How Islam Treated Addiction
It is widespread that Islam is more of a preventive religion than it is a healing one.
But when you think about it, Islam first came down on Quraysh, a nation who were far from having a healthy mentality and being immune to illnesses of the heart. From greed to polytheism, injustice to discrimination and addiction, they had a lot to be fixed.
And Islam did just that. It healed them.
It gradually and gently poked holes in all the wrong ways they were leading their lives and society and then replaced it all with a more fulfilling, healthier, purposeful and holistic mentality and vision of life that literally changed their lives on all levels. All of that without oppressing them and without changing their personalities, but instead it did so by freeing them and letting their individualities be pronounced.
When Islam first came down, the Quraysh society was a big consumer of alcohol, which they probably consumed more than water due to the dry climate. Even today, addiction to alcohol is ranked amongst the top addictions societies suffer from.
Today I wanted to share with you the strategic way Islam used to treat addiction amongst the believers of the time. It did so in three practical steps with years of interval.
1. Understanding the harm caused by the substance of addiction;
يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْخَمْرِ وَالْمَيْسِرِ ۖ قُلْ فِيهِمَا إِثْمٌ كَبِيرٌ وَمَنَافِعُ لِلنَّاسِ وَإِثْمُهُمَا أَكْبَرُ مِن نَّفْعِهِمَا ۗ وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ مَاذَا يُنفِقُونَ قُلِ الْعَفْوَ ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمُ الْآيَاتِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَفَكَّرُونَ (219)
“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.” [2: 219]
This Verse came early on in Islam as a response to companions asking the prophet PBUH about this thing that was a huge part of their culture but one that they started to see unfit for the new healthy mentality that Islam was inviting them to cultivate in their lives. Allah knowing that the society was still attached to alcohol and Islam was still in its building phases, He sought right to only invite them to reflect on the harm and corruption that it causes them and their society, and weigh that to the few benefits alcohol has.
2. Giving them an Alternative to it -a more fulfilling one at that.
يا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَقْرَبُوا الصَّلاةَ وَأَنْتُمْ سُكَارَى حَتَّى تَعْلَمُوا مَا تَقُولُونَ) النساء/43
“O you who have believed, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated until you know what you are saying.” [ 4: 43]
By this time, prayer has become a part of the believers’ lives and having to be sober during prayer times meant having to stay away from it for most of the day and then maybe having some at night. And that partial restriction should be enough for them to get attached to prayer and feel the tremendous benefits and gifts it has on them.
Allah’s goal behind this instruction was to gradually replace their addiction to alcohol by their attachment to prayer and their connection to Him which powers of calming them down and getting their problems solved were much more effective than any ephemeral effect alcohol could ever have on them.
3. Prescribing to fully restrict and stay away from it.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ وَالْأَنْصَابُ وَالْأَزْلامُ رِجْسٌ مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ (المائدة/90- .}
“O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah ], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful. » [5: 90]
By this point, years after that last instruction, the companions went and asked the prophet PBUH again about Islam’s take on alcohol, they were now ready to let go of it for good.
They had found their life’s purpose, they were taken from darkness to light, and they were enriched by much more nourishing, more pleasurable and healthier coping mechanisms and ways of living.
And as soon as this restriction came down, they went out into the streets and spilled every bottle of alcohol they had because it just felt right and it was just about time.
Their mentalities were ready, their bodies were ready (remember the partial restriction), their trust in Allah was stronger than ever and they had, by this point, built a firm foundation of Faith as individuals but also as a society where they knew alcohol -and any other of their addictions- have no potential place.
