إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ أَن يُوقِعَ بَيْنَكُمُ ٱلْعَدَٰوَةَ وَٱلْبَغْضَآءَ فِى ٱلْخَمْرِ وَٱلْمَيْسِرِ وَيَصُدَّكُمْ عَن ذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ وَعَنِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ ۖ فَهَلْ أَنتُم مُّنتَهُونَ 91
Translations
Satan only wants to cause between you animosity and hatred through intoxicants and gambling and to avert you from the remembrance of Allāh and from prayer. So will you not desist?
Transliteration
Innama yurid ash-shaytanu an yuqa'a baynakum al-'adawata wa-al-baghda'a fi al-khamr wa-al-maysir wa-yasidd-akum 'an dhikr Allah wa-'an as-salah. Fa-hal antum muntahun?
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah reveals Satan's strategy of using intoxicants (khamr) and gambling (maysir) as tools to sow enmity and hatred among believers, while simultaneously distancing them from remembrance of Allah and prayer. Classical scholars like Ibn Kathir and Al-Qurtubi emphasize that Satan uses these vices not merely for personal indulgence, but deliberately to fracture community bonds and weaken spiritual connection. The rhetorical question at the end ("Will you not then abstain?") serves as a powerful call to repentance and cessation.
Revelation Context
This ayah is part of Surah Al-Ma'idah (revealed in Medina during the later Meccan period), within the passage discussing the prohibition of khamr and maysir (5:90-91). It follows immediately after the declaration of their prohibition, providing the divine wisdom behind these prohibitions. The context addresses a Medinan community where these practices were prevalent among Arabs, and the ayah explains the spiritual and social harms they cause.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: 'Every intoxicant is khamr, and every intoxicant is haram' (Sahih Muslim 2001). Also relevant: 'The one who deals in wine, carries it, drinks it, sells it, buys it, presses it, or has it pressed for him—all of them are cursed' (Sunan Abu Dawud 3674), highlighting the comprehensive prohibition and its consequences.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches believers that substance abuse and gambling are not merely personal failings but deliberate tools of spiritual corruption that destroy community harmony and disconnect us from our Creator; the call to abstain is both a command and an invitation to protect our faith, relationships, and spiritual well-being.
Related Ayahs
وَمَا لَنَا لَا نُؤْمِنُ بِٱللَّهِ وَمَا جَآءَنَا مِنَ ٱلْحَقِّ وَنَطْمَعُ أَن يُدْخِلَنَا رَبُّنَا مَعَ ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ
And why should we not believe in Allāh and what has come to us of the truth? And we aspire that our Lord will admit us [to Paradise] with the righteous people."
لَيْسَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ جُنَاحٌ فِيمَا طَعِمُوٓا۟ إِذَا مَا ٱتَّقَوا۟ وَّءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ ثُمَّ ٱتَّقَوا۟ وَّءَامَنُوا۟ ثُمَّ ٱتَّقَوا۟ وَّأَحْسَنُوا۟ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ
There is not upon those who believe and do righteousness [any] blame concerning what they have eaten [in the past] if they [now] fear Allāh and believe and do righteous deeds, and then fear Allāh and believe, and then fear Allāh and do good; and Allāh loves the doers of good.
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ أَوْفُوا۟ بِٱلْعُقُودِ ۚ أُحِلَّتْ لَكُم بَهِيمَةُ ٱلْأَنْعَـٰمِ إِلَّا مَا يُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْكُمْ غَيْرَ مُحِلِّى ٱلصَّيْدِ وَأَنتُمْ حُرُمٌ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَحْكُمُ مَا يُرِيدُ
O you who have believed, fulfill [all] contracts. Lawful for you are the animals of grazing livestock except for that which is recited to you [in this Qur’ān] - hunting not being permitted while you are in the state of iḥrām. Indeed, Allāh ordains what He intends.
مِنْ أَجْلِ ذَٰلِكَ كَتَبْنَا عَلَىٰ بَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ أَنَّهُۥ مَن قَتَلَ نَفْسًۢا بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ ٱلنَّاسَ جَمِيعًا وَمَنْ أَحْيَاهَا فَكَأَنَّمَآ أَحْيَا ٱلنَّاسَ جَمِيعًا ۚ وَلَقَدْ جَآءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُنَا بِٱلْبَيِّنَـٰتِ ثُمَّ إِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِّنْهُم بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ لَمُسْرِفُونَ
Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land - it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one - it is as if he had saved mankind entirely. And Our messengers had certainly come to them with clear proofs. Then indeed many of them, [even] after that, throughout the land, were transgressors.