Woman and her True Faith

By habibkhan
March 31, 2015

Once Abu Baseer was in the company of Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (a) when a woman came there and asked the imam that,

“I have come here to ask a question. I am ill. Physicians in Iraq have suggested me to take liquor. Now I want to know what to do in such circumstances?”

The Imam asked to the women,

“Why don’t you drink liquor when the doctors have prescribed you?”

The women answered;

I shall obey what you say because i am your follower. If you permit me to drink it then I shall drink but if you don’t then I shall stay away from it. So that when Allah will ask me on the Day of Judgment then I shall respond that I followed the instructions of imam of the day.

True Faith:

Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (a) then turned to Abu Baseer and said:

“O Abu Baseer. Did you listen to what this woman has to say? Are you not moved by her faith? In spite of her illness, a woman is refraining from taking liquor without the Imam’s permission.”

The Imam then turned to the woman and said,

“By God, I do not permit you to drink. If you do so, you shall be sorry when your soul reaches your throat (that is at the time of death)”.

So saying the Imam pointed at her throat; and asked to the woman three times if she understood what he had said. The woman nodded her head.
One of the things which Islam has strongly forbidden is the taking of any intoxicating drink, like wine, beer. They are harmful to the mind and body. Under their influence one loses one’s senses and is apt to commit criminal acts. We heard of dangerous accidents and crimes committed because of these drinks.

Things Forbidden in Islam:

Even trading in liquor and sitting in bars where people are drinking are also forbidden in Islam so that there is no temptation in the way of people to taking them.
The Holy Qur’an says,

“O Believers, Intoxicants and games of chance, idols and divining arrows, are abominations devised by Satan. Avoid them, so that you may prosper. Satan desires to stir up enmity and hatred among you by means of intoxicants and gambling, and to keep you from the remembrance of Allah and from your prayers. Will you not abstain from them?” (Chapter 5, Verses 90, 91)

The above verses from the Qur’an warn us of the effects of drinking.The first Imam, Ali (a), said,

“Suppose a drop of liquor is put in a well and from its water a land is irrigated. Grass grows on the land and a sheep grazes there. That sheep then gets mixed in a flock of other sheep that have grazed elsewhere. If all the sheep are slaughtered making it difficult to identify the meat of the sheep who had grazed on a land which was irrigated from the water of the well, then I shall not eat any of that meat.”

Thus Imam Ali (a) has emphasized the evil of alcohol.
For the sake of our own mental, physical and spiritual welfare, we should always keep away from forbidden drinks.