4. Sura an-Nisa
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
يَا
أَيُّهَا
الَّذِينَ
آمَنُواْ
لاَ
تَقْرَبُواْ
الصَّلاَةَ
وَأَنتُمْ
سُكَارَى
حَتَّىَ
تَعْلَمُواْ
مَا
تَقُولُونَ...
4: 43. O ye who believe! approach not prayers with a mind befogged, until ye can understand all that ye say,
C562. The reference is either to a state of intoxication or to a dazed state of mind on account of drowsiness or some other cause. Or perhaps both are implied.
Before the prohibition of intoxicants altogether was promulgated, it was at least unbecoming that people should come to prayers in such a state. For prayers it is only right that we should collect our whole minds and approach Allah in a spirit of reverence.
“Prayers” (Salah) here may mean “a place of prayer,” a Mosque:
the resulting meaning would be the same
... وَلاَ جُنُبًا إِلاَّ عَابِرِي سَبِيلٍ حَتَّىَ تَغْتَسِلُواْ...
nor in a state of ceremonial impurity (except when traveling on the road), until after washing your whole body
... وَإِن كُنتُم مَّرْضَى أَوْ عَلَى سَفَرٍ أَوْ جَاء أَحَدٌ مِّنكُم مِّن الْغَآئِطِ أَوْ لاَمَسْتُمُ النِّسَاء...
- if ye are ill, or
- on a journey, or
- one of you cometh from offices of nature, or
- ye have been in contact with women,
... فَلَمْ تَجِدُواْ مَاء فَتَيَمَّمُواْ صَعِيدًا طَيِّبًا فَامْسَحُواْ بِوُجُوهِكُمْ وَأَيْدِيكُمْ ...
and ye find no water,
then take for yourselves clean sand or earth, and rub therewith your faces and hands.
C563. The strictest cleanliness and purity of mind and body are required, especially at the time of prayer.
But there are circumstances when water for ablutions is not easily obtainable, especially in the dry conditions of Arabia, and then washing with dry sand or clean earth is recommended. Four such circumstances are mentioned: the
- two last when washing is specially required;
- the two first when washing may be necessary, but it may not be easy to get water.
For a man, when he is ill, cannot walk out far to get water, and a man on a journey has no full control over his supplies.
In all four cases, where water cannot be got, cleaning with dry sand or dry earth is recommended. This is called Tayammum.
... إِنَّ اللّهَ كَانَ عَفُوًّا غَفُورًا ﴿٤٣﴾
For Allah doth blot out sins and forgive again and again.
Asad’s Version:
4: 43 O you have attained to faith! Do not attempt to pray while you are in a state of drunkenness, [but wait] until you know what you are saying.
5. Surah Al-Ma'idah
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
يَا
أَيُّهَا
الَّذِينَ
آمَنُواْ
إِنَّمَا
الْخَمْرُ
وَالْمَيْسِرُ
...
5: 90. O ye who believe!
- intoxicants and gambling,
C793. Cf. 2:219, and notes 240 and 241.
... وَالأَنصَابُ ...
- (dedication of) stones,
C794. Cf. 5:3.
The stones there referred to were stone altars or stone columns on which oil was poured for consecration, or slabs on which meat was sacrificed to idols. Any idolatrous or superstitious practices are here condemned.
The ansab were objects of worship, and were common in Arabia before Islam.
See Renan, "History of Israel", Chapter 6, and Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum. Part 1. p. 154: Illustrations Nos. 123 and 123 bis are Phoenician columns of that kind, found in Malta.
... وَالأَزْلاَمُ ...
- and (divination by) arrows,
C795. Cf. 5:3.
The arrows there referred to were used for the division of meat by a sort of lottery or rate.
But arrows were also used for divination, i.e., for ascertaining lucky or unlucky moments, or learning the wishes of the heathen gods, as to whether men should undertake certain actions or not. All superstitions are condemned.
... رِجْسٌ مِّنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ...
are an abomination, of Satan's handiwork:
... فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ﴿٩٠﴾
eschew such (abomination), that ye may prosper.
إِنَّمَا
يُرِيدُ
الشَّيْطَانُ
أَن
يُوقِعَ
بَيْنَكُمُ
الْعَدَاوَةَ
وَالْبَغْضَاء
فِي
الْخَمْرِ
وَالْمَيْسِرِ...
5: 91. Satan's plan is (but) to
- excite enmity and hatred between you, with intoxicants and gambling,
... وَيَصُدَّكُمْ عَن ذِكْرِ اللّهِ وَعَنِ الصَّلاَةِ ...
- and hinder you from the remembrance of Allah, and from prayer:
... فَهَلْ أَنتُم مُّنتَهُونَ ﴿٩١﴾
will ye not then abstain?
Asad’s Version:
5: 90 O you who have attained to faith! Intoxicants, and games of chance, and idolatrous practices, and the divining of the future are but a loathsome evil of Satan’s doing: Shun it, then, so that you might attain to happy state!
5: 91 By means of intoxicants and games of chance Satan seeks only to sow enmity and hatred among you, and to turn you away from the remembrance of God and from prayer. Will you not, then, desist? (see Asad note 105)