(219) “They ask you about intoxicants and gambling. Say, ‘In both there is great sin and benefits for people, but their sin is greater than their benefit.’”

That is, the believers ask you, O Messenger, about the rulings concerning intoxicants and gambling. Both were practiced during the Age of Ignorance and at the beginning of Islam, and some uncertainty seemingly arose concerning them. They therefore asked about their ruling. Allah Most High commanded His Prophet to explain their benefits and harms to them as a prelude to prohibiting them and making it obligatory to give them up.

He informed them that their sin and harms—and the consequences they produce, such as the loss of reason and wealth, hindrance from the remembrance of Allah and prayer, and enmity and hatred—are greater than the benefits they imagined them to have, such as profits earned by trading in intoxicants, winnings acquired through gambling, and the exhilaration they produced when indulged in. This explanation served to deter people from both, for a rational person gives precedence to that which has the greater benefit and avoids that whose harm predominates.

However, because they had grown accustomed to them and an immediate, categorical command to abandon them would have been difficult, He first presented this verse as a prelude to the prohibition mentioned in His words: “O you who believe, intoxicants, gambling, stone altars, and divining arrows are but defilement from Satan’s handiwork,” through to His words, “Will you then desist?” This was part of His gentleness, mercy, and wisdom. Thus, when that verse was revealed, Umar—may Allah be pleased with him—said, “We desist! We desist!”

As for khamr (intoxicants), it comprises every substance that intoxicates, overwhelms, and clouds the mind, whatever kind it may be. As for maysir (gambling), it comprises every contest in which both parties put up a stake, such as wagering on backgammon or chess, and every verbal or physical contest involving a stake (1), except horse races, camel races, and archery contests. These are permissible because they assist in jihād, and the Lawgiver has therefore permitted them.