يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّمَا ٱلْخَمْرُ وَٱلْمَيْسِرُ وَٱلْأَنصَابُ وَٱلْأَزْلَـٰمُ رِجْسٌۭ مِّنْ عَمَلِ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنِ فَٱجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ٩٠
Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Bahawa sesungguhnya arak, dan judi, dan pemujaan berhala, dan mengundi nasib dengan batang-batang anak panah, adalah (semuanya) kotor (keji) dari perbuatan Syaitan. Oleh itu hendaklah kamu menjauhinya supaya kamu berjaya
Alcohol = Haram. Everyone knows it. Even by the non-Muslims. But it wasn’t always Haram to begin with. There was a time when consumption of alcohol was a norm in a Muslim society. Not just any Muslim society, but the greatest of them all, the generation of sahabah RA. Yes, some of the sahabah drank alcohol. Some even drank till they were drunk. Then eventually, Surah Maidah ayat 90 was revealed, and alcohol was pronounced haram. That was around the year 6th of Hijrah.
You might be thinking, “What took it so long? Alcohol is obviously bad. Then why wait more than a decade to declare it as Haram?”
The prohibition of Alcohol in Islam is one of the most intriguing and unique lessons in the Quran. Cuz it didn’t happen in one go. Instead, the prohibition went through several stages until it reached its final verdict. It started with;
Stage One: Acknowledge the Good and Bad in Alcohol, but it’s more on the bad side. So, tidak digalakkan sgt ya.
Mereka bertanya kepadamu (Wahai Muhammad) mengenai arak dan judi. Katakanlah: “Pada keduanya ada dosa besar dan ada pula beberapa manfaat bagi manusia tetapi dosa keduanya lebih besar daripada manfaatnya (Al-Baqarah;219)
Stage Two: Ok lah, kalau still nak minum, at least jangan mabuk time solat
Wahai orang-orang yang beriman, janganlah kamu hampiri sembahyang (mengerjakannya) sedang kamu dalam keadaan mabuk, hingga kamu sedar dan mengetahui akan apa yang kamu katakan. (An-Nisa;43)
And finally, on around 6-7 of Hijrah, the final stage of prohibition occurred.
Stage Three: That’s enough! Alcohol is Haram. Cuz it’s from the work of the Devil.
رِجْسٌۭ مِّنْ عَمَلِ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنِ فَٱجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ
adalah (semuanya) kotor (keji) dari perbuatan Syaitan. Oleh itu hendaklah kamu menjauhinya supaya kamu berjaya.(Al-Maidah:90)
The next ayat continued by explaining the rationality for its prohibition and the harm that it could cause to a person, both socially and spiritually;
Sesungguhnya Syaitan itu hanyalah bermaksud mahu menimbulkan permusuhan dan kebencian di antara kamu dengan sebab arak dan judi, dan mahu memalingkan kamu daripada mengingati Allah dan daripada mengerjakan sembahyang. Oleh itu, mahukah kamu berhenti? (Al-Maidah: 91)
Even without this ayat, I think most of us would agree that alcohol is bad and Muslims shouldn’t drink it. Period. We’ve seen it with our own eyes, whether in real life or in movies. Where by getting drunk, a life was taken due to reckless driving, or a household is broken because someone said or did something they shouldn’t done. So there’s no doubt that alcohol is bad and to an extent, it can be the fuel that creates evil.
But the real question is, if it’s that bad, why did Ayat 90 of Surah Maidah took so long to be revealed? And add to the fact that these were the sahabah, the generation of “سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا ۖ ” (We hear and we obey) and “رَّضِىَ ٱللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا۟ عَنْهُ ۚ” (Allah is pleased with them and they with Him). So if Allah said it’s haram, surely the Sahabah would understand and obey, right? Then if that’s the case, sepatutnya dari awal lagi boleh diharamkan kan?
Or so we thought…..
Our mother, Saidatina Aisyah made an intriguing comment regarding the prohibition of alcohol. She said,
“If the first thing to be revealed was: ‘Do not drink alcoholic drinks.’ people would have said, لَقَالُوا لاَ نَدَعُ الْخَمْرَ أَبَدًا (We will never leave alcoholic drinks)” (Sahih al-Bukhari 4993)
Let that sink in for a while. You’re telling me that the best generation of Islam, who believed in Allah and his messenger beyond our comprehension. Who are ready to give up their wealth and even life for the sake of this deen. Yet for them, it took more than a decade and 2 prior ayat (2;219 & 4;43) regarding alcohol to eventually declare it as Haram. Why?
Cuz Allah is teaching us something profound about the nature of human beings, which is,
UNTUK MANUSIA BERUBAH, PERLUKAN MASA.
We have this very skewed and unrealistic approach when it comes to self-transformation (a.k.a Nak berubah), whether it’s ourselves or someone else. In this age of modernization, where everything is at the tip of our fingers. Sort of a “You want it? You got it” kind of way. Such as, if you want to buy something, go to shoppe. If you’re hungry, go to food panda. If you’re bored, go and watch Netflix. If you want answers, go to Chat-GPT. Almost everything and anything is accessible right there and then.
But unfortunately, not everything in life works that way. Not everything happens in a snap. Certainly not when it comes to self-transformation.
Kita ingat, nak berubah ni senang. Dengar penceramah menyeru “Berubahlah!!! (diiringi dgn backgroud musik yang sendu), or tgk video 1 minit influencer Tiktoker beri ayat2 healing, terus kita tersentap, and with a snap of a finger terus kita rasa diri dah berubah.
Nothing can be further from the truth. Cuz the fact is, Tu bukan berubah. Tu cuma RASA nak berubah. Completely 2 different things, yet for some, they’re the same. And guess which one most people are prone to? Yup, “Rasa nak berubah”, even though in reality. Tak berubah pun. Now why is that? The simple reason is, rasa nak berubah is way easier than actually taking the steps untuk berubah.
To change, we have to act. We must sacrifice the things we desire the most. We have to leave behind what we thought was true. Abandon our old self, in hopes of becoming newer versions of ourselves. The better one. Nothing about these are easy. That’s why most of us end up watching a 2 minute TikTok video or YouTube shorts from Mufti Menk, just to have that pad in the back, “Hey aku dah berubah”.
But most importantly, to change, we have to persevere. Cuz like it or not, changing needs time. It doesn’t happen overnight. Imagine the sahabah RA, the greatest generation of Islam, it took them more than a decade before Allah SWT eventually declared the prohibition of Alchohol. Even the sahabah RA needs time and has gone through several stages before eventually detaching themselves from the cultural addiction of drinking alcohol and abiding by Allah’s command. Thus, the same applies to us.
I’m sure that most of us want to change. We want to leave behind our bad habits and turn over a new leaf. We want to become better. A better man. A better student. A better parent. A better Muslim. But as we take the first few steps, we realize it’s not as easy as we thought. As we stumble upon obstacles and distractions here and there, the thought of throwing in the towel and giving up starts to emerge. Heck, sometimes we might even give in, failing to change yet again.
But here’s the thing that we usually forget. Changing is not solely about reaching the destination, it’s about staying on the path. The path of constant transformation. Just as we always said in our daily prayer,
ٱهْدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ ٦
Tunjukilah kami jalan yang lurus.
So it’s not about becoming the best version of ourselves. It’s about becoming the better version of ourselves, regardless of how long that might be.
Thus, if we fail to change. Then try again. What if we fail again? Then get up and try the second time, the third, the fourth….. It doesn’t matter how many times you fail to change, what matters is that you don’t give up. And slowly but surely you’ll reach your destination. Again, it’s not about the destination. It’s about the journey. It’s not about how drastic or quick one’s transformation occurs. It’s about the changes in the little things and istiqamah in doing it.
Rasulullah ﷺ bersabda:
“Amalan yang paling dicintai Allah adalah amalan yang berterusan (istiqamah) walaupun sedikit.” (HR. Al-Bukhari No. 6464)
In the end, know that with every effort and step that we’re taking to be closer to Allah SWT, the closer He is to us,
“Aku sesuai dengan prasangka hamba-Ku terhadap-Ku, dan Aku bersamanya ketika dia mengingat-Ku. Jika dia mengingat-Ku dalam dirinya, Aku pun mengingatnya dalam Diri-Ku. Jika dia mengingat-Ku di hadapan orang ramai, Aku pun akan mengingatnya di hadapan makhluk yang lebih baik dari mereka (para malaikat). Jika dia mendekat sejengkal kepada-Ku, Aku akan mendekat sehasta kepadanya. Jika dia mendekat sehasta kepada-Ku, Aku akan mendekat sedepa kepadanya. Jika dia datang kepada-Ku dengan berjalan, Aku akan datang kepadanya dengan berlari.” (HR. Al-Bukhari No. 7405 & Muslim No. 2675)
And with the grace and mercy of Allah SWT, one day (regardless of how long it takes), we will succeed. We can become better. May Allah give us the strength to persevere in this path of transformation.