By Major M. Y. Babangida
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, who made Islam prevail over all other religions, for He, the Exalted, said: “Indeed, the religion with Allah is Islam.” He sealed all messages with His message, all books with His book, and all messengers with His messenger. So praise be to Allah for the blessing of Islam and faith, and I bear witness that there is no god but Allah.
He alone has no partner, the Almighty who cannot be defeated or humiliated, and the Everlasting, for everything else is transient. He accepts those who repent, breaks the backs of the tyrants, destroys the oppressors, and helps those in distress. Glory be to Him, blessed be God, Lord of the worlds.
O people, God Almighty said: O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, idols, and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful. Satan only wants to cause between you animosity and hatred through intoxicants and gambling. In wine and gambling, and it hinders you from remembering God and from prayer. So will you not desist?
In this verse, God Almighty has forbidden and warned against the drinking of alcohol. It has been narrated that Uthman ibn Affan (may God be pleased with him) said, "Avoid alcohol, for it is the mother of all evils." Whoever does not avoid it has disobeyed God and His Messenger and deserves punishment for disobeying God and His Messenger.
Abdullah ibn Umar said that alcohol is the greatest of sins and is undoubtedly the mother of all evils, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Every intoxicant is alcohol, and all alcohol is forbidden.”
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also said: “The drunkard is like an idol worshipper. And wine is anything that clouds the mind, whether it is wet or dry, eaten or drunk.
The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “God has cursed wine, its drinker, its server, its seller, its buyer, its presser, its extractor, and its distributor. And the one who carries it and the one to whom it is carried"
On the authority of Abdullah bin Umar, he said: Do not greet the one who drinks wine, do not visit them when they are sick, and do not pray over them when they die. And indeed, the wine drinker will come on the Day of Resurrection with his face blackened, his tongue hanging out on his chest, and his saliva dripping. Everyone who sees him and knows him to be a drinker of alcohol will find him repulsive.
On the authority of Abu Hurairah, on the authority of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he said: “A thief does not steal while he is a believer, an adulterer does not commit adultery while he is a believer, and a person who drinks alcohol does not drink it while he is a believer.”
In the Hadith, whoever commits adultery or drinks alcohol, God removes faith from him as one removes a shirt from one's head. O servants of God, the one who drinks alcohol corrupts his religion and his health, squanders his wealth, trifles with his dignity and virtue, and hastens towards evil and corruption with his hands and feet, and malicious towards morals and religions.
O people, God has made your blood, your wealth, and your honour sacred, just as the Sacred House is sacred in the Sacred Month in the Sacred Land.
God Almighty said, “And do not consume one another’s wealth unjustly and bribe the rulers.”
The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Every Muslim is inviolable to another Muslim in his blood, his wealth, and his honour.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Injustice will be darkness on the Day of Resurrection.”
He also said, “Beware the supplication of the oppressed, for it is carried upon the clouds. Indeed, in that is a reminder for whoever has a heart or gives ear while he is present.”
O servants of God, The sins of God's servants are recorded with Him in three registers: a register that will not be forgiven, which is associating partners with God, the All-Powerful, the Firm; a register that will not be overlooked, which contains the rights of all people and the dues of the oppressed against the oppressors, and everything is recorded in a clear register; and a register that God forgives.
And the record is with God; He forgives what is in it for whomever He wills and punishes for it whomever He wills. And your Lord is not unjust to His servants. It is in it that your sins with God and your negligence and shortcomings in fulfilling religious obligations are recorded, and you will surely know its consequences after a while.
Indeed, there are noble guardians over you. And indeed, there are noble scribes over you. O people, whoever is content with Allah as his Lord, with Islam as his religion, and with Muhammad as his Prophet and Messenger, how can he wage war against Allah with sins and not fear a Day that will turn children's hair white? The sky will be rented asunder by it. His promise is ever fulfilled. And how can he disobey the Quran and follow Satan, when Satan is a betrayer of mankind?
Brothers and sisters in Islam, alcoholism has destroyed many of our able bodied men and women who would have been very useful in keeping our society stronger. Many have gone mentally destroyed by alcoholism. The society has suffered losses more than it has gained from alcoholism.
O Allah, grant glory to Islam and the Muslims, and humiliate polytheism and the polytheists. Destroy Your enemies, our enemies and the enemies of the religion, and grant victory to Your believing servants. Peace be upon the Messengers, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds.
Major M. Y. Babangida is the 4-Brigade Central Mosque Imam in Benin City.
