whose drinker is cursed, for the incident that prompted the Prophet’s all-inclusive wording must itself fall under that wording, and at that time there was no grape wine in Madinah at all.

Moreover, the Prophet ﷺ declared, “Allah has cursed the one who sells wine.” (1) Some of the Companions did sell wine, and when word of this reached ʿUmar—may Allah be pleased with him—he exclaimed, “May Allah fight so-and-so! Does he not know that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Allah cursed the Jews; fat was forbidden to them, yet they sold it and consumed its price’?” (2) The Companion in question had not known that selling it was unlawful, yet ʿUmar’s awareness of his ignorance did not stop him from spelling out the punishment for that sin, so that he and others would desist once they had learned the ruling.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ also cursed both the one who presses the grapes and the one for whom they are pressed. (3) Nevertheless, many jurists allow a man to press grapes for someone else even when he knows the latter intends to make wine from them.

Here, then, is an explicit text pronouncing a curse upon the presser, even while recognizing that the ruling is suspended for one who is excused by a valid impediment.