See also
- Persian wine
- Aragh sagi, an alcoholic beverage
- Beer in Iran
- Healthcare in Iran
Alcohol has been illegal for Muslim Iranian citizens since the establishment of Islamic Republic government in 1979. [1]
In 2011, 5.7% of the adult population self-reported consuming alcohol in the previous year. [2]
Wine has played an important role in Persian culture and history ranging from administration of the earliest empires to religion and Persian literature. [3]
The modern historian Rudi Matthee explains that in Zoroastrianism wine was a symbol of liquid gold as well as the moving fire of the radiant sun. [4] Therefore, wine held a ritual function in Zoroastrianism, being part of a liberation ritual, in which it substituted for blood. [4] Matthee adds that the history of the Iranian elite of ancient and late antique Iran "could be written as the history of razm va bazm (fighting and feasting), with wine at the center". [4]
The word booze in English (and small variations in several other European languages) has probably its origin in medieval Persian the same meaning and almost similar pronunciation(Persian : بوزه) [buzeh] ) [5] [6]
Wine drinking was prominent in Classical Islam, from Al-Andalus in the west to Khorasan in the east. [7] The Iranian Saffarid and Samanid rulers, the first to look for autonomy from their Abbasid suzerains, were known, as Matthee explains, "for the gusto with which they and their entourage indulged in wine-drinking." [7] The 11th-century Qabus-nama , written by Keikavus of the Ziyarid dynasty, explicitly records that the Quran prohibits wine consumption, yet also states advice (same goes for Nizam al-Mulk's Siyasatnama ) on what the proper fashion is for drinking wine while also taking it for granted that wine will be served at feasts. [8]
The English traveller and writer Thomas Herbert wrote in 1627 about the difference between wine consumption of the Ottomans and Iranians. [9] According to Herbert, the Ottomans, who, although were prohibited to drink wine by law, still drank it covertly. [9] The Iranians on the other hand, Herbert asserted, had long consumed wine openly and to excess. [9] According to the French traveller Jean Chardin, who was in 17th-century Safavid Iran, drinking was mainly done in order to get drunk fast hence the appreciation of Iranians for strong wines. [10] Echoing Reinhold Lubenau's writings on late 16th-century Ottoman Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), Chardin reported that "Iranians would recoil while drinking, treating alcohol like a medicine to be swallowed rather than enjoyed". [10] Matthee explains that the goal of getting drunk quickly stemmed from the fact that alcohol in Islamic culture was "not synonymous with sociability". [10] As alcohol is considered a forbidden substance in Islam, alcohol could never become fully integrated into the idea of a proper life. [10] Unlike the ancient Greek symposium tradition, where alcohol was considered a substance to brighten up the ambiance, it was firmly entrenched as part of the lifestyle of the elite. [10] Nevertheless, even there alcohol remained a "forbidden fruit, and thus could not escape furtive embrace amid public disavowal". [10] In the Islamic world, the drinking of alcohol never became part of the overall food and drinking culture, in the way of "enhancing the convivial atmosphere of the meal, the way it did in Mediterranean and Christian/European culture". [10] Meals in the Islamic world were usually eaten in silence with a glass of water. [11] After that, the host and the guests would engage in discussion with coffee and tea with the water pipe, and usually in a different room. [11]
According to Matthee, social class was also important in the assessment of alcohol consumption. [12] People who drank alcohol were usually from higher social ranks, the elite (khass), whereas abstemiousness was most prevalent among the middling classes, who were simultaneously known for their piousness. [12] The upper classes drunk as they believed they were entitled to, that is, enjoying alcohol as a 'right', a privilege traditionally bestowed upon the elite in Islamic lands. [12] Abstention from alcohol belonged to the commoners, the avvam, who were unable to restrain themselves. [12] The lowest social classes usually used other drugs, most prominently opium (which is not condemned in particular by the Quran or the hadiths ). [12] They generally used it, as Matthee explains, to while away boredom, to gain stupefaction from their troublesome lifes, and especially as a form of self-medication. [12]
Common people who drank in those times were associated with subcultures of subterfuge and furtiveness, Matthee explains. [12] These people would usually sneak off to taverns in back-alleys of the predominantly non-Muslim inhabited parts of cities and towns, which were run by Jews and Armenians. [12] Taverns were deemed as "disreputable" in Islamic lands, and were associated "with the seamy side of life, and the tavern owner occupied 'roughly the same place on the social scale as the prostitute, the overt homosexual, and the itinerant entertainer'". [12]
Alcoholic drinks were commonly consumed amongst the elite, and Muslims often visited the taverns; however, alcohol was "formally outlawed", hence it could not operate in the reality of everyday life. [12] Thus, in turn, as Matthee explains, the drinking of wine "became a metaphor for the ardent feelings of the lover for the beloved in the imaginary world of (mystical) poetry". [12]
Under Iranian law, its Muslim citizens are forbidden from consuming alcohol.
Officially recognized non-Muslim minorities are allowed to produce alcoholic beverages for their own consumption and for religious rites such as the Eucharist. Two of the four religious minorities guaranteed representation in the parliament ( Majlis ) – Armenians and Assyrians – are Christian, the former being chiefly Armenian Apostolic.
Bringing alcohol into Iran is illegal. [13]
In 2011-2012, the Iranian Traffic Police withdrew the driving licenses of 829 drivers, including 43 women, who had failed to pass alcohol and drug tests. Alcohol tests taken from drivers in Tehran in the period of 20 April-20 May 2012 showed that 26% of them were drunk. [14] Because the country has no public bars or similar venues, consumption of alcohol takes place at home, behind closed doors.
In 2020, a Muslim man was executed at Mashhad Prison after being convicted of drinking alcohol for the sixth time, driving without a license and being in possession of alcohol. [15]
The 2010 study Substance Use Among Migrants: The Case of Iranians in Belgium notes that alcohol is acquired illegally in three different ways: it is purchased from ethnic minorities (particularly Armenians), produced in homes by adding fermenting agents to non-alcoholic beer, or smuggled into the country, largely through Iraqi Kurdistan. [16] [17]
Alcohol poisoning is quite common because illegal alcohol is often substandard. There were 768 cases of hospitalization due to methanol poisoning in eight provinces in Iran over the course of 4 weeks in late 2018; 96 of the patients died. [18]
Iran's prohibition of alcoholic drinks creates high demand for non-alcoholic beer. Anti-smuggling plans by the Iranian government, coupled with awareness campaigns against the consumption of cola carbonates and campaigns encouraging the consumption of non-alcoholic beer, further boosted demand in 2010. More young adults in Iran are interested in non-alcoholic beer, following widespread media coverage regarding its health benefits. These health advantages play a major part in the promotional activities of most major firms. [19]
The Iranian Ministry of Health developed a national programme to reduce alcohol consumption by 10% between 2015 and 2025, but the religious-driven zero-tolerance alcohol policy impedes the development of an effective harm-reduction approach. [20]
A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothies and soft drinks. Traditionally warm beverages include coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. Caffeinated drinks that contain the stimulant caffeine have a long history.
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage, transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic beverages. The word is also used to refer to a period of time during which such bans are enforced.
There is a long history of alcoholic drinks in China. They include rice and grape wine, beer, whisky and various liquors including baijiu, the most-consumed distilled spirit in the world.
A bar, also known as a saloon, a tavern or tippling house, or sometimes as a pub or club, is a retail business establishment that serves alcoholic beverages, such as beer, wine, liquor, cocktails, and other beverages such as mineral water and soft drinks. Bars often also sell snack foods, such as crisps or peanuts, for consumption on their premises. Some types of bars, such as pubs, may also serve food from a restaurant menu. The term "bar" refers to the countertop where drinks are prepared and served, and by extension to the overall premises.
Drinking culture is the set of traditions and social behaviors that surround the consumption of alcoholic beverages as a recreational drug and social lubricant. Although alcoholic beverages and social attitudes toward drinking vary around the world, nearly every civilization has independently discovered the processes of brewing beer, fermenting wine and distilling spirits.
Purposeful production of alcoholic drinks is common and often reflects cultural and religious peculiarities as much as geographical and sociological conditions.
Persian wine, also called May, Mul, and Bâdah, is a cultural symbol and tradition in Iran, and has a significant presence in Iranian mythology, Persian poetry and Persian miniatures.
Oklahoma allows any establishment with a beer and wine license to sell beer and wine up to 15% ABV, under refrigeration.
An alcoholic beverage is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The consumption of alcoholic drinks, often referred to as "drinking", plays an important social role in many cultures. Alcoholic drinks are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and spirits—and typically their alcohol content is between 3% and 50%.
The production and consumption of wine has been widespread in the Middle East and has been tolerated to varying extents by different religious groups. Islam forbade all intoxicants (khamr) and even pressed grape juice for Muslims. Wine was traded and used among the Jews, at least in Egypt, including for sacramental purposes, and had to be prepared by Jews according to stated practices. Many Christian monasteries in the region made and sold wine to raise revenue. Finally, the Zoroastrian communities of Persia continued to make and drink wine after the Islamic conquest.
Alcohol laws are laws relating to manufacture, use, being under the influence of and sale of alcohol or alcoholic beverages. Common alcoholic beverages include beer, wine, (hard) cider, and distilled spirits. Definition of alcoholic beverage varies internationally, e.g., the United States defines an alcoholic beverage as "any beverage in liquid form which contains not less than one-half of one percent of alcohol by volume". Alcohol laws can restrict those who can produce alcohol, those who can buy it, when one can buy it, labelling and advertising, the types of alcoholic beverage that can be sold, where one can consume it, what activities are prohibited while intoxicated, and where one can buy it. In some cases, laws have even prohibited the use and sale of alcohol entirely.
The earliest known chemical evidence of beer in the world dates to c. 3500–3100 BC from the site of Godin Tepe in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran, and there is evidence of beer-drinking over a long period in the Median Empire. Since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, production, possession or distribution of any alcoholic beverages is illegal and punishable under Islamic law. However, members of legally tolerated non-Muslim religious minorities – Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians – are allowed to produce alcoholic beverages for consumption at home and use in religious rituals. While non-alcoholic beers are the only ones available from legal outlets, illegal alcoholic beers are smuggled into the country and consumed.
Social customs and laws concerning drinking alcohol in public vary significantly around the world. "Public" in this context refers to outdoor spaces such as roads, walkways or parks, or in a moving vehicle. Drinking in bars, restaurants, stadiums, and other such establishments, for example, is not generally considered to be "in public" even though those establishments are open to the general public. In some countries, such as United States, Norway, Poland, India and Sri Lanka, as well as Muslim-majority countries where alcohol is legal, public drinking is almost universally condemned or outlawed, while in other countries, such as Portugal, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Japan, Finland and China, public drinking is socially acceptable.
The world's religions have had differing relationships with alcohol. Many religions forbid alcoholic consumption or see it as sinful or negative. Others have allocated a specific place for it, such as in the Christian practice of using wine during the Eucharist rite.
Middle Eastern cuisine or West Asian cuisine includes a number of cuisines from the Middle East. Common ingredients include olives and olive oil, pitas, honey, sesame seeds, dates, sumac, chickpeas, mint, rice and parsley, and popular dishes include kebabs, dolmas, falafel, baklava, yogurt, doner kebab, shawarma and mulukhiyah.
Alcohol in Indonesia refers to the alcohol industry, alcohol consumption and laws related to alcohol in the South East Asian country of Indonesia. Indonesia is a Muslim majority country, yet it is also a pluralist, democratic and secular nation. These social and demographic conditions led to Islamic parties and pressure groups pushing the government to restrict alcohol consumption and trade, while the government carefully considers the rights of non-Muslims and consenting adults to consume alcohol, and estimates the possible alcohol ban effects on Indonesian tourism and the economy.
Alcohol in Malaysia refers to the consumption, industry and laws of alcohol in the Southeast Asian country of Malaysia. Although Malaysia is a Muslim majority country, the country permits the selling of alcohol to non-Muslims. There are no nationwide alcohol bans being enforced in the country, with the exception of Kelantan and Terengganu which is only for Muslims. The Islamic party respects the rights of non-Muslims with non-Muslim establishments like Chinese restaurants and grocery shops being excluded from such bans. The federal territory of Kuala Lumpur has the highest alcohol consumption in the country, followed by the states of Sarawak in second place and Sabah in third place.
Beer in Egypt has long held a significant role, and its presence in the country is thought to date back to the Predynastic period. In ancient Egypt wine was preferred by the upper class, whereas beer was a staple for working class Egyptians and a central part of their diet. Despite religious restrictions and conflicting views on alcohol after the Muslim conquest of Egypt, the consumption of beer did not cease, and it still remains the most popular alcoholic beverage in the country by far, accounting for 54 percent of all alcohol consumption.
Khamr is an Arabic word for wine or intoxication. It is defined as alcoholic beverages, wine, liquor.