First a clarification. I have seen so many threads on Muslims here which purport to ask an innocent question but in reality have an anti-Muslim agenda. This is not one of those.
As many Christians are rather lax about living by the precepts of the gospels I wondered how Muslims compared. It’s always seemed to me that Muslims are very conscientious about adhering to the code of conduct laid down by Mohammed in the Koran (perhaps more so than Christians to their code?) I do note though that abstinence from alcohol is not one of the Five Pillars of the faith.
So what I’m asking is, does the abstinence rule come from the Koran or later teachings? Does it tend to be observed more strictly by Sunnis or Shia or is it found most in the more extreme versions of Islam such as Wahhabism?
And finally is it possible to estimate roughly what percentage of Muslims worldwide conform to the rule of abstinence?
Not a Muslim myself. I don’t have numbers, just a few unsourced anecdotes:
The correct meaning of the prohibition is unclear, and thus, interpreted differently in many branches of Islam. The sentence is Kull kürum (approx.) which means “all that makes drunk is forbidden”. Common interpretation is that this refers to alcohol. Some say that drugs like Marijuana are not meant, only alcohol. Others say that all drugs and alcohol are meant. Some say that if a glass of red wine is necessary for the health of your heart, it’s allowed.
The story I’ve read as to the background is that the prophet went past a house and heard the noise of revelry. He asked “why are the people there so happy” and was told “that’s because of wine, which makes people happy”. The prophet said “If that’s the case, praise to Allah who made wine which makes people happy.” Early next morning, he passed the house again, and heard groaning noises. He inquired “Why are the people clutching their heads and looking woebegone” and was told “That’s the aftereffect of wine”, so the prophet said “If alcohol makes people that unhappy, cursed be it”.
Some interpret this background story that alcohol in small amounts is allowed - as long as you don’t get drunk.
Finally, a lot of what “Muslims” practice is much less about belief, and more simply cultural in that region. In areas where Christians and Muslims live together, like Egypt or India, they often have the same customs, eating habits and so on. Or only one habit is used intentionally as difference , regardless of how important it might be theologically.
I do not have a factual answer, and I doubt whether you can get a factual answer. My doubt is illustrated by the following parable. There was once a survey of teenage boys, and the results showed two things: 1) 10% of teenage boys masturbate 2) 90% of teenage boys lie in surveys.
Consumption of alcohol is frowned upon by Islam and in some (most?) Islamic cultures it is forbidden. However, some people will drink privately even if they won’t be seen drinking in public. Therefore I doubt you would get Muslims to freely admit in a survey that they drink if their culture forbids it. I don’t know how you would make such an estimate unless you looked at large-group behavior, like alcohol sales in Muslim-majority areas, rather than surveys of individuals.
My wife is an Egyptian Muslim and her friends and family in the U.S. drink alcohol (as do we). Some of the older generation do not. This is more a reflection of the culture they grew up in rather than religious beliefs. In Egypt, alcohol is freely available but generally it is the tourists who drink. We have an older friend who has a beer if we go out for dinner in the U.S. But in his home in Egypt, he once said, “I would offer you a beer but the owner won’t allow it in the house.” I realized he was talking about his wife I have not visited other Muslim countries, but I have heard stories that although drinking is strictly forbidden in Saudi Arabia, the rich royals can drink with the best of them at their parties. I once talked to an Egyptian doctor (a Copt, not a Muslim) who worked for Aramco in a Saudi compound. They were not allowed to import alcohol, though they were able to operated a still inside the compound to make their own hooch.
There are bar areas for Muslims in Bangkok, tucked away mostly in the Muslim enclaves. Anecdotal evidence shows quite a few Muslim men go hog wild once they get out from under the watchful eye of the authorities back home.
I recall one Muslim-owned bar being bombed in 1989, the result of not a religious dispute but a business conflict. I was visiting a friend in the hospital and heard the explosion myself. Not too close by either, so the blast was rather large. IIRC, the one fatality was a Muslim patron who had recently arrived for a vacation.
I have no idea and I suspect few others do either. That said, I would hazard a guess: I would not be surprised if the percentage is approximately the same as that of drinking Mormons in the U.S. That’s not intended to be a value judgement about Muslims or Mormons - just a statement about human nature.
Rather like asking what percentage of Christians abstain from eating meat on Fridays in Lent.
Officially, they all do. In actuality, I bet it’s less than half.
But I doube that there is any accurate, reliable answer to either question.
What’s the difference between <religionA> and <religionB>? <ReligionA> will say hello to you at the liquor store!
Why do you bring two of <religionX> with you when you go fishing? Because if you only bring one, they’ll drink all your beer!
I’m here all week, and try the fish (since it’s lent! har har)
I’ve also heard that about Jews and abstaining from pork/shellfish.
There was an episode of “The Nanny” where the Fran Drescher (both in-show and in-real life a Jew) makes a remark that all Jews abstain from shellfish, unless of course it’s being offered for free at a party and then they finds ways to sneak some bites in.
As another data point, the country with the most Muslims in the world is Indonesia. And I can tell you from my travels there that plenty of Indonesians drink.
US perceptions of Muslims tend to be skewed to the Middle East and Central Asia because they are the high profile areas for wars and terrorism. But perhaps correspondingly, they are also the countries that skew towards religion rather than secularism.
Actually, the largest Muslim nation by population is Indonesia, as coremelt says, and the top ten is:
Indonesia
India
Pakistan
Bangladesh
Nigeria
Egypt
Iran
Turkey
Algeria
Morocco
It’s hard to easily categorise the alcohol consumption of some of these countries because they are mixed; India is not majority Muslim, for example. But Indonesia and Turkey are nominally secular but overwhelmingly Muslim yet have substantial beer consumption. India is too mixed to say. Pakistan and Bangladesh are dry. Nigeria is also mixed but has very high consumption of beer, too much to be just the Xtians. Alcohol has an “open secret” status in Egypt, which has a long history of beer brewing and drinking. Iran is nominally dry but said to be the third highest alcohol consumer in the ME after Turkey and Lebanon. Alcohol is under pressure from religion in Algeria but nonetheless not uncommon. Morocco is similar.
In essence the position is probably roughly comparable to attitudes to alcohol and Prohibition across the US states in the early 20th C. Attitudes vary from state to state, roughly correlating to religiosity. Nationwide Prohibition was spearheaded by pious Protestants, who were a minority but applied focussed political pressure and probably won out because of a larger contingent who didn’t want to speak out against religious leaders or be seen to be ungodly, but who probably weren’t strongly against alcohol personally and frankly enjoyed a drink. My understanding is that the religious and political pressures in Iran, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and so on are very similar.
IME Muslims are no more or less pious than Christians. The variances in religiosity are greatest between the various cultures and sects, not between the religions. In other words moderate Christians and Muslims have far more in common in terms of degree of piety than they would have with extremist Christians and Muslims respectively.
Again from personal experience alcohol was freely available everywhere in Morocco when I was there. Tourist bars serve openly of course but there were also bars for Moroccans, unmarked and with no windows and very dark inside (so no one can see the people drinking inside, and in fact they can’t even see each other very well). It was very much shameful to be seen drinking, but nevertheless plenty of people did.
Thats contrasted to Indonesia where it didn’t seem such a big deal to be seen drinking for the locals.
IIRC, there are only 3-4 verses in the Qur’an that refer to alcohol.
At least one is neutral : it describes its intoxicating properties but does not prohibit consumption. Another describes it both as being a great sin but having some benefit yet that the “sinful” part exceeds the good. Still, it doesn’t openly prohibit drinking. The last one(s) clearly states that alcohol must be avoided.
Personal anecdotes : Muslims who want to drink will find a way to drink. When confronted, they may refer to the first two verses (it’s not good but it’s not forbidden). Those who don’t drink point out that the last one is an “Abrogating Verse” which was revealed later and clearly puts an end to tolerance of intoxicants.
Another personal observation : those who drink alcohol will perhaps eat non-halal meat, but they will refuse to eat pork. This leads me to think that the refusal to eat pork works at a more visceral level than consumption of alcohol or non-halal meat.
IIRC there are medical exceptions. I recall reading about one country’s sole legal distillery, which made ethanol for medications. What I don’t know is if that leads to use of “medicinal tonics” as enjoyed by my grandfather’s teetotaler coworkers in the 50s.
India is not a big drinking country and has very tough alcohol laws, including prohibition or semi-prohibition in some states and a drinking age of up to 30 (!) in some localitys. This has very little to do with Islam though. There is a strongly prohibitionist strain within both ancient and modern Hinduism as well, and much of the modern day Christian clergy in India frowns on alcohol as well.
Eastern Orthodox have much tougher fasting rules than Catholics, by a long way.
No fish, meat or dairy during Lent at all (or on Fridays & Wednesdays during Advent and two other fasting periods during the year).
I believe the Ethiopian Orthodox have even more stringent rules than the Eastern Orthodox such that more than half the days in the year are fasting days of some sort.
Among Muslim countries, some like the former Soviet -stans have rather high rates (most rather secularized countries). Many have low, but non-zero limits. For countries like Lebanon, Bosnia, or Nigeria, it does not tell you who is doing the drinking, but the Muslims in at least the first two are more like their Christian neighbors than they are Muslims in other countries. Some like Iran and Mauritania have insufficient data for some of the answers; it’s not zero but very low.
As a matter of terminology, there’s a distinction (at least in Catholicism) between fasting and abstinence. Days when you don’t eat specified foods such as meat are abstinence days rather than fast days.
I have not visited other Muslim countries, but I have heard stories that although drinking is strictly forbidden in Saudi Arabia, the rich royals can drink with the best of them at their parties. I once talked to an Egyptian doctor (a Copt, not a Muslim) who worked for Aramco in a Saudi compound. They were not allowed to import alcohol, though they were able to operated a still inside the compound to make their own hooch.