Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 219 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:219

۞ يَسْـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلْخَمْرِ وَٱلْمَيْسِرِ ۖ قُلْ فِيهِمَآ إِثْمٌ كَبِيرٌ وَمَنَـٰفِعُ لِلنَّاسِ وَإِثْمُهُمَآ أَكْبَرُ مِن نَّفْعِهِمَا ۗ وَيَسْـَٔلُونَكَ مَاذَا يُنفِقُونَ قُلِ ٱلْعَفْوَ ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمُ ٱلْـَٔايَـٰتِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَفَكَّرُونَ

“They ask you about wine[80] and gambling. Say, "In them is great sin and [yet, some] benefit for people. But their sin is greater than their benefit." And they ask you what they should spend. Say, "The excess [beyond needs]." Thus Allāh makes clear to you the verses [of revelation] that you might give thought”

Saheeh International

Essence

Wine and gambling hold some benefit, but their harm is greater: the first step in a patient teaching; give from what is surplus, and reflect.

A reflection

The first of three steps

A country that wants to end smoking in pubs does not start with a ban. It starts with warning labels. Then it restricts advertising. Only years later does the ban arrive, by which time most people are ready for it.

Several early authorities said this was the first ayah revealed about wine. A classical commentator explains its character. It prepared the ground for the final prohibition. It hinted rather than declared. It is not the last word on wine, and it should not be quoted as if it were.

A narration preserves the sequence through ʿUmar's prayers. When this ayah came, he prayed: O Allah, give us a clear and sufficient statement about wine. Then came the ayah forbidding prayer while intoxicated (4:43). He prayed the same prayer again. Then came the ayat in Al-Māʾida calling wine and gambling filth from Satan's work, and asking: 'will you not then desist?' (5:90–91). 'We have desisted', ʿUmar said, 'we have desisted'. Al-Tirmidhī graded this narration ṣaḥīḥ; another early critic questioned one link in its chain.

There is strategy in this patience. A deep habit, woven into a whole society's trade, poetry and hospitality, was not uprooted in a day. The Quran first changed how people weighed it, then limited it, then ended it. Each step found hearts readier than before.

Anyone trying to change a family, a team or a self can learn from this. Clarity about the destination, patience about the steps.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.