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
قَالَ ٱللَّهُ هَـٰذَا يَوْمُ يَنفَعُ ٱلصَّـٰدِقِينَ صِدْقُهُمْ ۚ لَهُمْ جَنَّـٰتٌ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيهَآ أَبَدًا ۚ رَّضِىَ ٱللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا۟ عَنْهُ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلْفَوْزُ ٱلْعَظِيمُ
Allāh will say, "This is the Day when the truthful will benefit from their truthfulness." For them are gardens [in Paradise] beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever, Allāh being pleased with them, and they with Him. That is the great attainment.
وَٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَةَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَمِيثَـٰقَهُ ٱلَّذِى وَاثَقَكُم بِهِۦٓ إِذْ قُلْتُمْ سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا ۖ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلِيمٌۢ بِذَاتِ ٱلصُّدُورِ
And remember the favor of Allāh upon you and His covenant with which He bound you when you said, "We hear and we obey"; and fear Allāh. Indeed, Allāh is Knowing of that within the breasts.
۞ جَعَلَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْكَعْبَةَ ٱلْبَيْتَ ٱلْحَرَامَ قِيَـٰمًا لِّلنَّاسِ وَٱلشَّهْرَ ٱلْحَرَامَ وَٱلْهَدْىَ وَٱلْقَلَـٰٓئِدَ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ لِتَعْلَمُوٓا۟ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمٌ
Allāh has made the Kaʿbah, the Sacred House, standing for the people and [has sanctified] the sacred months and the sacrificial animals and the garlands [by which they are identified]. That is so you may know that Allāh knows what is in the heavens and what is in the earth and that Allāh is Knowing of all things.
قُلْ هَلْ أُنَبِّئُكُم بِشَرٍّ مِّن ذَٰلِكَ مَثُوبَةً عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ۚ مَن لَّعَنَهُ ٱللَّهُ وَغَضِبَ عَلَيْهِ وَجَعَلَ مِنْهُمُ ٱلْقِرَدَةَ وَٱلْخَنَازِيرَ وَعَبَدَ ٱلطَّـٰغُوتَ ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ شَرٌّ مَّكَانًا وَأَضَلُّ عَن سَوَآءِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ
Say, "Shall I inform you of [what is] worse than that as penalty from Allāh? [It is that of] those whom Allāh has cursed and with whom He became angry and made of them apes and pigs and slaves of ṭāghūt. Those are worse in position and further astray from the sound way."