1) Young Muslims - The Message

among you with intoxicants and gambling, and to hinder you fromthe remembrance of Allah and from prayer. Will you not then giveup?"The above verses came over period of years and when the last versecame, Muslims threw away all the wine into the streets andstopped completely in whatever state they were in, and streets ofMedina were flowing with wine.Sayings of Prophet Mohammad (Blessings and Peace be upon him)about wine and other intoxicants:1. "Every intoxicant is khamr, and every khamr is haram(unlawful)- (Sahih Muslim).2. "Of that which intoxicates in a large amount, a smallamount is haram" (Ahmad, Abu-Daud and Al-Tirmithi,).3. "Khamr (intoxicants) is the mother of all evils"-(SahihBukhari).The solutions: There are no easy solutions. Since it is amultifactorial problem, each factor should be addressed by thegovernment and by the public. While the total ban on production,import and export is the ideal solution to create a drug-free society,by experience (i.e. in the USA with total ban on alcohol in 1920's) itis difficult to achieve it unless strict laws are made and enforced ondrug producers, traffickers and offenders. It is important to have alaw that sees distinction between the helpless victim and apowerful drug Lord. Our current system punishes the former andspares the latter. Islam offers such tough laws to influence ourmorality and health. While we are trying to implement Islamic lawsto control drug abuse, we should pay more attention to the needsof the victim. By educating the masses, social workers, lawenforcements agencies and the physicians, and by establishing largenumbers of treatment & rehab centers, we can reduce humanYoung Muslims, What they should know about Islam Page - 164