If Islam is absolutely against alcohol, which includes Wine and Beer, than why is the history of Islam imbued with both, and why also is there so much alcohol consumption in the Muslims world, both in the past and even today; so much so that temperance movements have had to be set up to control it?

Mel proves this contradiction to be true by turning to another Muslim country, this time Turkey, where he shows that historically beer was a staple for centuries, and still is today.

In fact, the Turks favorite beer, called “Boza Beer” is the root word for what later became known as ‘Booze’, the common term used in English slang for alcohol!

So, let’s look at the historical record concerning Alcohol in Turkey:

In1566 – 1574 AD, Selim II, who loved to drink alcohol himself, and considered himself “an unrepentant hedonist”, overturned his father’s puritanical ban against alcohol.

1623 – 1640 AD, Murad IV, a heavy drinker as well, went around his cities executing other drinkers which he found, possibly because he knew he was a hypocrite.

1717 AD, Lady Wortley Montague wrote in a letter that Ahmet Bay permitted the drinking of alcohol, providing that it was drunk in moderation; suggesting that only the richer and wiser do so, because the poorer could not control their consumption. This suggests that he had no problem with alcohol per se, just its excess.

In the 1800s AD, Ubicini was offered wine by Aga Osman, who believed it was okay to drink wine in private, but not in public.

By the 19th – 20th centuries alcohol was consumed so much by the Turks that a Temperance Movement, borrowed from the Europeans, was initiated to deal with wholesale drunkenness.

In 1903 AD, around 3.7 million liters of alcohol was consumed in Turkey in just that year, some of it by Westerners who lived there as well, proving just how popular alcohol was.

Later in the 20th century Henry H. Jessup, who lived in Turkey, wrote that Turks equaled Europeans in their consumption of alcohol, both wine and beer.

But are all of these not simply aberrations of what Islam believed and practiced, and not representative of what the common Muslim in Turkey believed, or practiced?

Mel responds by pointing to Boza Beer, a fermented cereal flour (made from millet) which has been famous all over Turkey since the 9th millennia B.C., though it only has a 1% alcoholic content.

In fact the great Hagia Sophia mosque in Istanbul was funded by the taxation imposed on beer in Turkey.

The famous Janissary corps, the elite group of soldiers, taken as boys from Christian families and forced to convert to Islam, and then used to protect the Sultan as his private guards, all drank Boza Beer.

The Turkish scholar, Evliya Celebi writes that Boza beer was used by all of the Turkish military historically, and was readily permitted, providing it was not drunk in excess.

Then in the 16th – 17th centuries Boza beer was mixed with opium, forcing through a complete change of heart towards alcohol in Turkey.

In 1648 – 1687, the Sultan Mehmed IV prohibited the sale of beer because of the opium which was mixed with it.

In the 19th century a sweetener was added, which brought it back into popularity again, so that today Turkey is a world leader in beer production.

In fact the Anadolu Efes Turkish beer is the 5th largest beer company in Europe and the 9th largest in the world in terms of production volume. It has 3 Breweries in Turkey, including 2 Malt Production plants and 1 Malt plant.

According to modern statistics, Turks drink on average 11 liters of beer per person per year.

And Turkey is not alone. Take for instance North African Muslim countries. Just prior to the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962), Algerian wine (along with that of Morocco and Tunisia) accounted for nearly two-thirds of the total international wine trade, thus more so than all of Europe.

Today, Algeria has as much land under vineyards as the countries of Germany and South Africa combined, Algeria continues to maintain a wine industry with over 70 wineries in operation. Algerian wines are characterized by their overripe fruit, high alcohol and low acidity.

What this all proves is that when you go to the Standard Islamic Narrative, the picture you get is that alcohol has always been prohibited in Islam since its very inception. It is also prohibited in the Qur’an.

Yet, when one looks at Islamic history, one finds a large disconnect with what is said publicly by Muslims, and what we read in their SIN.

It seems that alcohol, in the form of wine and beer have not only been, but continue to be popular and in demand all over the Muslim world, suggesting that what Muslims say in public is not what they practice in private.

Once again we find that the Standard Islamic Narrative is full of holes, and Mel has just opened up yet another one; and he’ll drink to that!

© Pfander Centre for Apologetics – US, Jan.25, 2023
(70,100) Music: “Epic Heroic Conquest” by Musiclfiles, from filmmusic-io