Abu Bakr (ra) and alcohol

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Abz2000

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Like the Prophet
, Abu Bakr (radiyAllaahu anh) never drank alcohol during the pre-Islamic days of ignorance.
It was not a matter of not liking the taste of alcohol, but rather it was that Abu Bakr knew the ill-effects of alcohol and wanted to preserve his dignity and honour at all times.
Yes, alcohol became forbidden in Al-Madeenah; but back in Makkah, prior to the advent of Islam, Abu Bakr forbade himself from the act of drinking alcohol.
It is related that he once passed by a drunken man who had a piece of faeces in his hand and who was bringing it closer to his mouth, as if he were about to eat it.
In fact, in the drunken state he was in, he was about to eat it, but as he brought it closer to his mouth, its foul smell awoke in him the reality of what he was doing.
Abu Bakr became disgusted not just by the man but also by the actual practice of drinking alcohol and becoming inebriated.
Later on in his life, he was once asked,

"Did you ever drink alcohol during the pre-Islam days of ignorance,"

- to which he responded,

"I seek refuge in Allah (i.e., no!)."

When asked why, he said,

"I valued the idea of preserving my honour and dignity, and I realised that a person who drinks alcohol gives up his honour and dignity (by perpetrating lewd and vile acts while he is in a drunken state)."

(Seerah wa-Hayaat as-Siddeeq, by Majdee Fathee, pg. 34).

According to another narration, `Aaishah said,

"Both Abu Bakr and 'Uthman abstained from drinking alcohol during the pre-Islamic days of ignorance."

(Taareek al-Khulafaa, by as-Suyootee, pg. 49).

 
yup, he used to be a heavy drinker, so much so that people said:
what would 'umar be without Islam,
maybe a leader of his tribe, stretch it a little more and highly unlikely a leader of Makkah.
but most likely he would have died of alcohol abuse.

Another time he was drunk and went out late night looking to get more alcohol but none of the stalls were open so he decided to come to the Ka’bah to do Tawaf. As he approached he could hear the recitation of the Qur’an. He looked to see who it was and saw that it was the Prophet (peace be upon him). He thought that he will scare the Prophet (peace be upon him) so he went inside the cloth of the Ka’bah so that the Prophet (peace be upon him) could not see him and walked up near the Prophet (peace be upon him).
As he approached he could hear and understand what the Prophet (peace be upon him) was reciting (surah an najm), and he felt an awe and amazement at what was being recited. So while being behind the cover of the Ka’bah he said to himself
‘these must be the words of a poet’
as he said this, the Prophet (peace be upon him), without knowing Umar (RA) was there, happened to recite the verse
‘And surely these are not the words of a poet’.
Umar (RA) was amazed at the response as the Prophet (peace be upon him) could not see him so how could he have known what he was thinking.
So he thought that ‘these must be the words of a magician/soothsayer’. the Prophet (peace be upon him) recited the next verse
‘Nor are these the words of magician/soothsayer’.
Umar (RA) got scared at this and left the scene. :)
that was the first serious chance for him to reflect on the message, and the foundation of kufr in his heart was being broken.




then he accepted Islam and he became leader of the arabian peninsula, conquerer of rome and persia :)
he was always very humble before Allah, if anyone ever tried to unduly praise him, he would get angry and strike them on the chest and say: woe to you.....

and he walked in to receive the keys to jerusalem walking while his servant took his turn to ride, and with patches on his clothes.
 
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I thought he never drank alcohol.Really surprising to me.Thanks for the info BTW :)
 
thank anwar awlaki, and pray for his elevation to the highest status of witnesses, he told us the story :)

The people of Jeruslam sent a message to Abu ‘Ubaydah, saying that they were willing to surrender, but they wanted to give the keys of Jerusalem to the khalifah of the Muslims, because of the sacredness of that town.‘Umar ibn AlKhattaab made shoorah (councel) and asked the Sahabah what he should do – go out or stay? Some of the Sahabah told him that it was dangerous and that he should stay in Madinah. Some of the other companions told him to go, just trust in Allah.‘Umar ibn AlKhattaab went to with his servant. They were taking turns on the camel – ‘Umar would ride for awhile, the servant would ride for awhile and then they would give the camel a break. When ‘Umar rode into Jerusalem, it was his turn to pull the camel and it was the servant’s turn to ride the camel. They passed next to a pool of mud and ‘Umar had to go through it; he picked up his clothes and passed through it. There was mud on his clothes and legs - imagine! The khalifa of all of the Muslims at that time! Can you picture a world leader doing that today? And all of this was happening in front of the people of Jerusalem. Abu ‘Ubaydah (one of the ten promised Jannah) felt that this was not appropriate – not because the leader shouldn’t be humble, but he felt that the Romans were living in a culture where the leaders are surrounded by guards and he thought that they wouldn’t give ‘Umar the respect he deserved. And ‘Umar deserved respect more than anyone else on earth. So Abu ‘Ubaydah gave him a few suggestions. ‘Umar ibn AlKhattaab hit him in the chest and said,​
“I wouldn’t expect this to come from you. We were a people who were humiliated; Allah honored us with Islam. If we seek honor any other way, Allah will humiliate us.”
​
Our honor is not based on the entourage and the motorcade or the extravagance. Our honor is in Islam, not the clothes that we wear. ‘Umar was wearing a dress with 14 patches. He was teaching Abu ‘Ubaydah that Allah will put our honor in their hearts. If we try to honor ourselves in any superficial fashion, Allah will take it away. And SubhanAllah – ‘Umar was right. When the people of Jerusalem saw him in that fashion, they started crying. The people were standing on the roofs of their houses, looking at him. They had heard of ‘Umar, but they had never seen him. They couldn’t believe their eyes at the simplicity of Islam. They gave the keys to ‘Umar ibn AlKhattaab.

unknowingly, he was fulfilling the manner in which a believer should come to take authority of the holy land:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem:
behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation;
lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
zechariah 9:9​
 
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Hey thanks for posting that story
Abz2000 said:
Another time he was drunk and went out late night looking to get more alcohol but none of the stalls were open so he decided to come to the Ka’bah to do Tawaf. As he approached he could hear the recitation of the Qur’an. He looked to see who it was and saw that it was the Prophet (peace be upon him). He thought that he will scare the Prophet (peace be upon him) so he went inside the cloth of the Ka’bah so that the Prophet (peace be upon him) could not see him and walked up near the Prophet (peace be upon him).
As he approached he could hear and understand what the Prophet (peace be upon him) was reciting (surah an najm), and he felt an awe and amazement at what was being recited. So while being behind the cover of the Ka’bah he said to himself
‘these must be the words of a poet’
as he said this, the Prophet (peace be upon him), without knowing Umar (RA) was there, happened to recite the verse
‘And surely these are not the words of a poet’.
Umar (RA) was amazed at the response as the Prophet (peace be upon him) could not see him so how could he have known what he was thinking.
So he thought that ‘these must be the words of a magician/soothsayer’. the Prophet (peace be upon him) recited the next verse
‘Nor are these the words of magician/soothsayer’.
Umar (RA) got scared at this and left the scene.
that was the first serious chance for him to reflect on the message, and the foundation of kufr in his heart was being broken.
Click to expand...

Subhanallah,this is mesmerizing.Whenever i read stories about the life of Umar RA,it brought smile to my face and i love him RA more than before :statisfie
 
Salaam.

Since you guys are speaking of Umar(RA), i would just like to quote something he said which i found over the net and i'm sure some of you have heard or seen it before. Such powerful words that it could be of so much use espcially in times like these.

'Umar sent the command to Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with them) to set out to Iraq in preparation for the battle with the Persians. He sent the following advice:


"I am ordering you and the troops who are with you to fear Allah in all circumstances, for fear of Allah is the best weapon against the enemy and the strongest weapon in war. I am commanding you and those who are with you to be more careful in avoiding sin than in avoiding your enemy, for the sins of the army are to be feared more than their enemy. The Muslims are supported by their enemy's disobedience towards Allah; were it not for that, we would not have any strength, for our numbers are not like theirs and our weapons are not like theirs. If we were equally matched in sin, they would have an advantage over us in strength, and if we did not have an advantage over them by our virtue, we would not be able to defeat them by our strength. [....]"


Al-Farooq 'Umar ibn al-Khattab by Muhammad Rasheed Rida pp. 119-20. As cited in 'Umar ibn Al-Khattab: His Life & Times by Dr. 'Ali Muhammad As-Sallabi. Vol 2, pp. 153-5.
 

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