who do are punished by death" (Bibliothèque historique, XIX, 94). This rule, however, dates back to a very early period in Nabataean history, when they were still a nomadic group. It was later abandoned, as evidenced by inscriptions previously mentioned. Mohammed Maraqten points out an inscription from the 2nd century found in Palmyra, mentioning a prohibition of wine with religious connotations. The inscription mentions the god Say' al-Qawm, "the good and generous god who does not drink wine." According to Maraqten, followers of this deity were forbidden from drinking or offering wine as a gift. It also appears that some Bedouin tribes in Palestine abstained from wine, similar to the Rechabites. This is recorded in the Old Testament, which states: I set before the sons of the Rechabite family cups full of wine, and said to them: "Drink wine!" But they answered: "We do not drink wine, for Jonadab son of Rechab our father commanded us: 'You shall never drink wine, neither you, nor your children'" (Jeremiah 35:5-6).This tribe seems to have persisted until quite recently. Anglican missionary Joseph Wolff recounted in 1836 his meeting with inhabitants of Arabia claiming to be descended from Rechab, who "do not drink wine, do not plant vines, do not sow seed, live in tents, and remember the good old Jonadab son of Rechab." Interestingly, wine prohibition is especially prevalent among Arab nomadic tribes. Ammianus Marcellinus (~395) already wrote about Bedouins he encountered: "Almost all of those we saw were ignorant of bread and wine." The hostility of Bedouins toward wine is thought to be a reaction arising in desert dwellers, among whom viticulture is difficult, against their sedentary farming rivals. Could this be the reason for the Quran's opposition to wine? The answer is not so straightforward, as such hostility is also well-attested among certain Judeo-Christian groups, offering a more convincing alternative explanation.
Despite emphasizing the ceremonial importance of wine for Jews and Christians, they also had various movements practicing abstinence from fermented beverages. This abstinence has scriptural justification; Paul states in his Epistle to the Romans: "It is good not to eat meat or drink wine" (Romans 14:21). Later, some theologians encouraged sobriety or moderation in wine consumption. Clement of Alexandria wrote that "excessive wine consumption is incompatible with meditating on heavenly things." Communities in Asia Minor and Syria took Paul's words seriously, often using water instead of wine for the Eucharist celebration.
However, abstinence from wine was mainly associated with "heretical" Christian currents. Among them, encratism, a Gnostic-inspired movement banning sexual relations, meat, and wine, is notable. Encratites reportedly had followers among the Companions of Muhammad. There is an interesting parallel between these early Christian heresies and Quranic texts. In his Panarion, a catalog of heresies, Epiphanius of Salamis reports that encratites abstain from wine because they "claim it comes from the devil." This recalls the Quranic passage comparing wine to "the work of Satan." It is also well-attested that Ebionites, Judeo-Christian sectarians, abstained from wine, as did Manichaeans, whose presence in Arabia is now established. A Manichaean text even describes wine as "bile of the Prince of Darkness," again echoing the Quran.
These examples show that the association of wine with the devil predates the Quran by several centuries and originates from Christian sects and heretical currents. Holger Zellentin recently suggested an interesting hypothesis to explain the demonization of wine in the Quran. He posits that the idea comes from a 5th-century Judeo-Christian text, the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies. The text, which encourages abstinence from wine, offers an explanation similar to the Quranic passage: since demons are spiritual beings, they can only consume wine through the bodies of humans they possess. To avoid demons, one must stay away from wine and impure foods.
The Legal Management of Wine in Islam
The legal status of wine and other alcoholic beverages has been the subject of intense debates among jurists, faced with a "mass of completely contradictory traditional information" which they selectively adopted. As mentioned, the Arabic language includes numerous words for wine and fermented drinks in general. However, the Quran explicitly forbids only khamr. The difficulty lies in precisely defining "khamr" and whether other types of alcohol are included in the prohibition. These questions have caused clear disagreements among jurists. According to Abu Hanifa (~737), khamr is defined as wine derived from dates and grapes, excluding any other alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage. This opinion is based on a hadith in which the Prophet is said to have stated: "Khamr is prepared from these two trees: the palm and the vine." Hanafi jurists also relied on numerous traditions reporting that the Prophet consumed a fermented drink called nabidh, and on many biblical examples of prophets drinking alcohol. Thus, the Hanafi school authorized the consumption of other alcohols provided they do not lead to intoxication.
The second, majority opinion, defines khamr by analogy as any intoxicating beverage, regardless of production mode. Ibn Taymiyya goes even further, describing khamr as "any intoxicant," "anything that alters the reason." This naturally includes drugs like hashish, which other schools appeared surprisingly lax about. Nonetheless, jurists reached a consensus that all intoxicating drinks, not just date and grape wine, are forbidden by the Quran, to the extent that anyone claiming otherwise would be considered an apostate, with the death penalty or other punishments for apostasy: the one asserting that they [the intoxicants] are not all forbidden will be considered an apostate; if he does not repent after advice, he faces the death penalty, the fixed legal punishment for apostasy. His body will be treated like that of a disbeliever (kâfir): no prayer over him, no burial in a Muslim cemetery, etc.
Legal Penalty for Disobedience
In case of violation of the prohibition, the Quran does not specify any sanctions. Several traditions report that intoxicated persons were lynched on the Prophet's orders: An-Nu’man or his son was brought because he was drunk. The Prophet ordered those present in the house to beat him. They beat him, and I was among those who struck him with shoes. A man who had drunk wine was brought before the Prophet. He whipped him about forty times with two palm leaves. Some of us struck him with their hands, shoes, and clothing. Caliph Umar inflicted eighty lashes on offenders, a punishment that became the legal penalty in most jurisprudential schools. However, before the codification of jurisprudence rules, the punishment was arbitrarily decided by local leaders, who could be more or less strict. Joseph Schacht notes that "a governor, at the end of the first century after the Hijra, did not punish drunkenness with the whip but with the death penalty; the punishment for drunkenness had not yet been fixed at that time."Wine in Muslim Societies
The Early Period
Despite the Quranic prohibition, alcohol consumption remained common in the Islamic world, both among elites and the general population. As Jack Tannous emphasizes, "There is abundant evidence that many Muslims appreciated wine and even celebrated it throughout the history of Islam." This phenomenon was especially prominent among the first generations of Muslims—including religious and political authorities. Several traditions reveal that the Prophet himself, as well as prominent Companions, consumed a fermented beverage called nabidh. Ibn Manzour (d. 1311) states in his Lisân al-‘Arab that this is called nabidh because dates or grapes are taken, fermented in a pot or a bag with water, and left to ferment until intoxicating. The khamr pressed from grapes is called nabidh. It is said that nabidh is khamr. The consumption of certain fermented drinks was not only tolerated but encouraged by authorities who distributed them to Muslim families in garrison towns as part of rizq, possibly continuing earlier Byzantine practices of distributing wine to soldiers under Heraclius (r. 610–641) as part of the annona militaris. For example, during the caliphate of ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Marwan, soldiers of an expedition received about 308 liters of wine. The obvious contradiction between the people's practices and the Quranic prohibition raises questions for the historian: did the early Muslim communities ignore this prohibition? Or were Muslims, including elites, aware they were committing a sin? It appears that during the first century of Islam, the dissemination of the Quran was not as broad and uniform as later Islamic tradition claims. As Tilier and Vanthieghem note, "the scarcity of Quranic remains on papyrus suggests that the written spread of the text was limited outside elite circles." Indeed, at that time, the Quran still played a secondary role in the development of Islamic law, supporting the hypothesis of a late canonization of the text, which remained somewhat flexible until at least the end of the 7th century.The Medieval Period
After the fall of the Umayyads, wine consumption in the Islamic world fluctuated between periods of relative tolerance and repression. The Abbasid dynasty aimed to project a publicly sober image, but most Abbasid caliphs were no less inclined toward alcohol than their predecessors. The caliph’s palace in Baghdad had its own wine cellar (sharâb-khâna). Al-Mutawakkil (r. 847–861), who established the doctrine of the uncreated Quran, held festivities where wine was featured. He was even assassinated during one such binge, with rumors suggesting he choked on wine. Rudi Matthee explains that "governors paid little attention to prohibition decrees they issued themselves. Measures against alcohol aimed mainly at public consumption, to avoid scandals, disturbances, and fights, rather than private use. Offenders were usually fined or, more rarely, flogged or paraded publicly." The relative tolerance of the Abbasid caliphs contrasted with the Puritanical Almohads. Under Caliph Abu Ya’qûb Yûsuf ibn Yûsuf (r. 1286–1307), for instance, "all Jews selling wine to Muslims were killed, and their families enslaved across Marinid states." In the Ottoman Empire, where viticulture had millennia-old roots, wine and other spirits were widely consumed—even by the sultans—despite occasional attempts to ban them. Taverns, or "houses of wine" (meyhane), were numerous: in 17th-century Istanbul, 1,060 such taverns are recorded. Sultan Murad II (r. 1421–44, 1446–51) was known for drinking large quantities of wine and died of a stroke during a drunken spree. His successor Mehmed II (r. 1444–46, 1451–82), famous for conquering Constantinople, drank wine during campaigns but reportedly moderately. Selim I (r. 1512–20), during a campaign in Egypt, nearly died drowning in the Nile after losing consciousness while drunk. Suliman the Magnificent (r. 1520–66), however, abstained from music and alcohol. In 1555, he became the first Ottoman ruler to ban alcohol sales, even for non-Muslims, and ordered tavern and coffeehouse closures in Istanbul. His son and successor, Selim II (r. 1566–74), reversed these laws, reintroduced wine, and ended his life at only 28, known as a notorious drunkard. The case of Sultan Murad IV (r. 1623–40) vividly illustrates the contradictions between law and practice. Known for brutal methods, he waged relentless wars against alcohol, tobacco, and coffee, sometimes ordering executions of violators. Yet he himself succumbed to alcohol and indulged in heavy drunkenness. These examples highlight the considerable difficulty religious and political authorities had in banning alcohol. Prohibition advocates also faced significant financial interests, as François Georgeon notes: "The main reason prohibitions failed was mostly fiscal: the production, trade, and retail sale of alcoholic beverages were highly profitable for the state, and any restrictive measures quickly impacted state revenue." Outside ruling circles, wine consumption remained unofficially permitted. Ahmed Shahab notes that "drinking wine was a collective and normative practice, often during social gatherings with friends." During the medieval period, alcohol was so widely used that the famous Muslim polymath Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (d. 1274) could dedicate an entire chapter of his Ethics to "ways of drinking wine." Wine was also celebrated by poets, who praised it in verses called khamriyyât. The praise of wine and intoxication is often associated with other prohibitions, notably love of boys. The famous Abu Nuwas (d. 814), confidant of Caliph ar-Rashid, wrote verses about wine: I see neither pleasure nor joy Nor success until the glass is in sight How formidable is wine for man It attacks misfortune and drives it away Wine has such marvelous virtues that it can Free the miser from his greed There is no life but that of drinking From morning to evening I will never forsake the glass, nor Accept love from those who condemn it More subversively, Persian poet Manuchehri (d. 1040) expressed his love for wine and young servants: I love my servant and my glass of wine This is no place for blame or contempt I know that both are forbidden It is precisely this "forbidden" aspect that makes them so pleasurable
