Islamic Center of Southern California

The Arguments of Islamic Law Rulings on Recent Medical Issues

Topic Twenty Nine

Alcohol and Drug Dependence (Addiction)

Definition

Genetic studies have established beyond any doubt that genetic susceptibility plays the major role in increasing the consumption of alcoholic drinks, i.e. addiction, although the main factors of social drinking are the cultural environment, the profession, and the early educational experience. As for drug dependence, acknowledging social factors, specialists differ on identifying the major factor of drug addiction, advancing two theories.

The first theory is that drug addiction depends on a psychological factor. Basically an addictive personality is one that seeks to satisfy a desire to escape from reality and find pleasure in a world of fantasy.

The second theory is that drug addiction depends on metabolic effects, which are the chemical reactions in human cells due to nutrient absorption. A neural susceptibility is connected to the change in response to narcotics.

The Legal Position Chosen by the IOMS

The only paper submitted to the fourth seminar, held in 1988 under the title of "Health Policy: Ethics and Human Values," was "Alcohol and Narcotic Dependence" by Dr. Zaki Hassan. It says:

Islam focused in particular on alcohol, being the only drug that was habit forming and that led to dependence in the early Islamic society. We should take this into consideration when we look into the consumption of narcotics in the Islamic World, since the prohibition of alcohol was gradual.

The discussion of that papers included no comments on how addiction affects the ruling of Islamic Law.

The fourth session was concluded without any recommendations. Islamic Center of Southern California