| ID | 183756 |
| Title Proper | Introduction |
| Other Title Information | alcohol production and consumption in the modern Middle East |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Matthee, Rudi |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Primarily proscribed for its effect – mind-clouding intoxication – in the Quran, alcohol has nevertheless been consumed in surprisingly large quantities in traditional Islamic culture and society, its lure enhanced by the very rejection it labored under. Drinking was widespread among rulers and elites, from the time of the early Islamic empires, the Umayyads and the Abbasids in the so-called classical age (661-1258), to the early modern ones, the Ottomans in West Asia, the Balkans, and North Africa, the Safavids and the Qajars in Iran, and the Mughals in South Asia. Most sultans and shahs were serious revelers, and booze was inherently part of their carousing. Commoners tended not to imbibe, but to the extent that they did, it was part of a subculture of subterfuge and furtiveness, with men sneaking off to taverns located in back alleys in the non-Muslim quarters of town, dark haunts run by Armenians, Greeks, or Jews. |
| `In' analytical Note | Middle Eastern Studies Vol. 58, No.2; Mar 2022: p.245-255 |
| Journal Source | Middle Eastern Studies Vol: 58 No 2 |