Khamr

thumb|300x300px|Timurid art|Timurid painting of courtly men enjoying khamr Khamr (, plural, khumūr ), is an Arabic word for wine or intoxicant. In Islamic context, is variously defined as alcoholic beverages, wine or liquor. The position of alcohol in Islam is a complex subject in terms of its historical implementation and nuanced scholarly interpretation. While the "dominant" belief among Muslims is that consumption of alcohol in any form is forbidden, and in addition selling, transporting, serving, etc. alcohol is also a sin, there are some disagreements; for example, the Hanafi school interprets khamr to mean only certain specified beverages, rather than all intoxicants. According to Murtaza Haider of Dawn, "A consensus (ijma) on how to deal with alcohol has eluded Muslim jurists for more than a millennium".

How khamr in Islam is defined varies by the school of jurisprudence (madhhab). Most Islamic jurists have traditionally viewed it as general term for any fermented intoxicating beverage, though one school (Hanafi) has limited it to alcohol derived from dates and grapes. Over time, other intoxicants, such as opium and khat, have been classed by jurists as khamr. A minority of Muslims do drink and believe consuming alcohol is not Qur'anically forbidden. Among Alawites, an esoteric sect of Islam, Sufi Bektashis, Alevis, and Ahmadis, the consumption of alcohol is permissible. The punishment for consumption of alcohol is disagreed upon; some believe that any punishment for consuming alcohol is un-Islamic, while others believe it is flogging, though legal scholars disagree over whether the number of lashes should be 40 or 80.