Question:
Did the Prophet call for the killing of repeat drunkards?
Answer:
The narration of Mu`awiyah ibn Abu Sufyan who related that the Prophet (s) said: If they (the people) drink wine, flog them, again if they drink it, flog them. Again if they drink it, kill them.(Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, and Ahmad) was said by Imam al-Tirmidhi to have been an early ruling which was later abrogated.
Tirmidhi then narrated from Jabir ibn `Abd Allah that the Prophet (s) had a fourth-time recidivist flogged. He narrates the same from another Companion, Qabisa ibn Dhu’ayb, from the Prophet, upon him peace. Tirmidhi then states: “And this [abrogation] is the position of the totality of the people of knowledge as far as we know, without exception.”
Hajj Gibril Haddad
