The Quran

219

Preface

۞ يَسأَلونَكَ عَنِ الخَمرِ وَالمَيسِرِ ۖ قُل فيهِما إِثمٌ كَبيرٌ وَمَنافِعُ لِلنّاسِ وَإِثمُهُما أَكبَرُ مِن نَفعِهِما ۗ وَيَسأَلونَكَ ماذا يُنفِقونَ قُلِ العَفوَ ۗ كَذٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمُ الآياتِ لَعَلَّكُم تَتَفَكَّرونَ

Yusuf Ali

They ask thee concerning wine¹ and gambling². Say: “In them is great sin, and some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit.” They ask thee how much they are to spend; Say: “What is beyond³ your needs.” Thus doth God Make clear to you His Signs: In order that ye may consider-

Wine: Khamr. literally understood to mean the fermented juice of the grape; applied by analogy to all fermented liquor, and by further analogy to any intoxicating liquor or drug. There may possibly be some benefit in it, but the harm is greater than the benefit, especially if we look at it from a social as well as an individual point of view. (Cf. 5:90-91).
Gambling: maysir. literally, a means of getting something too easily, getting a profit without working for it; hence gambling. That is the principle on which gambling is prohibited. The form most familiar to the Arabs was gambling by casting lots by means of arrows, on the principle of a lottery: the arrows were marked and served the same purpose as a modern lottery ticket. Something, e.g., the carcass of a slaughtered animal, was divided into unequal parts. The marked arrows were drawn from a bag. Some were blank and those who drew them got nothing. Others indicated prizes, which were big or small. Whether you got a big share or a small share, or nothing, depended on pure luck, unless there was fraud also on the part of some persons concerned. The principle on which the objection is based is: that, even if there is no fraud, you gain what you have not earned, or lose on a mere chance. Dice and wagering are rightly held to be within the definition of gambling. (R).
Hoarding is no use either to ourselves, or to any one else. We should use the wealth we need; any superfluities we must spend in good works or in charity.