What are the benefits of intoxicants mentioned in the saying of Allah the Exalted: “and benefits for people”?
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Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, what are the benefits of intoxicants mentioned in Surat al-Baqarah?
Answer:
This was at the beginning, because intoxicants were prohibited gradually, as people were immersed in them and attached to them. If they had been prohibited from the start, it would have been difficult to leave them. So Allah prohibited them gradually. First, He said: “Do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated.” First, He said:[Al-Baqarah 2:219].
“And benefits for people” is a description leading to their prohibition, because if the harm of something is greater than its benefit, there is no good in it, and a person of sound mind would not choose it. This is a way of deterring them from it, but He did not prohibit it; rather, He deterred them from it and left the comparison to their minds: how can one take on great harm for a slight benefit?
Then He said:[An-Nisa 4:43], prohibiting it now with a prohibition tied to prayer. Then He prohibited it absolutely at all times in Surat al-Ma'idah: [Al-Ma'idah 5:90], up to the saying of Allah the Exalted: “So will you desist?” At that point, they desisted and left it, because they had been gradually weaned from it until they abandoned it and were rid of it. Yes. We say: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success.
The benefits in it are financial, economic, and it provides pleasure and delight. But it is followed by evil, and the sin in it is greater than its benefit. Is there any financial or economic benefit? They obtain profits, but they are illicit and forbidden profits, leading to evil, enmity, and hatred, because the defeated one hates the victor, as with gambling and betting. Yes.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, what are the benefits of intoxicants mentioned in Surat al-Baqarah?
Answer:
This was at the beginning, because intoxicants were prohibited gradually, as people were immersed in them and attached to them. If they had been prohibited from the start, it would have been difficult to leave them. So Allah prohibited them gradually. First, He said: “Do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated.” First, He said:
They ask you about wine and gambling. Say, "In them is great sin
يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْخَمْرِ وَالْمَيْسِرِ قُلْ فِيهِمَا إِثْمٌ كَبِيرٌ“And benefits for people” is a description leading to their prohibition, because if the harm of something is greater than its benefit, there is no good in it, and a person of sound mind would not choose it. This is a way of deterring them from it, but He did not prohibit it; rather, He deterred them from it and left the comparison to their minds: how can one take on great harm for a slight benefit?
Then He said:
O you who have believed, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَقْرَبُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَأَنتُمْ سُكَارَىٰO 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.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ وَالْأَنصَابُ وَالْأَزْلَامُ رِجْسٌ مِّنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَThe benefits in it are financial, economic, and it provides pleasure and delight. But it is followed by evil, and the sin in it is greater than its benefit. Is there any financial or economic benefit? They obtain profits, but they are illicit and forbidden profits, leading to evil, enmity, and hatred, because the defeated one hates the victor, as with gambling and betting. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [2971- 4717] ما المنافع الموجودة في الخمر في قوله تعالى:(ومنافع للناس)؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.