The Quran states in Surah Al-Ma'idah (5:90-91):
"O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful. Satan only wants to cause between you animosity and hatred through intoxicants and gambling and to avert you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. So will you not desist?"
This prohibition, revealed in the 7th century, appears today as a health protection remarkably ahead of its time. Modern science indeed documents, massively and consensually, the harms of alcohol on human health.
The World Health Organization (WHO) establishes that alcohol causes at least seven types of cancer, affecting the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, breast (in women), liver and colorectum. Both ethanol and its metabolite, acetaldehyde, are recognized as carcinogenic to humans.
The United States Surgeon General published in 2025 a scientific advisory confirming the causal link between alcohol consumption and increased risk of at least seven types of cancer. Even moderate consumption — one drink per day — is associated with elevated risk.
Beyond cancers, alcohol is a major factor in liver disease (steatosis, alcoholic hepatitis, cirrhosis), brain damage, cardiovascular disorders, depression and anxiety, as well as alcohol use disorders (addiction).
The Quran calls wine "khamr" (خمر), a term etymologically denoting what "veils" or "covers" the mind. This intuition — that alcohol impairs discernment — is confirmed by modern neurobiology, which shows that ethanol depresses the central nervous system and disrupts cognitive functions and judgment.
The convergence between the Quranic prohibition and scientific data is here among the strongest possible. One nuance should nonetheless be noted: the religious prohibition is absolute, while science speaks of "harm reduction" and consumption thresholds. But on the fundamental finding — that alcohol is harmful to human health — the scientific consensus is indisputable.
Note of caution: The convergence is very strong and consensual. The only nuance is that modern science reasons in terms of harm reduction and doses, whereas the Quranic prohibition is total. The finding of harm, for its part, is beyond doubt.