Tafseer of The Table · Al-Maaida · 5:91
Satan only wants to cause between you animosity and hatred through intoxicants and gambling and to avert you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. So will you not desist?
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The discourse on the explanation of His statement: إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَنْ يُوقِعَ بَيْنَكُمُ الْعَدَاوَةَ وَالْبَغْضَاءَ فِي الْخَمْرِ وَالْمَيْسِرِ وَيَصُدَّكُمْ عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَعَنِ الصَّلاةِ فَهَلْ أَنْتُمْ مُنْتَهُونَ ("Satan only wishes to cause enmity and hatred among you by means of wine and gambling, and to turn you away from the remembrance of Allah and from the prayer. Will you then desist?" 5:91)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah — exalted be His mention — says: Satan wishes for you only the drinking of wine (khamr) and gambling with the arrows (qidāḥ), and he beautifies that for you, out of his desire that he may cause enmity and hatred among you through your drinking of wine and your gambling with the arrows, so that one part of you becomes hostile to the other part and the one part comes to hate the other part, so that he may scatter your affair after Allah has united you through faith (īmān) and brought you together through the brotherhood of Islam. ويصدكم عن ذكر الله ("And turn you away from the remembrance of Allah"), He says: and he turns you away — through this wine overwhelming you with its intoxication, and through your being occupied with this gambling — from the remembrance of Allah, in which lies the welfare of your world and your hereafter. وعن الصلاة ("And from the prayer"), which your Lord has imposed upon you. فهل أنتم منتهون ("Will you then desist?"), He says: will you then desist from drinking this and gambling with this, and will you act according to what your Lord has commanded you in performing the ritual prayer (ṣalāh) which He has imposed upon you, at its appointed times, and in holding fast to His remembrance in which lies the attainment of your desires in your near world and your hereafter?
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The scholars of interpretation differed concerning the occasion for which this verse was sent down.
Some of them said: it came down on account of an occasion that proceeded from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, namely that he mentioned to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ the detestable consequence of drinking it and asked Allah for its prohibition.
The mention of who said that:
12512 - Hannād ibn al-Sarī related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, from Abū Isḥāq, from Abū Maysara, who said: ʿUmar said: "O Allah, make clear to us concerning wine a decisive clarification!" He said: Then there came down the verse that is in Surah Al-Baqarah: يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْخَمْرِ وَالْمَيْسِرِ قُلْ فِيهِمَا إِثْمٌ كَبِيرٌ وَمَنَافِعُ لِلنَّاسِ ("They ask you about wine and gambling; say: in both there is great sin and benefit for people", Surah Al-Baqarah 2:219). He said: Then ʿUmar was called and it was recited to him, and he said: "O Allah, make clear to us concerning wine a decisive clarification!" Then there came down the verse that is in Surah An-Nisāʾ: لا تَقْرَبُوا الصَّلاةَ وَأَنْتُمْ سُكَارَى حَتَّى تَعْلَمُوا مَا تَقُولُونَ ("Do not approach the prayer while you are intoxicated, until you know what you are saying", Surah An-Nisāʾ 4:43). He said: And the announcer of the Prophet ﷺ would call out, when the prayer came in: "Let no intoxicated person approach the prayer!" He said: Then ʿUmar was called and it was recited to him, and he said: "O Allah, make clear to us concerning wine a decisive clarification!" He said: Then there came down the verse that is in Surah Al-Māʾida: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ وَالأَنْصَابُ وَالأَزْلامُ رِجْسٌ ("O you who believe, indeed wine, gambling, the sacrificial altars and the divining arrows are a defilement") up to His statement: "Will you then desist?" When it reached His statement "Will you then desist?", ʿUmar said: "We desist, we desist!"
12513 - Hannād related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Zāʾida related to us, saying: my father related to us, from Abū Isḥāq, from Abū Maysara, who said: ʿUmar said: "O Allah, make clear to us concerning wine a decisive clarification, for it causes the intellect and wealth to be lost!" — then he mentioned something similar to the narration of Wakīʿ.
12514 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Zakariyyā, from Abū Isḥāq, from Abū Maysara, who said: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said: "O Allah, make it clear to us" — and he mentioned something similar.
12515 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, from his father — and Isrāʾīl, from Abū Isḥāq, from Abū Maysara, from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb — the like of it.
12516 - Hannād related to us, saying: Yūnus ibn Bukayr related to us, saying: Zakariyyā ibn Abī Zāʾida related to us, from Abū Isḥāq, from Abū Maysara, from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb — the like of it.
12517 - Hannād related to us, saying: Yūnus ibn Bukayr related to us, saying: Abū Maʿshar al-Madanī related to me, from Mohammed ibn Qays, who said: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ arrived in Medina, the people came to him, and they used to drink wine and engage in gambling. They asked him about that, and Allah — exalted be He — revealed: يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْخَمْرِ وَالْمَيْسِرِ قُلْ فِيهِمَا إِثْمٌ كَبِيرٌ وَمَنَافِعُ لِلنَّاسِ وَإِثْمُهُمَا أَكْبَرُ مِنْ نَفْعِهِمَا ("They ask you about wine and gambling; say: in both there is great sin and benefit for people, but the sin of them is greater than their benefit", Surah Al-Baqarah 2:219). Then they said: "This is something in which a permission has come; we eat from the gambling and drink the wine, and we ask forgiveness for that!" Until a man came at the sunset prayer (al-maghrib), and he began to recite: قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا الْكَافِرُونَ * لا أَعْبُدُ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ * وَلا أَنْتُمْ عَابِدُونَ مَا أَعْبُدُ ("Say: O you disbelievers, I do not worship what you worship, and you do not worship what I worship", Surah Al-Kāfirūn). But he became confused in it and did not know what he was reciting. Then Allah revealed: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَقْرَبُوا الصَّلاةَ وَأَنْتُمْ سُكَارَى ("O you who believe, do not approach the prayer while you are intoxicated", Surah An-Nisāʾ 4:43). So the people used to drink wine until the time of prayer came, then they would leave off drinking it and come to the prayer while they knew what they were saying. They continued thus until Allah — exalted be His mention — revealed: إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ وَالأَنْصَابُ وَالأَزْلامُ ("Indeed, wine, gambling, the sacrificial altars and the divining arrows") up to His statement: "Will you then desist?" Then they said: "We desist, O Lord!"
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And others said: this verse came down on account of an occasion of Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ. That was because he had a dispute with a man over a drink of theirs, whereupon his companion struck him with the jawbones of a camel and split open his nose; then it came down concerning the two of them.
The mention of the narration concerning that:
12518 - Mohammed ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Mohammed ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, from Simāk ibn Ḥarb, from Muṣʿab ibn Saʿd, from his father Saʿd, that he said: A man of the Helpers (al-Anṣār) prepared food and invited us. He said: We drank wine until we became intoxicated, and the Anṣār and Quraysh boasted against one another, whereupon the Anṣār said: "We are more excellent than you!" He said: Then a man of the Anṣār took a jawbone of a camel and struck the nose of Saʿd with it and split it open, so that Saʿd was split open in the nose. He said: Then this verse came down: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ ("O you who believe, indeed wine and gambling") to the end of the verse.
12519 - Hannād related to us, saying: Abū al-Aḥwaṣ related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, from Simāk, from Muṣʿab ibn Saʿd, who said: Saʿd said: I was drinking with a group of people of the Anṣār, and I struck a man of them — I think with a jawbone of a camel — and I broke it (his nose). Then I came to the Prophet ﷺ and informed him, and it was not long before the prohibition of wine came down: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ ("O you who believe, indeed wine and gambling") to the end of the verse.
12520 - Hannād related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Zāʾida related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, from Simāk, from Muṣʿab ibn Saʿd, from his father, who said: I was drinking wine with a group of people of the Anṣār — and he mentioned something similar.
12521 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥārith informed me, that Ibn Shihāb informed him, that Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to him: that the first thing through which wine was prohibited was that Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ and some companions of his drank and fell to fighting one another, in the course of which they broke the nose of Saʿd; then Allah revealed: إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ ("Indeed, wine and gambling"), the verse.
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And others said: it came down concerning two tribes of the tribes of the Anṣār.
The mention of who said that:
12522 - Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣudāʾī related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj ibn al-Minhāl related to us, saying: Rabīʿa ibn Kulthūm related to us, from Jabr, from his father, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The prohibition of wine came down concerning two tribes of the tribes of the Anṣār who were drinking. Until, when they became intoxicated, they mocked one another. When they became sober, the man of them began to see the scar on his face and his beard and said: "This was done to me by my brother so-and-so!" — and they were brothers, in whose hearts there was no rancor — "By Allah, had he been kind and merciful toward me, he would not have done this to me!" Until rancor fell into their hearts. Then Allah revealed: إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ ("Indeed, wine and gambling") up to His statement: "Will you then desist?" Then some people of the excessive ones said: "It is a defilement in the belly of so-and-so who was killed on the day of Badr, and so-and-so was killed on the day of Uḥud!" Then Allah revealed: لَيْسَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ جُنَاحٌ فِيمَا طَعِمُوا ("There is no sin upon those who believe and do righteous deeds concerning what they have consumed", Surah Al-Māʾida 5:93), the verse.
12523 - Mohammed ibn Khalaf related to us, saying: Saʿīd ibn Mohammed al-Jarmī related to us, from Abū Tumayla, from Sallām, the freedman of Ḥafṣ ibn Abī al-Qāsim, from Ibn Burayda, from his father, who said: While we were sitting at a drink of ours — and we were on a sandy plain, and we were three or four, and with us was a large wine-jar (bāṭiya) of ours —, and we were drinking wine as something permitted, I stood up to go to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and to greet him, while the prohibition of wine had already come down: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ وَالأَنْصَابُ وَالأَزْلامُ رِجْسٌ مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ ("O you who believe, indeed wine, gambling, the sacrificial altars and the divining arrows are a defilement, belonging to the work of Satan") to the end of the two verses, "Will you then desist?" Then I came to my companions and recited it to them, up to His statement: "Will you then desist?" He said: And a part of the people had their drink in hand, some had drunk a part and a part had remained in the cup. Then he held the cup under his upper lip as the cupper (al-ḥajjām) does. Then they poured out what was in their wine-jar and said: "We desist, O our Lord! We desist, O our Lord!"
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And others said: the enmity and the hatred that arose between those concerning whom this verse came down was only because of the gambling (al-maysir), not because of the intoxication that befell them through the drinking of wine. Therefore Allah prohibited gambling to them.
The mention of who said that:
12524 - Bishr related to us, saying: Jāmiʿ ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us — Bishr said: and I heard it from Yazīd, and he related it to me — he said: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatāda, who said: In the time of ignorance (al-jāhiliyya) the man used to gamble away his family and his wealth, and then he would remain robbed and plundered while looking at his wealth in the hands of another. That used to produce enmity and hatred between them, and Allah prohibited that and gave precedence concerning it. And Allah knows best what sets His creation aright.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct view concerning this, in our opinion, is that one says that Allah — exalted be He — named these things which He mentioned in this verse "a defilement (rijs)" and commanded that they be avoided.
The scholars of interpretation differed concerning the occasion for which this verse came down. It is possible that it came down on account of the supplication of ʿUmar — may Allah be pleased with him — in the matter of wine; and it is possible that that was on account of what befell Saʿd from the man of the Anṣār when the two of them became intoxicated from the drink; and it is possible that it was because of what befell one of them, upon the loss of his wealth through gambling, of enmity toward the one who had defeated him in the gambling and hatred toward him. And we have, concerning which of these it was, no decisive, excuse-cutting proof. But whichever of these it was, the ruling of the verse is binding upon all those held to legal obligation (ahl al-taklīf), and ignorance of the occasion for which this verse came down does not harm them. For wine, gambling, the sacrificial altars and the divining arrows are a defilement belonging to the work of Satan; it is an obligation upon all whom the verse reaches of those held to legal obligation to avoid all of this, as Allah — exalted be He — said: فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ("So avoid it, that you may succeed").