﴾ “Indeed...

There is no alteration in the creation of God. This is the enduring (and true) religion; however, most humans do not know.” [^2] After little thought, a person who understands the general and decisive view of Islam—that humans must live collectively in a way harmonious with the human make-up—will conclude that Islam considers preservation of a sound mind the most important of duties and does not give permission for its defilement even for a moment. This is a correct assumption.

Islam entrusts management of the individual and social affairs of humans to sound reason and does not sanction the interference of false sentiments except to the extent that is reasonably acceptable. Hence, with all its might it prevents anything that unbalances the natural activity of this God-given blessing or neutralizes the efforts of the intellect.

Consequently, it forbids gambling (which is based upon blind luck), lying, calumny, dissimulation, fraud, and things of this sort that unbalance social reason and neutralize thought and judgment. Included in this range of forbidden acts is consuming alcoholic beverages, which is strictly forbidden in Islam such that for drinking even one drop of intoxicant a penalty of eighty lashes has been determined.

The corrupting effects of freedom of the use of alcoholic beverages Among acts that cause interference with reason and contemplation, drinking alcoholic beverages is the only one that works directly on the mind and rationality and is solely performed to kill thought and fortify emotions that deny an overseer. Accordingly, the evil moral, mental, religious, and health-related effects it spreads in individuals and the society are undeniably clear.

Due to this act, for every year that passes in the history of humanity, millions are hospitalized with various diseases related to the gullet, lungs, liver, mind, and so on.