The Islam Issue "The death penalty for drinking Alcohol in Islam."

The Islam Issue "The death penalty for drinking Alcohol in Islam."

The Quran does not prescribe a punishment for drinking alcohol. The prophet told his followers to beat the one that does, but did not specify the manner. It was not a systematic command and neither was it often applied despite alcohol being deeply embedded in the society of the time. Abu Bakr to whom a drinker was brought, had to search for witnesses to establish a precedent through the prophet's practice in a similar case. That this closest companion had to make such an inquiry shows how rarely the prophet applied physical punishment to drinkers. 

If beating was so seldomly applied then it means the case of the drinker brought to the prophet and whom he ordered be beaten, and which Abubakr inquired about, had to be significant enough to deserve such a decision. The caliphs that followed Abubakr equally conjectured in their own way as to the details of the punishment for drinking 

"I saw the Messenger of Allah on the morning of the conquest of Mecca when I was a young boy. He was walking among the people, seeking the camp of Khalid ibn al-Walid. A man who had drunk wine was brought (before him) and he ordered them (to beat him). So they beat him with what they had in their hands. Some struck him with whips, some with sticks and some with sandals. The Messenger of Allah threw some dust on his face. When a man who had drunk wine was brought before AbuBakr, he asked them (i.e. the people) about the number of beatings which they gave him. They numbered it forty. So AbuBakr gave him forty lashes. When Umar came to power, Khalid ibn al-Walid wrote to him: The people have become addicted to drinking wine and they look down upon the prescribed punishment and its penalty. He said: They are with you, ask them. The immigrants who embraced Islam in the beginning were with him. He asked them and they agreed on the fact that (a drunkard) should be given eighty lashes. Ali said: When a man drinks wine, he tells lies. I, therefore, think that he should be prescribed punishment that is prescribed for telling lies.."