Appearance
Verse 43
It was mentioned under the verse, They ask you about in-toxicants and games of chance, ... (), that there are five different verses on the subject of intoxicants; if we put all of them side by side, it will appear that this verse (... do not go near prayer when you are intoxicated ...) was revealed after the verses, ... you obtain from them intoxication and goodly provision ... (); and, Say: ‘‘My Lord has only prohibited indecencies, those of them that are apparent as well as those that are concealed, and sin ...’’ (); but before the two remaining verses: They ask you about intoxicants and games of chance. Say: ‘‘In both of them there is a great sin and (some) profit for men; and their sin is greater than their profit.’’ (), and, O you who believe! intoxicants and games of chance and (sacrificing to) stones set up and (dividing by) arrows are only an abomination of Satan’s handiwork; shun it therefore, that you may be successful (). This was the last-revealed verse on this subject.
It may be possible in a way to arrange a different sequence for them: First , then , thereafter , fourth the verse under discussion, that is, , and lastly . This will drastically change the description of the final and firm prohibition of intoxicants. It would indicate that the verse forbade indecencies and sin in a vague manner, then came definitely forbidding intoxicants; yet the Muslims found excuses to violate that order, until they were clearly told not to pray while intoxicated; thereafter came the verse , forbidding it in all conditions. But if you ponder, you will appreciate that the former sequence is better and preferable to the latter—how can one justify this prohibition, limited to the prayer-time only, after the unambiguous and definite prohibition given in ? Therefore, this verse () must have been revealed before .
Of course, if you say that praying while intoxicated means here praying lazily and sluggishly (as has been interpreted in some coming traditions), then there is nothing to argue.
As for the positioning of this verse between the preceding and following ones, it should be treated as a parenthetical speech. Of course, there is another possibility which would explain such parenthetical insertions, examples of which are not so rare in the divine Book: It could be that some verses, of one context and closely related to one another, were gradually revealed during a few days time; but before the end of the series, something happened which necessitated the revelation of one or more unrelated verses; when the series concluded, those unrelated verses would fail in between like parenthesis; although in reality it would not be totally unrelated, would be like a side talk for removing possible misunderstanding or fulfilling an urgent need. Look for example at the following verses:
Nay! man is evidence against himself, though he puts forth his excuses. Do not move your tongue with it to make haste with it. Surely on Us is the collecting of it and the reciting of it. Therefore when We have recited it, then follow its recitation. Again on Us is the explaining of it. Nay! But you love the present life, and neglect the hereafter (). Look at the position of these verses.
In this background, there is no need to belabor finding some sort of connection for every verse with the preceding and following verses. Moreover, it is known that the Qur’an was revealed piecemeal, and there is no reason why there should be such connection, except in the chapters which were revealed all at once, or in those verses whose connection with one another is self-evident.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَقْرَبُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَأَنْتُمْ سُكَارَىٰ حَتَّىٰ تَعْلَمُوا مَا تَقُولُونَ وَلَا جُنُبًا إِلَّا عَابِرِي سَبِيلٍ حَتَّىٰ تَغْتَسِلُوا ۚ وَإِنْ كُنْتُمْ مَرْضَىٰ أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ أَوْ جَاءَ أَحَدٌ مِنْكُمْ مِنَ الْغَائِطِ أَوْ لَامَسْتُمُ النِّسَاءَ فَلَمْ تَجِدُوا مَاءً فَتَيَمَّمُوا صَعِيدًا طَيِّبًا فَامْسَحُوا بِوُجُوهِكُمْ وَأَيْدِيكُمْ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَفُوًّا غَفُورًا ٤٣
(4:43) O you who believe! do not go near prayer when you are intoxicated until you know (well) what you say, nor when you are in a state of major ritual impurity, unless (you are) travelling on the road—until you have washed yourselves; and if you are sick, or on a journey, or one of you come from the privy or you have touched the women, and you cannot find water, betake yourselves to clean earth, then wipe a part of your faces and your hands; surely Allah is Pardoning, Forgiving.
Prayer in this verse means mosque; that is why it goes on to prohibit entrance to those who are in a state of major ritual impurity. The question arises as to why the house of prayer has metaphorically been called ‘prayer’. The reply: It was necessary because of the clause, ‘‘until you know (well) what you say’’. Had God said, ‘do not go near mosque until you know what you say’, it would have appeared disjointed, or given some other unintended meaning. The real purpose is to make them appreciate that during prayer they stand before the Most High, the Most Great God and get the honor of addressing the Lord of the worlds; it is not proper for them to become intoxicated and lose their sense with the abomination of intoxicant, not knowing what they were speaking. This meaning was more relevant to ‘prayer’. But prayer is mostly offered in mosque with congregation, according to the system established by the Prophet; and also it was intended to describe the law about entry of a person in condition of major ritual impurity into mosque. Therefore, brevity demands this metaphorical use and style, as you see.
Accordingly, the words, ‘‘until you know (well) what you say’’, give the reason of prohibition of drinking liquor in a way the intoxication continues till beginning of prayer. In other words, We have forbidden you liquor in order that you may know what you are saying; but it is not the main purpose of the prohibition—it does not mean that do not start prayer until you know what you say, but if you know what you say you may drink.
... nor when you are in a state of major ritual impurity, unless (you are) travelling on the road ...: It will be explained under exegesis of the verse, O you who believe! when you rise up to prayer, wash your faces ... ().
Examining Narrations
- Muḥammad b. al-Fadl narrates from Abu al-Hasan about the words of God: do not go near prayer when you are intoxicated ..., that he said: ‘‘It was before liquor was prohibited.’’ (al-Tafsīr, al-ʿAyyāshī)
Author’s comments: This tradition must be taken to mean that the verse was revealed before the prohibition of liquor was clearly expounded. Otherwise, it will go against the Qur’an. The 33rd verse of the seventh chapter had clearly forbidden sin which includes intoxicants; and the 219th verse of the second chapter explicitly says that there is great sin in liquor. It means that liquor was forbidden in Mecca before the hijrah, because the seventh chapter is of Meccan period [and the second chapter was the first one revealed at Medina], and everyone knows that the verse under discussion was revealed at Medina [after the second chapter].
There are several other traditions through Sunnī chains saying that this verse was revealed before the prohibition of liquor. May be all such traditions take the word intoxicated to mean lethargic.
- Zurārah narrates from Abū Jaʿfar that he said: ‘‘Do not stand for prayer sluggishly, sleepily or sullenly, because it is a trait of hypocrisy; surely God has forbidden the believers to stand for prayer while intoxicated—that is, from sleep.’’ (ibid.)
Author’s comments: The assertion that it is a trait of hypocrisy is based on the opening clause, O you who believe!; thus anyone disregarding this order is a hypocrite, not a believer. The phrase, ‘that is, from sleep’: May be it is an explanatory note of the narrator; or the wording of the Imām himself. In the latter case it will be an exposition of the inner meaning of the Qur’an, or even the apparent one.
- There are other traditions interpreting the intoxication as sleepiness. al-ʿAyyāshī has narrated two such traditions in his al-Tafsīr; and al-Kulaynī has reported it in his al-Kāfī through Zayd al-Shahhām from al-Sādiq, and through Zurārah from al-Bāqir. Also al-Bukhārī has narrated in his al-Sahīh through Anas from the Messenger of God.