The guard said, "O young man, a sin follows another and one who performs a sin agrees quickly to commit a graver sin, a bar where wine is served and which is called Umm al-Khaba'ith, the mother of all impurities, pulls the most ascetic of men into trial and mischief. One who reconciles himself with wine does not hesitate to commit any known sin on earth. The Shari'ah has declared wine as impure although it may .have certain advantages. It has declared as unlawful, the earnings of anyone associated with it in any way, and his work as the worst crime. This worst of impurities dampens a man's intellect and takes him on the path of the devil. It is a grave sin to be attached in anyway with wine or a bar where it is served. It also points out the evil and corrupt things that result from drinking wine and its bad influence on society. The sin of drinking wine leads to inumerable other sinful acts.
The servant of Allah have to pass through many trials. The wicked people try to divert Allah's pious slaves from the pious path to the wrong path of different methods. Sometimes lack of religious knowledge causes a worshipper to be misled. A worship cannot be discharged as it should be if one does not have proper knowledge. It is just' like knowledge which is not put into practice. A deed which is not backed by knowledge cannot grow religious comprehension in a man. If that pious man also had religious knowledge he would not have resigned himself into doing any one of the choices of sin offered to him but he would have faced difficulties firmly anq would have been prepared to die if that was necessary to avoid being sinful- Death is certain and a man dies only once. Hence, he would have giyen away his life for the sake of religion and preserved himself from being misled. Nevertheless, it is not without the blessings of Allah that one may hope to come through scratchless.
It was narrated from Abu Bakr bin 'Abdur-Rahman bin Al-Harith that his father said, "I heard 'Uthman, radhiyallahu 'anhu, say: 'Avoid Khamr for it is the mother of all evils. There was a man among those who came before you who was a devoted worshipper. An immoral woman fell in love with him. She sent her slave girl to him, saying: We are calling you to bear witness. So he set out with her slave girl, and every time he entered a door, she locked it behind him, until he reached a beautiful woman who has with her a boy and a vessel of wine. She said: 'By Allah, I did not call you to bear witness, rather I called you to have intercourse with me, or to drink a cup of this wine, or to kill this boy.' He said: 'Pour me a cup of this wine.' So she poured him a cup. He said: 'Give me more.' And soon he had intercourse with her and killed the boy. So avoid Khamr, for by Allah faith and addiction to Khamr cannot coexist but, one of them will soon expel the other." - [Sunan An-Nasa'i; Sahih by Al-Albani]Tabarani has transmitted the Hadith of Abdullah bin Amr Al-Aas that
Reference :once after the death of the Prophet (ﷺ), Abu Bakr, Umar bin Al-Khattab and other Companions, radhiyallahu 'anhum, were sitting together. They discussed among themselves and wondered what would be the gravest of sins. They did not know for sure what it was, so they sent me to Abdullah bin Amr Al-Aas to ask him about it. He told me that to drink wine was the gravest of the major sins.These Ahadith speak of a similar incident which reflect on the corruption in the Isra'ili societies. Perhaps, the man who was compelled to do the unlawful and destructive acts was a well-known and influential man, one whom other people imitated in their lives. Perhaps the king feared that he might become more popular than him and more influential than him because of his piety and asceticism and he himself may become less popular. This has been a weakness among all monarchs and tyrants and they cannot stand anyone gaining public acclaim. They have always tried to suppress such people and to disgrace them. So, the king used a high-class lady to further his evil designs. She was asked to corrupt the pious man' and put him to trial. A trial through women is the most effective of all trials. Evil people have used this strategy in every era.
I came back to them and told them what he had said but they disagreed with him and all of them went to his house (for explanation). He told them that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had said,
"One of the kings of the Bani Isra'il arrested someone and put before him certain choices (of which he was bound to choose one). He could drink wine, kill an infant, commit adultery, or eat pork. But, if he rejected all of these then he must be prepared to be put to death. He (thought wine was the least harmful and) chose wine. Hence, when he drank wine, none of the other things were forbidden to him (in his eyes and he did them all).
The Prophet (ﷺ) said at this time, 'Whoever drinks wine, his Salat are not accepted for forty nights (and days) and if he dies while there are traces of wine in his bladder then Paradise is forbidden to him, but if he dies within forty days then he dies the death of the Days of Ignorance'." - [Tabarani; Sahih Marfu' by Al-Albani]
That woman was very rich and highly placed in society but she was an immodest woman. She did not feel repelled from doing a shameless act. She deceived the pious man by asking him to visit her to bear witness to a deed and ·she had sent her slave for the purpose. He knew that it was virtuous to stand witness between people so agreed to go with the maid-slave to the woman. When he entered the house, the slave-girl shut the doors behind him. When they had passed some doors in this manner he encountered she had before her a bottle of wine and an infant child. The woman divulged to him that there was no affair for him to witness but that he was called to commit adulteiy with her and if he did not then he may either kill the infant baby or drink wine. If he did not do any of those things then he must be prepared to die. The other version tells us that the woman also presented him the choice of eating swine flesh. That man was a worshipper, and an ascetic at that, but not a religious scholar or one who has enjoyed the company of religious scholars, so he did not show will-power and steadfast perseverence in religion. He did not place reliance on Allah Who would have definitely relieved him of the difficulty and afforded him a way out as He had done for Prophet Yusuf, alaihissalam, although the doors were locked behind him. Prophet Yusuf did not consider himself helpless but put his trust in Allah and was confident of receiving His help. He prayed to Him to get him out of the trying situation and Allah got him out, the locked doors, opening as he advanced towards them.
The pious worshipper in this narrative, however, did not have insight and he supposed that if he did not obey the woman then he· would be murdered. He thought wine was the least sinful of all things and he opted for it. He was intoxicated and kept asking for more and he lost his senses and did not know what faith was and what fear of Allah was. He was unconcerned of the Hereafter and became shameless and immodest so he slept with the lady and also killed the infant.
It appears from the Hadith that their objective was to disgrace this pious man and bring his piety and worship to nothing. This is apparent from the choice placed before him and not compelling him to commit adultery. Each of the three or four choices before him was in opposition to belief and harmful to this man's nobility and virtue. Anyway, the Prophet (ﷺ) had narrated this story to point out that wine is the worst of sins, and the root of all evils. It intoxicates and causes a man to lose his senses. In a state of intoxication, he does things which are disgracing and harmful."
Then the guard said, "O young man, this incident teaches us that every righteous Muslim must constantly pray to Allah to preserve him from being misled. He must keep away from misleading practices and misled people. He must also be careful of devilish human beings and Jinns.
The forces of piety and evil have been always antagonistic. The evil forces appear to exceed those of piety. Pious people have been fewer than the wicked. Reliability of pious and wicked forces however, does not depend on numbers but on the will of Allah, the Great. Whover has been defined as evil, by Allah, continues to be evil, even if all the people choose to do that and regard that as a good thing. Similarly, piety is defined by Allah as good and approved. All the people may give it their own definition but it will continue to be as Allah has defined it. The pious people are taught in this story that they must remain determined and ambitious rejecting the influences of evil surroundings. They must not be overawed by evil forces. They must under all circumstances continue to practice piety and shun evil and prevent it with all in their power, so that the evil forces are subdued. They must not be dictated by circumstances but they must dictate to the circumstances. And Allah knows best."
يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْخَمْرِ وَالْمَيْسِرِ قُلْ فِيهِمَا إِثْمٌ كَبِيرٌ وَمَنَافِعُ لِلنَّاسِ وَإِثْمُهُمَا أَكْبَرُ مِنْ نَفْعِهِمَا وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ مَاذَا يُنْفِقُونَ قُلِ الْعَفْوَ كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمُ الآيَاتِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَفَكَّرُونَ"They ask you about wine and gambling. Say, 'In them is great sin and [yet, some] benefit for people. But their sin is greater than their benefit.' And they ask you what they should spend. Say, 'The excess [beyond needs].' Thus Allah makes clear to you the verses [of revelation] that you might give thought." - [QS.2:219]
- Maulana Muhammad Zakaria Iqbal, Stories from the Hadith, Darul Isha'at.
