It should be noted that the gradual introduction and
application of certain laws which require followers to abandon their
time-honored laws and practices to which they have been accustomed is not new
in this Dispensation. This gradual introduction of laws may be found also in
earlier religions. For example, the consumption of alcohol was common among the
Arabs during the days of Muhammad. The Qur'an decrees prohibition of drinking
alcohol in stages. Muhammad introduced the prohibition of alcohol in a
progressive manner. At first, He said that there are advantages and
disadvantages in drinking, but that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages
(see Qur'an 2:219). Some time later, He counselled His followers not to perform
obligatory prayers if they were intoxicated (see Qur'an 4:43), and finally,
when people became accustomed to these restrictive measures, He forbade
drinking altogether (see Qur'an 5:89).
(From a Memorandum by the Research
Department of the Universal House of Justice in a Memorandum dated 27 June
1996)
