An-Nisa 4:43
Tafseer of the verse:
“O you who believe! Approach not As-Salât (the prayer) when you are in a drunken state until you know (the meaning) of what you utter,...” [The Noble Qur’aan, Soorah An-Nisa 4:43]
It was narrated from ‘Alee ibn Abee Taalib (may Allaah be pleased with him) that an Ansaaree man invited him and ‘Abdur – Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf, and offered them wine before the prohibition of Khamr was revealed. ‘Alee lead them in Maghrib prayer, and recited: Say ‘O you disbelievers!... (Al – Kaafiroon 109), but he was confused in it. Then the verse, ‘O you who believe! Approach not Salaat when you are intoxicated until you know (the meaning) of what you utter (An – Nisaa’ 4:43)’ was revealed.”
[Sunan Aboo Daawood, Volume 4, Book 25, Hadeeth Number 3,671, p. 222; Classed as Hasan by Haafiz Aboo Taahir Zubayr ‘Alee Za’i, Darussalam Publishers, [English Translation], 2008]
Aboo ‘Abdur – Rahmaan As – Sulamee narrated that ‘Alee ibn Abee Taalib (may Allaah be pleased with him) said, “‘Abdur – Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf prepared some food for which he invited us, and he gave us some wine to drink. The wine began (to) affect us when it was time for Salaat. So they encouraged me (to lead) and I recited: ‘Say: O you disbelievers! I do not worship what you worship, and we worship what you worship’ – and Allaah, the Most High, revealed, ‘O you who believe! Do not approach Salaat when you are in a drunken state until you know what you are saying (An – Nisaa’ 4:43)’.”
[Jaami’ at – Tirmithee, Volume 5, Book 44, Hadeeth number 3,026; Imaam Tirmithee said, “This hadeeth is Hasan Ghareeb Saheeh.” Classed as Hasan by Haafiz Aboo Taahir Zubayr ‘Alee Za’i, Darussalam Publishers, [English Translation], 2008]
Haafiz Aboo Taahir Zubayr ‘Alee Za’i commented on the hadeeth as follows:
“A drunkard loses senses and consciousness in the state of being drunk; in this state he does not know what he is saying, and he is unaware of the positive or negative promise with Allaah. As ‘Alee was drunk, he said some words in favour of the disbelievers unknowingly; and this Aayah of Soorat An – Nisaa’ was revealed concerning this.
It is also known from this Hadih that if one is overwhelmed by sleep and they are unaware of what is coming out of their mouth, one should then delay the prayer until the senses and consciousness has returned to their normal state.”