grape wine at all; Medina had no grapevines, but only date palms, so their khamr was made from dates. When khamr was prohibited, they poured away those date-based drinks, knowing that they were forbidden khamr. This establishes that, in their usage, the word khamr was not restricted to grape juice. It makes no difference whether this was already its meaning in their language, so that it encompassed [other drinks] (1), or whether they understood its broader scope through the Messenger’s explanation (peace and blessings be upon him), for he explains what Allah intends. The Lawgiver uses language as people do in customary usage, sometimes employing a word more broadly than its linguistic meaning, and sometimes more narrowly.
Likewise, according to most scholars, the term maysir (gambling) encompasses playing backgammon and chess. It also encompasses sales involving uncertainty, which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited, because they involve the gambling that constitutes maysir. Gambling means that a person’s money is taken while he runs the risk of receiving nothing in return. Examples include buying a runaway slave, a straying camel, habal al-habala, and similar things that the buyer may or may not obtain. Accordingly, the term maysir in the Book of Allah Most High encompasses all of these. The authentic report in Sahīh Muslim states:
“The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade sales involving uncertainty.”
This encompasses every transaction involving such risk, including selling fruit before it shows signs of ripening, selling unborn animals in the womb, and other such transactions.
The same applies to the term ribā (usury), which encompasses every prohibited form of ribā