you mean the former, it is disproved by tested facts upon which nations agree and which many people regard as self-evident. Indeed, it denies what is directly observed and witnessed.

It has even been said that this contradicts the Quran, for the Most High says:

“Say, ‘In both there is great sin and benefits for people.’”

Perhaps this is clearer in the case of wine than any of the familiar claims concerning bodily health. If, on the other hand, you mean that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, declared it a disease of souls, hearts, and minds—and it is the mother of all evils—then bear in mind that the soul and heart constitute the sovereign whose soundness and perfection are sought. The body is merely its instrument, following and obeying it as the angels obey their Lord. When the heart is sound, the whole body is sound; when the heart is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt. Wine is thus a disease and sickness of the heart, corrupting it and undermining its finest qualities: reason and knowledge. When the heart is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt, as the Sunnah teaches. In this respect, wine becomes a disease of the body because it is a disease of the heart. The same applies to all wealth seized unlawfully or stolen: the body may thrive, grow, and put on flesh through it, but the heart is corrupted by it, and the body is corrupted through the heart’s corruption.

As for the benefit wine contains, it benefits only the body, and that benefit is but a little enjoyment. Even if it improves some minor thing, that improvement amounts to nothing beside the corruption it causes. This is precisely the meaning of the Most High’s words:

“In both there is great sin and benefits for people, but their sin is greater than their benefit.”

Such, by my life, is the case with all forbidden things, for they contain