and indeed, khamr comes from honey, khamr comes from wheat, and khamr comes from barley.” (1) It is thus established that khamr is not confined to what is made from grapes or fresh dates.
Abu al-Hasan al-Sarakhsi informed us; Zahir ibn Ahmad informed us; Abu Ishaq al-Hashimi informed us; Abu Mus'ab informed us, from Malik, from Ibn Shihab, from al-Sa'ib ibn Yazid, who told him that Umar ibn al-Khattab came out to the people and said, “I have detected the smell of drink on so-and-so, and he claims that he drank tila'. I shall inquire into what he drank; if it intoxicates, I will flog him.” Umar then gave him the full prescribed flogging. (2)
What is reported from Umar, Abu Ubaydah, and Mu'adh concerning tila' refers to that which has been cooked until it no longer intoxicates. Ibn Abbas was asked about bādhiq, and he replied, “Muhammad came before bādhiq: whatever intoxicates is forbidden.” (3)
Allah's saying, “and gambling”: that is, wagering. Ibn Abbas said: In the pre-Islamic period, a man would wager his family and his wealth against another man; whichever of the two defeated his companion would take his family and wealth. So Allah Most High revealed this verse.
The word maysir is derived from their expression, “A thing became due to me,” meaning that it became incumbent; it is said: yasara, yaysiru, yasran, and maysiran. Thereafter, gambling came to be called maysir, and a gambler was called a yāsir or yasir.
Originally, maysir concerned a camel: affluent Arabs would buy a camel, slaughter it, and divide it into ten portions. They would then draw lots for it with ten lot-arrows, called azlam and aqlam. Seven of them carried shares: al-Fadhdh, with one share; al-Taw'am, with two shares; al-Raqib, with three shares; al-Hils, with four; al-Nafis, with five; al-Musbil, with six; and al-Mu'alla, with seven. Three of them carried no shares: al-Manih, al-Safih, and al-Waghd.
They would place the arrows in a bag called the rubabah and put it in the hands of a man whom they considered upright, called the mujil or the mufid. He would shuffle them and draw an arrow in the name of one of them. Whoever's allotted arrow emerged would take his portion according to the share that came out. But if one of the three arrows that had no shares came out for him, he would receive nothing and bear the entire price of the camel.
Others said that he would neither receive anything nor bear any cost; that arrow would simply be disregarded. They would then give that camel to the poor, without eating any of it themselves. They would boast of doing this and disparage anyone who did not, calling him al-baram. This was the original form of gambling practiced by the Arabs.
What is intended by the verse, however, is every type of gambling. Tawus, Ata', and Mujahid said: “Everything that involves”