You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
74<br />
<strong>Life</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Muhammad</strong> sa<br />
that when the revelation making drink unlawful was<br />
received, the Prophet sa sent for a Companion and<br />
ordered him to proclaim the new command in the<br />
streets <strong>of</strong> Medina. In the house <strong>of</strong> an Ansari (a Muslim <strong>of</strong><br />
Medina) a drinking party was going on. Many persons<br />
had been invited and cups <strong>of</strong> wine were being served.<br />
One large pot had been drunk and a second one was<br />
going to be broached. Many had lost their senses, and<br />
many more were on the way to lose them. In this<br />
condition they heard some one proclaim that drinking<br />
had been forbidden by the Prophet sa under a command<br />
<strong>of</strong> God. One <strong>of</strong> the party stood up and said, "It looks like<br />
a proclamation against drinking; let us find out if this is<br />
so." Another stood up, struck the earthen pot full <strong>of</strong><br />
wine with his staff, broke it to pieces and said, "First<br />
obey, then inquire. It is enough that we have heard <strong>of</strong><br />
such a proclamation. It is not meet that we should go on<br />
drinking while we make inquiries. It is rather our duty<br />
to let the wine flow in the street and then inquire about<br />
the proclamation" (Bukhari and Muslim, Kitab al-<br />
Ashriba). This Muslim was right. For, if drinking had<br />
been forbidden, they would have been guilty <strong>of</strong> an<br />
<strong>of</strong>fence, had they gone on drinking on the other hand, if<br />
drinking had not been forbidden, they would not lose<br />
much if for once they should let the wine in their pots<br />
flow into the streets. Drinking disappeared from the<br />
entire Muslim society after this proclamation. No special<br />
effort or campaign was needed to bring about this<br />
revolutionary change. Muslims who heard this<br />
command and witnessed the ready response with which<br />
it was received lived up to seventy or eighty years. No<br />
case is known <strong>of</strong> any Muslim who, having heard <strong>of</strong> this<br />
prohibition, showed the weakness <strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong>fending against<br />
it. If there was any such case, it must have been <strong>of</strong> one<br />
who did not have the chance to come under the direct<br />
influence <strong>of</strong> the Prophet sa . Compare with this the<br />
prohibition movement <strong>of</strong> America and <strong>of</strong> the efforts to<br />
promote temperance which have been made for so many<br />
years in Europe. In the one case a simple proclamation
Change language