Title: Is Drinking Alcohol Clearly Prohibited in Islam Question: Is drinking alcohol officially prohibited in Islam? By that I mean that is there any verse in Qur'an which says that drinking alcohol is forbidden and if somebody drinks it then he'll be punished on the Day of Judgment? Memoona Ghani USA Answer: According to my understanding, the Qur'an has indeed given a clear and express directive against drinking liquor and intoxicants. The Qur'an says: O you, who believe, liquor, gambling, animals slaughtered at shrines and food distributed by gambling through arrows are all unclean, satanic deeds, therefore refrain from them, so that you may be successful [in the test of this life]. ( Al-Maaidah 5: 90) A close examination of the verse shows that it has expressly declared drinking liquor as "an unclean, satanic deed" and has directed the Muslims to "refrain" from all the stated acts. I really don't think anything could have been more 'official' or express then this. I hope this helps. Regards, Moiz Amjad June 2, 2002