Rebuttal: Religion

Rebuttal to Muhammad (S.A.W) drank wine and performed ablution with it

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The article first brings up hadiths trying to prove Muhammad drank wine:They said:
“Sahih Muslim: “Drinks, Drinking wine and fermentation”
Narrated by Gaber bin Abdullah:
We were with the messenger of Allah, PBUH and he asked for a drink. One of his men said: “Oh Messenger of Allah, Can we offer you wine to drink?” He said Yes. He (Gaber) went out looking for the drink and came back with a cup of wine. The messenger (Peace Be Upon him) asked, “Have you covered it with a twig in a transverse manner” He (Gaber) said, “Yes” and he (Muhammad) drank. Sahih Muslim – Hadith #3753

Ibn ‘Abbas reported that Nabidh was prepared for Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) in the waterskin, Shu’ba said: It was the night of Monday. He drank it on Monday and on Tuesday up to the afternoon, and If anything was left out of it he gave it to his servant or poured it out. Sahih Muslim 23:4972.”

Reply:
The title of the title the critic has given is an inaccurate translation. An accurate one is:
“COMMAND PERTAINING TO THE COVERING OF VESSELS, AND TIGHTENING (THE MOUTHS) OF WATERSKINS, ETC.” (Source).

It should be borne in mind that the Prophet didn’t drink it when it was fermented. He drank it when it was unfermented. A scholar writing on a related hadith:
عصير العنب الذي لم يصل إلى حد الإسكار
“Grape juice, which had not reached the level of causing intoxication.” (Sheikh Abdul ‘Azeez Bin Abdullah Al-Raajhi – Commentary Of Sahih Muslim –Source).

“This gives us an idea of the utmost care which the Holy Prophet (may peace be upon him) observed in the use of Nabidh. He continued using it until there appeared signs of fermentation in it. He discarded its use much before the time when there could be any possibility of any change in its smell and taste. He, therefore, used it only for two days and a half and in case it had no smell or colour of fermentation in it, he gave it to the servant to drink.” (Commentary Of: Sahih Muslim, Book 23, Number 4971 – Abdul Hamid Siddiqi’s Commentary – Dar Al Arabia – Volume 3 – Chapter DCCCXXXVIII – Footnote 2418 – Page 1110).

He also prepared the drink in waterskins, to slow down the process of fermentation:

“The Holy Prophet (may peace up upon him) had been particular about it. He preferred to get his Nabidh prepared in the waterskin, as due to coolness, it takes a longer time to turn intoxicant.” (Commentary Of: Sahih Muslim, Book 23, Number 4972 – cited in: Ibid – Footnote 2419 – Page 1110).

Sahih Muslim, Book 23, Number 4943:
“‘Uqba b. Huraith said: I heard Ibn ‘Umar saying: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) forbade (the preparation of Nabidh) in a green pitcher (besmeared with pitch), in varnished jar, and in gourd, and he said: Prepare Nabidh in small waterskins.”

“The process of fermentation is very slow in waterskin as compared with varnished vessels, gourd, pumpkin or hollow stump.” (Ibid – Chapter DCCCXXXVI – Footnote 2410 – Page 1105).

The lower the temperature the slower the process. At a high temperature the alcoholic rapidly passes into the acetous fermentation.” (William Thomas Brande & Alfred Swaine Taylor – Chemistry – Henry C. Lea, 1867 – Page 576).
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(Emile Peynaud – Knowing And Making Wine – Wiley-IEEE, 1984 – Page 110).

At 35 degrees, the first 24 hours give 6% alcohol strength. At 10 degrees, the first 24 hours give roughly 2.025% alcohol strength. This is calculated using the formula: 16.2 / 8 = 2.025%. So we see here that the speed of fermentation is very slow at lower temperatures, and waterskins help give & retain cool temperatures. So, the wisdom of preparing Nabidh in waterskins is that it takes less time to become alcohol.

Since it wasn’t even fermented into the state of wine, he never drank wine. Science has established that the negative effects we get from alcohol & wine don’t exist, if the liquid isn’t fermented. The Arabic “nabiz” could mean both fermented and unfermented drink. What this critic has done is translated it as wine, but ignored other narrations which indicate it would be referring to other drinks.
Sahih Muslim, Book 23, Number 4990:
“Jabir reported that a person who was known as Abu Humaid brought for him (the Holy Prophet) a cup of milk from al-Naqi’. Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) said to him: Why did you not cover it even with a wood across it?”
Furthermore, Abu Humaid (the eyewitness) himself narrated a hadith in Sahih Muslim, Book 23, Number 4987 where it mentions milk. Notice this is referring to the same story. So this is one piece of evidence the Arabic word doesn’t specifically mean wine. Also:

Sahih Muslim, Book 23, Number 4952:
“‘Abdullah b. Buraida, on the authority of his father, reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: I had forbidden you from the preparation of Nabidh except in a waterskin. But now you may drink in all vessels, but do not drink what is intoxicant.”

Notice how this narration distinguishes intoxicants with Nabidh, which indicates the Arabic word doesn’t specifically refer to fermented drinks. Moreover, Muhsin Khan in Bukhari translates it in the following narration as:
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 59, Number 654:
“I said to Ibn ‘Abbas, “I have an earthenware pot containing Nabidh (i.e. water and dates or grapes) for me, and I drink of it while it is sweet. If I drink much of it and stay with the people for a long time, I get afraid that they may discover it (for I will appear as if I were drunk). Ibn ‘Abbas said, “A delegation of Abdul Qais came to Allah’s Apostle and he said, “Welcome, O people! Neither will you have disgrace nor will you regret.” They said, “O Allah’s Apostle! There are the Mudar pagans between you and us, so we cannot come to you except in the sacred Months. So please teach us some orders on acting upon which we will enter Paradise. Besides, we will preach that to our people who are behind us.” The Prophet said, “I order you to do four things and forbid you from four things (I order you): To believe in Allah…Do you know what is to believe in Allah? That is to testify that None has the right to be worshipped except Allah: (I order you also to offer prayers perfectly to pay Zakat; and to fast the month of Ramadan and to give the Khumus (i.e. one-fifth of the booty) (for Allah’s Sake). I forbid you from four other things (i.e. the wine that is prepared in) Ad-Dubba, An-Naquir, Az-Hantam and Al-Muzaffat. (See Hadith No. 50 Vol. 1).”

Not only is this another piece of evidence that the word’s meaning isn’t bound to ‘fermented drinks’, but it also shows that the Prophet made sure that the drink he drank did not wasn’t fermented. Moreover:

Sahih Muslim, Book 23, Number 4903:
“Abu Sa’id al-Khudri reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: He who amongst you drinks Nabidh should drink that (prepared either from) grapes alone, or from dates alone, or from unripe dates alone (and not by mixing them with one another). Isma’il b. Muslim al-‘Abadi reported on the authority of the same chain of transmitters: Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) prohibited us that we should mix dry dates with unripe dates or (mix) grapes with dry dates (and prepare Nabidh). He also said: He who amongst you drinks-the rest of the hadith is the same.”

A narration (Number 4895) of Sahih Muslim says that wine comes from vine and date palms. The above narration informs us that Nabidh can include drinks that aren’t mixed together, which makes it evident that this Arabic word doesn’t only refer to fermented drinks. We also read:

“As far as the scope of prohibition of drinking is concerned, it is not confined to some specific forms of wine because the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) has extended the scope of Khamr to every intoxicant.” (Prof. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri – Legal Character Of Islamic Punishments – Minhaj-ul-Quran Publications, 1994 – Page 40).

They said:
“Narrated by Abdullah bin Masoud (May God be pleased with him):
He was with the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him on the night of the jinn when he asked him if he had water. He answered that he had wine in a pot. Mohammed said: Pour me some to do ablution and he did. [The] Prophet peace be upon him [said]: “O Abdullah bin Masood it is a drink and a purifier.” Musnad Ahmad – Hadith #3594.”

Reply:
Based on this narration, they claim the Prophet did ablution with wine. Firstly, is this narration even sahih? It’s not.

إسناده ضعيف
“Its chain is weak.” (Declared By Sheikh Arna’oot, #3782 – Source)

“It is da’if.” (Ath-Dhahabi – Tankeeh At-Tahqeeq 1/19).

It’s weak, because we have the problem of a narrator named Ibn Luhay’ah in the chain.

تفرد به ابن لهيعة وهو ضعيف الحدي
“Ibn Luhay’ah was alone in narrating this, and he is weak.” (Sunan Ad-Daraqutni, #240 – Source. Daraqutni also mentions this narration’s weaknesshere).

More has been written against the authenticity of this narrator:

“Abd-Allah ibn Luhay’ah is da’eef (weak) in terms of his memory too.” (Islam-QA – Source).

“There is weakness of Ibn Lahi’ah.” (Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani – Taqrib Al-Tahdhib).

“Ibn Lahi’ah was weak.” (Ibn Khaldun cited Tabarani In – The Muqaddimah: An Introduction To History, Volume 1 – Princeton University Press, 1958 – Page 181).

“Ibn Lahi ah, whom the majority of hadith scholars consider to be weak.” (Association of Muslim Social Scientists – The American Journal Of Islamic Social Sciences: Volume 23 – International Institute Of Islamic Thought, 2006 – Page 6).

Even more has been written regarding the weakness of this narrator here and here. Additionally, this narration’s content and chain is also found in other books of hadith collections, which hadith scholars unanimously class as weak (see here). Moreover, this hadith has been narrated by Ibn Masood, but transmitted via a another chain. However, this chain is weak, because Abu Zaid al-Qurashi is unknown. (Source1, Source2, Source3, Source4).

Additionally, commenting on Abu Zaid, Sheikh Albani writes:

أبو زيد رجل مجهول عند أهل الحديث لا يعرف له رواية غير هذا الحديث
“Abu Zaid is an unknown man, and scholars of hadith don’t know his details from hadiths.” (Source, #120. Tirmidhi agrees also – Source).

وقال البخاري : أبو زيد رجل مجهول، لا يعرف بصحبة عبد الله
“Al-Bukhari said: Abu Zaid is an unknown man, wasn’t known to have accompanied Abdullah.” (Source. Ibn Haban mentions it’s weakness too).

قال الهيثمى : فيه أبو زيد مولى عمرو بن حريث وهو مجهول
“Al-Haythami said: the freed slave Abu Zaid bin Amr Hurayth is unknown.” (Cited In: Suyuti’s: Jami Al-Ahadith, #11404 – Source).

Also, notice how the Musnad Ahmad hadith says that he (Abdullah bin Masood) was with the Prophet during the night of the jinn (which would refer to the Mi’raj). However, he never accompanied him at that time.

قال الدارقطني : وقيل إن ابن مسعود لم يشهد مع النبي – صلى الله عليه وسلم – ليلة الج

“Daraqutni said: It was said that Ibn Masood did not witness with the Prophet – peace be upon him – at the night of the jinn.” (Daraqutni cited in Tafsir Al-Qurtubi – Source).

So, these chains of narrations are not authentic and cannot be used as evidence.
Secondly, even it was authentic, the Arabic word doesn’t strictly refer to fermented drink. It could also refer to an unfermented drink. The critics attempt to refute this by providing lexicons on the Arabic “nabiz” which show it means wine. They fail to realize that back then when the Arabic was more pristine and pure, the term “wine” wasn’t the only way it was understood. This is why he need to consult classical lexicons. The critics even show us from a classical lexicon that the word doesn’t specifically refer to a fermented drink:
“Entabaztuhu (the past tense from entabaza) …… taken as nabeezen whether it is intoxicant or not, it is called nabeezen and alkhamr (strong drink) squeezed from vine is called nabeez and the nabeez is called khamr (strong drink)” (Lisan Al-Arab).

Here’s the part of Lisan Al-Arab the critic did not translate:
Nabeeth is any drink that is made from dates, or grapes, or honey, or wheat, or barley, or other than that. And it is called Nabeeth whether it is intoxicating OR NOT.” (Lisan Al-Arab – Source).
أنه نبيذ لم يشتد
“It’s Nabith that hasn’t become intoxicated.” (Imam Nawawi: Commentary Of Sahih Muslim – Source).

“According to them “nabiz” meant fruit juice in which dates, dried raisins, etc are added in order to sweeten and that is drunk before it forms foams and becomes intoxicant.” (Source).

“What is Nabidh? It is a drink made of grapes; it is an Arab grape-juice. Since when is grape-juice Haram? After Umar left alcohol, he took up grape-juice as his favorite drink. As even a half-wit knows, wine is made by fermented grapes. Fermentation means that the drink is left out for so long that it grows yeast and thereby becomes toxic. Therefore, the conclusion we reach is that grape-juice is Halal but if it becomes fermented, then it becomes Haram. Thus, Nabidh is Halal if it hasn’t fermented. We can find the following fatwa on Al-Islam.com which says quite clearly: “Permissibility of Nabidh which is not ripe nor becomes intoxicant” (http://hadith.al-islam.com/Bayan/tree.asp?Lang=eng&ID=712).” (Source).

“An unfermented liquor, called nabidh like other palm-liquors, and made by letting water poured on fresh dates stand overnight, has been drunk since the time of Muhammad.” (Western Arabia And The Red Sea – Naval Intelligence Division, 1946 – Page 489).

A learned Mufti writes:

“It is incorrect to translate Nabeez as wine. The correct translation of nabeez is that drink which has been sweetened by putting dates, grapes or honey (flavoured water with these items) in it but has not reached the stage where it is fermented and becomes an intoxicant. (Al ta’reefaatul Fiqhiyah pg 225).” (Source).

“Nabidh: (النبيذ) Water in which dates or grapes etc., are soaked and left overnight and is not yet fermented. It is lawful. But it begins to ferment as the time passes, effervescence and bubbling appear and it turns out to be intoxicating and becomes unlawful.” (Nasiruddin Al-Khattab – English Translation Of Sunan Nasai – Darussalam, 2007 – Volume 6 – Page 452).

There are various narrations which prohibit intoxications, and some examples include:
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 43, Number 655:
“Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, “When an adulterer commits illegal sexual intercourse, then he is not a believer at the time, he is doing it, and when a drinker of an alcoholic liquor drinks it, then he is not a believer at the time of drinking it, and when a thief steals, then he is not a believer at the time of stealing, and when a robber robs, and the people look at him, then he is not a believer at the time of doing robbery.”

Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 34, Number 429:
“Narrated Aisha: When the last Verses of Surat al- Baqara were revealed, the Prophet recited them in the mosque and proclaimed the trade of alcohol as illegal.”

الراوي ابن عمر : قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسل : لعنت الخمرة على عشرة وجوه لعنت الخمر بعينها وشاربها وساقيها وبائعها ومبتاعها وعاصرها ومعتصرها وحاملها والمحمولة إليه وآكل ثمنها

“Narrated Umar: The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: Allah cursed ten people connected to alcohol: the wine-presser, the one who has it pressed, the one who drinks it, the one who conveys it, the one to whom it is conveyed, the one who serves it, the one who sells it, the one who benefits from the price paid for it, the one who buys it, and the one for whom it is bought.” (Musnad Ahmad, #4787 – Isnad Declared Hasan By Sheikh Arna’oot – Source & Sahih By Ahmed Shakir –Source. Also narrated by Ibn Abbas (with similar wording) – Isnad Connected & Trusworthy – Declared By Al-Hakim In: Mustadrak ‘Ala Al-Sahihayn, #7311 – Source & Declared Sahih By Imam Mundhiri In: Targhib Wa-Al-Tarhib, 3/247 – Source).

Sahih Muslim, Book 23, Number 4956:
“‘A’isha reported: Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) was asked about Bit, whereupon he said: Every drink that causes intoxication is forbidden.”
Sahih Muslim, Book 23, Number 4966:
“Nafi’ reported Ibn ‘Umar as saying: I do not know this but from Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him) who said: Every intoxicant is Khamr and every Khamr is forbidden.”


الراوي سعد بن أبي وقاص : أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال : أنهاكم عن قليل ما أسكر كثيره

“Narrated Sa’d Bin Abu Waqqas: The Prophet (SAW) said: Prohibited is liquor what intoxicates in small and large amounts.” (Sunan Ad-Darami, #2099 & Sunan Al-Nasai Al-Sughra, #5543 – Declared Sahih By Nasai – Source. Also Declared Sahih By Ibn Hajar In: Matalib Al-‘Aliyah, 2/253 – Source).

الراوي عائشة : سمعت رسول الله صلى اللَّه عليه وسلم يقول : كل مسكر حرام وما أسكر منه الفرق فملء الكف منه حرام

“Narrated Aisha: I heard the Messenger of Allah (SAW) say: All intoxicants are haram, of whatever thing in large quantity intoxicates; even in small quantity is haram.” (Isnad Declared Hasan By Abu Yala In: Musnad Abi Ya’la Al-Mawsili, #4297 – Source. Also In Musnad Ahmad, #25036 – Declared Sahih By Sheikh Arna’oot – Source. Also Declared Hasan By Bayhaqi In: Sunan Al-Kubra Lil-Bayhaqi, #16001 – Source).

الراوي: أبو هريرة : أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال : من شرب الخمر فاجلدوه ثم إذا شرب فاجلدوه ثم إذا شرب فاجلدوه ثم إذا شرب في الرابعة فاقتلوه

“Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet of Allah (SAW) said: If one drinks alcohol, flog him, if he repeats it, flog him again, if he does it again, flog him again, but if he repeats it the fourth time, kill him.” (Musnad Ahmad, #7748 – Isnad Declared Sahih On Conditions Of Muslim By: Sheikh Arna’oot – Source & Al-Wadi’i In: As-Sahih Musnad, #1266 – Source).

عن ابن عباس ، رضي الله عنهما قال : قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم : اجتنبوا الخمر فإنها مفتاح كل شر

“Ibn Abbas (Radi-Allahu Anhu) said: The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: Shun alcohol. It is the key to all evils.” (Declared Sahih By Al-Hakim In: Mustadrak ‘Ala Al-Sahihayn, #7313 – Source. Also narrated by Abu Darda (with similar wording) In: Ibn Majah – Declared Hasan By Imam Suyuti & Sahih By Sheikh Albani – Source).

أخرجه علي بن أبي طالب المحدث : قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسل : أشهد بالله وأشهد لله, لقد قال لي جبريل عليه السلام : يا محمد ! إن مدمن الخمر كعابد الأوثان

“Narrated Ali bin Abi Talib: The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: “I bear witness in Allah, I bear witness in Allah that Jibril (pbuh) said to me: “Oh Muhammad! One addicted to alcohol is like an idol worshipper.” (Declared Sahih By Abu Nuaym In: Fawa’id Al-Jalilah Fi Musalsalat Ibn ‘Aqilah, #35 – Source & Tahdhib Hilyat Al-Awliya, 3/237 & Declared Sahih By Suyuti In: Jami ‘Al-Saghir, #1074 – Source).

أخرجه علي بن أبي طالب المحدث : قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسل : أشهد بالله وأشهد لله, لقد قال لي جبريل عليه السلام : يا محمد ! إن مدمن الخمر كعابد الأوثان

“Narrated Ali bin Abi Talib: The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: “I bear witness in Allah, I bear witness in Allah that Jibril (pbuh) said to me: “Oh Muhammad! One addicted to alcohol is like an idol worshipper.” (Declared Sahih By Abu Nuaym In: Fawa’id Al-Jalilah Fi Musalsalat Ibn ‘Aqilah, #35 – Source & Tahdhib Hilyat Al-Awliya, 3/237 & Declared Sahih By Suyuti In: Jami ‘Al-Saghir, #1074 – Source).
There is a similar hadith as the one mention above with only the wordings: “One addicted to alcohol is like an idol worshipper.” There’s a dispute amongst the scholars regarding the narration’s authenticity (Source).

Moreover, we see from a narration that the Prophet threw away the drink after a certain point:

الراوي أبو هريرة : عَلِمْتُ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ كَانَ يَصُومُ فَتَحَيَّنْتُ فِطْرَهُ بِنَبِيذٍ صَنَعْتُهُ فِي دُبَّاءٍ ثُمَّ أَتَيْتُهُ بِهِ فَإِذَا هُوَ يَنِشُّ فَقَالَ اضْرِبْ بِهَذَا الْحَائِطِ فَإِنَّ هَذَا شَرَابُ مَنْ لَا يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ

“Narrated Abu Huraira: I knew that the Apostle of Allah (SAW) used to keep fast. I waited for the day when he did not fast to present him the drink (Nabith) which I made in a pumpkin. I then brought it to him while it fermented. He said: Throw it to this wall, for this is a drink of the one who does not believe in Allah and the Last Day.” (Sunan Abu Dawud, #3716 – Declared Sahih By Abu Dawud & Sheikh Albani – Source. Also narrated by Abu Musa – Declared Hasan By Ibn Hajar In: Matalib Al-‘Aliyah Bi-Zawa’id Al-Masanid Al-Thamaniyah, #1897 – Source & Trustworthy Chain Declared By Abu Taher Silafi In: Al-Khamisah Min Mashyakhah Al-Baghdadiyah, #572 – Source).

If the Prophet drank fermented drinks, we wouldn’t expect that he throw it away after a certain point. He did this to make sure that he didn’t take fermented drinks. There would be no reason in context with other narrations presented as to why he would dispose of it, except that he shunned fermented drinks & never drunk them, even if it wasn’t evident to him that it became fermented.

The critics then seemed to imply that in the Sahih Muslim hadith, the Arabic “khamr” means strong drinks according to lexicons. However, they fail to realize that this word doesn’t only have 1 meaning. It can also mean:
Sakhr Dictionary – 2006/2007 & Babylon Dictionary:
“veil.”
Lanes Lexicon – Volume 2 – Pages 443-446:
cover/conceal/ veil.”

Lane gives examples of the usage of the word:

Ibid:
“…and let them draw/set/cast (walyadribna) with their veils/covers (bikhumurihinna) over (AAala) their breasts/bosom (juyoobihinna)… [24:31] Lane gives some examples: “the dwelling was hidden by the trees”, “he concealed his testimony”, “She (a woman) applied KhaMaRat as a linament, to beautify her complexion.”.

“KhiMaR [A woman’s muffler, or veil with which she covers her head and the lower part of her face, leaving exposed only the eyes and part or whole of the nose, such is the KhMR worn in the present day: a kind of veil which in Turkish is called Yashmak] a woman’s head-covering.”

The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, Page 261:
to cover, hide, conceal.”

Wiktionary:
“to cover, to hide, to conceal.”

وَقَوْلُهُ : ( لَيْسَ مُخَمَّرًا ) أَيْ : لَيْسَ مُغَطًّى ، وَالتَّخْمِيرُ التَّغْطِيَةُ ، وَمِنْهُ الْخَمْرُ لِتَغْطِيَتِهَا عَلَى الْعَقْلِ ، وَخِمَارُ الْمَرْأَةِ لِتَغْطِيَتِهِ رَأْسَهَا
“With regards to the saying: (It is not Mukhammar) it means it is not covered. And Takhmeer means covering, the coverage of alcohol and a head covering for women.” (Imam Nawawi: Commentary Of Sahih Muslim – Source).

Lisan Al-Arab:
والتخمير التغطية يقال خمر وجهه وخمر إناءك
“Takhmeer is covering. It is said, ‘Cover your face.’ And ‘ Cover your pot.”

More examples here are given of when this Arabic word is used in the sense ‘to cover’. Even WikiIslam’s own translation of the narration is “covered.” Moreover, the context of the narration implies the correct translation is “cover” otherwise it would make no sense if he said: “Have you fermented it with a twig in a transverse manner.” The reason why this wouldn’t make sense, is because other narrations inform us why he wanted the drink covered:

Sahih Muslim, Book 23, Number 4991:
“Jabir reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Cover vessels, waterskins, close the doors and extinguish the lamps, for the Satan does not loosen the waterskin, does not open the door and does not uncover the vessels. And if one amongst you fails to find (something) to cover it well, he should cover it by placing (a piece of) wood across it. Qutaiba did not mention the closing of the doors in the hadith transmitted by him.”
Sahih Muslim, Book 23, Number 5000:
“Jabir b. ‘Abdullah reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Cover the vessels and tie the waterskin, for there is a night in a year when pestilence descends, and it does not pass an uncovered vessel or an untied waterskin but some of that pestilence descending into it.”
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 74, Number 310:
“Narrated Jabir bin ‘Abdullah: Allah’s Apostle said, “(At bedtime) cover the utensils, close the doors, and put out the lights, lest the evil creature (the rat) should pull away the wick and thus burn the people of the house.”

The chapter name in book 23 of Sahih Muslim in which the 2 above narrations are found is called:

“COMMAND PERTAINING TO THE COVERING OF VESSELS, AND TIGHTENING (THE MOUTHS) OF WATERSKINS, ETC.” (Source).

The following narration puts things into perspective combined with the Sahih Muslim hadith:
الراوي جابر بن عبد الله :أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال : أوكوا الأسقية ، وغلقوا الأبواب إذا رقدتم بالليل ، وخمروا الشراب والطعام ، فإن الشيطان يأتي فإن لم يجد الباب مغلقا دخله ، وإن لم يجد السقاء موكأ شرب منه ، وإن وجد الباب مغلقا والسقاء موكأ ، لم يحل وكأ ولم يفتح مغلقا ، وإن لم يجد أحدكم لإنائه ما يخمر به فليعرض عليه عود

“Narrated Jabir Bin Abdullah: The Prophet (SAW) said: Tie up your water skins and close your doors when you go to bed at night, and cover food and drink, for the devil comes, and if he does not find the door closed he will enter, and if he does not find the waterskin tied up he will drink from it, and if he finds the door closed and the waterskin tied up, he does not open any water skin and he does not open a closed door, and if one of you cannot find something to cover his vessel in which is his drink, let him a place a stick over it.” (Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah, #139 – Declared Sahih By Ibn Khuzaymah – Source. Also Declared Hasan By Sheikh Albani – Source & Ibn Hibban – Source & Sahih By Al-Hakim – Source).

So, the Sahih Muslim narration does not show the Prophet asking as to whether or not the drink was fermented. It shows that he asked as to whether or not the drink was covered, and the above narrations given evidently prove this and give the full context.

They then cite a scholar from Lisan al-Arab:
“Ibn alatheer said ……. It is meant the act of getting drunk so they make (he continues) what is prohibited is the act itself of getting into a state of drunkenness and not the drink itself, so they allow what is little of it which does not cause drunkenness, and what is famous is the first one.”

They said:
“We understand also that even scholars considered only what is taken from wine to be prohibited and others allowed drinking a little amount of it on condition that one should not get drunk as the strong drink (Alkhamr) in itself is not prohibited.”

Reply:
Can’t these critics read their own translation? Ibn Al-Atheer did not say one can have strong drink so long as you don’t get drunk. He said that which DOES NOT cause drunkenness. Let us read again:

“Ibn alatheer said ……. It is meant the act of getting drunk so they make (he continues) what is prohibited is the act itself of getting into a state of drunkenness and not the drink itself, so they allow what is little of it which DOES NOT CAUSE DRUNKENNESS, and what is famous is the first one.”
So what is allowed here is little of which does not cause one to get drunk, according to Ibn Al-Atheer. What drink would that be? It would be what we have already proved it to be: UNFERMENTED DRINKS. Notice the critic writes “others allowed drinking a little amount of it on condition that one should not get drunk as the strong drink (Alkhamr) in itself is not prohibited.”
Who are the “others?” All that was quoted as supposed evidence that one can drink a little alcohol if one does not get drunk was Ibn Al-Atheer (singular not plural), and even this was based on the critic’s misreading of what Ibn Al-Atheer said, according to their own translation.

They said:
“We notice also that the prohibition of al-khamr came later, 13 years from Muhammad’s message. That is to say it was lawful for Muhammad to drink al-khamr especially because the definition of al-khamr at that time was not decisive as we saw some considered the word “sakar” nabeez while others considered it khamr.”

Reply:
The prohibition didn’t come out of the blue 13 years later. It gradually came, until the last prohibition came in Surah 5:90-91. It was lawful before the prohibition of not getting drunk at salah (Surah 4:43). So, even if Prophet Muhammad did drink before this period, it would’ve have been back then, Islamically speaking. With that said, we have no proof the Prophet drank intoxicated drinks in his entire life. Commenting on the Prophet:

“He never worshipped an idol, never drank alcohol, never committed any offence and he was called among his people the “truthful and trustworthy.”” (Rabaa’ Al Taweel – Reality Of The Testimony Of No God But Allah & Mohammed Is The Messenger Of Allah – Browsed By: Shaikh Abdul Aziz Al Shaikh – King Fahd National Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data Al-Taweel, 2007 – Page 127).

They said:
“From the following hadith we see that Muhammad kept drinking from the same drink for three successive days while at the time there were no refrigerators to keep things in good condition. If it became rotten he poured it down:
حدثنا ‏ ‏مخلد بن خالد ‏ ‏حدثنا ‏ ‏أبو معاوية ‏ ‏عن ‏ ‏الأعمش ‏ ‏عن ‏ ‏أبي عمر يحيى البهراني ‏ ‏عن ‏ ‏ابن عباس ‏ ‏قال ‏
‏كان ‏ ‏ينبذ ‏ ‏للنبي ‏ ‏صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ ‏الزبيب فيشربه اليوم والغد وبعد الغد إلى مساء الثالثة ثم يأمر به ‏ ‏فيسقى الخدم أو ‏ ‏يهراق

Sunan Abi Dawood, drinks, quality of al-Nabeez no. 3226 (Arabic version)

Translation: Raisin was younbaz (prepared to be nabeez) and he drank it, the same day, the following day and the day after till the evening of the third day. Then he commanded that the servants would drink from it or to be poured down.
In a hot country like Saudi Arabia, within three days the nabeez will be strong to some extent.”

Reply:
A hot country would speed the process up. Exactly! That is the whole reason the Prophet made it forbidden to prepare Nabidh in things like: green pitcher, varnished jar, etc, and is the reason why he prepared Nabidh in waterskins. As shown above, placing it in waterskins slows down the process of fermentation, because waterskins are used to ensure drinks maintain their cool temperatures. If the Prophet was interested in fermented Nabidh, why would he not only forbid other preparation methods, but endorse a method which takes long to ferment drinks? It’s obvious here that he did not drink alcohol, nor desired to.
Secondly, the Prophet did not wait for it to become rotten to pour it down. He (in advance) poured it down, in fear that it might have fermented, even if it wasn’t evident to him. This has already been discussed above. Moreover, commenting on a very similar hadith on the authority of Ibn Abbas found in Sunan Nasai, we read:

“‘(He) used to drink it’ provided the danger of intoxication had not had occurred. When there was danger of intoxication, it was poured out.” (Nasiruddin Al-Khattab – English Translation Of Sunan Nasai – Darussalam, 2007 – Commentary Of Hadith Number 5741 – Volume 6 – Page 373).

So, we CHALLANGE the WikiIslam critics to prove that the Prophet threw away the drink, after it merely became rotten.

They said:
“In another hadith we find that Muhammad himself drank the strong nabeez but after he broke it with water which means that it is not the material itself that matters but the states of getting drunk:
عن أبي مسعود قال : عطش النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم وهو يطوف فأتي بنبيذ من السقاية فقطب , فقيل : أحرام هو ؟ قال لا : علي بذنوب من ماء زمزم , فصب عليه وشرب ”
[1]

Translation: Narrated by Abi Masoud, he said: The prophet PBUH got thirsty while he was doing tawaf (walking around the Black Stone), so he was given some nabeez from the al-Sekaa (pot made from skin) but he frowned and was asked: was it prohibited (haram)? He said No, fetch some zamzam water and he poured on it and drank.
There are many other hadiths that prove that Muhammad commanded people to break the strong drink with water.”

Reply:
Firstly, they must prove from this narration that the drink was fermented. Secondly, these critics might ignorantly claim that this narration is in Bukhari, but the translators were too scared to translate this. In reality, this is not the case. This narration was collected by Bukhari, but he did not include in in is Sahih collection. The reason why is because it is a weak hadith according to Bukhari, Abu Zarah Al-Razi, Daaraqutni, Ibn Hajar, Bayhaqi and others. (Source).

We have problems with a certain narrator named Yahya bin Yahman. This is what Bukhari himself said about this narrator:

حديث ضعيف لأن يحيى بن يمان انفرد به دون أصحاب سفيان وهو سيء الحفظ كثير الخطأ

“Da’eef hadeeth because Yahya ibn Yahman narrated mistakes about Sufyan, and had a bad memory and made errors.” (Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Hanafi Zayla’i – Nasb Al-Rayah Takhrij Ahadith – Source).

“Yahya ibn Yaman was weak.” (Mizanul I’tidal – cited here).

“Yahya Ibn Yaman, of whom Ibn Hajr says: “He was a righteous man, but they (i.e. the scholars of Hadeeth) are agreed that he used to make many mistakes, especially in the Hadeeth of (Sufyan) Ath-Thawri.” (Muhammad Ibn ‘Abd Al-Wahhab – Mukhtasar Zad Al-Ma’ad – Darussalam, 2003 – Page 196).
“Yahya bin Yaman is weak.” (Sheikh Albani – Silsilah Hadith Daif: Volume 2 – Gema Insani, 1997 – Page 72).

Commenting on this hadith:

إسناد شديد الضعف فيه راو مجهول في موضع التعليق
“Isnad is very weak as there’s an anonymous narrator and it’s fabricated.” (Ibn Qutaybah – Kitab Al-Ashribah, #9 – Source).

The same narration is found in Sunan Nasai, #5706, which has been declared as weak by hadith scholar: Nasiruddin Al-Khattab (Nasiruddin Al-Khattab – English Translation Of Sunan Nasai – Darussalam, 2007 – Volume 6 – Page 360).

To add, Imam Al-Nasai who collected this narration himself stated that the hadith is weak (Source. Also see: As-Sunan Al-Kubra An-Nasai, #5212 – Source). Sheikh Albani also declared it weak (Sahih Wa Da’if Sunan An-Nasai, #5703 – Source). Likewise, Ibn Hajar has pointed to the weakness of the narration (Fathul Bari – Volume 3 – Page 67 – Source). Imam Al-Bayhaqi has likewise pointed to the weakness of this hadith and to the narrators (Sunan Al-Kubra Lil-Bayhaqi, #17896 – Source). More has been written against this hadith’s authenticity here, here and here.

Even if the narration was authentic and deemed acceptable by hadith scholars, as reiterated before: the Arabic word used in this hadith (Nabidh) can refer to unfermented drink. Hence, it would fail to prove that the Prophet drank fermented drinks. The ignoramus critics at WikiIslam then claim that all narrations they used in their article are sahih. We CHALLENGE them to academically adduce that the Musnad Ahmad narration and the one given above is sahih, giving reasons as to why we should accept it’s authenticity. Reasons have been given above to reject the authenticity of the 2 narrations.

They said:
“In this case the entire section of hadith “Drinking wine and fermenting the container” has been omitted from English hadith collections.”

Reply:
There is NO SUCH SECTION which mentions the above exact wording in Arabic. We CHALLENGE these bigots to provide us the Arabic text from Sahih Muslim.
To conclude, these greenhorn critics need to do much more studying before attempting to promulgate their preconceived propaganda.

 

SOURCE: https://dawatetowheed.wordpress.com/2016/01/12/rebuttal-to-wikiislam-muhammad-drank-wine-and-performed-ablution-with-it/

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