Alcoholic: Do you think I am doing wrong by eating a date?
Scholar: No
Alcoholic: And if I ate with some grass?
Scholar: There is nothing wrong with that
Alcoholic: And if I were to wash them down with water?
Scholar: Drink and enjoy
Alcoholic: Since all that is permissible, then why do you forbid us from alcohol, which consists of the above mentioned ingredients?
Scholar: If I poured water on top of you, would that hurt you?
Alcoholic: No it would not
Scholar: And if I were to sprinkle some dirt in that, would you be hurt?
Alcoholic: That would not harm me
Scholar: But if I were to mix water and dirt together and through a process make a brick from those two elements, and then were I to throw that large brick at you, would you be hurt?
Alcoholic: That would kill me
Scholar: The same goes for the alcohol
What did you learn from this story, please leave a comment below!
Alcohol is not good
The same moral teaching was presented as a Muslim, visiting a Jew at his home, And he invited him to have wine, (made of grapes) the Muslim of course refused, the Jew then presented fresh grapes which the Muslim accepted. The Jew said ironically, you Muslims are strange, You don’t drink wine and eat grapes which the wine is made of? The Muslim asked him will you marry your daughter? he said No!! But you married her mother and she is from her.
Alcohol is poison. That is why when they serve alcoholic
drinks they ask the customer, what is your poison.
The dialogue attempts to demonstrate justification for the moral teaching of abstention from drinking alcohol. However, in my view, the scholar’s analogy is not quite apt.
The commonly known process of making consumable alcohol is by fermentation. Therefore, the scholar’s response to the alcoholic’s analogy should have been something like this: “if I were to soak the same date and grass in water for several days until the mixture becomes foamy and smelly, would you eat it?” The alcoholic is likely to answer “no”. The scholar would then conclude “that’s the nature of the alcohol you consume”. The alcoholic may also conclude as follows: “No wonder I feel mentally and physically unstable every time I indulge in alcohol”
Correcting stereotypes is always difficulty. To be able to accomplish such task of correcting a brother/sister on a wrong path without prejudice and possible hatred requires a certain level of understanding.
That was accurately brought out here!
Jazakumullahu Khairan!