Alcohol

[Minimalist]

Pretty much for the same reason that pork is not kosher. Just some stupid man-made rule.

[kılıç_mehmet]

Yes, one can drink and still be moslem.
However, by doing so, you're sinning, and must make a tövbe, renounce your prior sins and ask for forgiveness, and stop doing it. Then you are absolved of all prior sins.

There are no verses in the Qur'an that strictly prohibit drinking. However, the sunnah and hadith can be explained in the form that drinking alcohol is haram.

I am a heavy drinker, and was so ever since, just as my ancestors were heavy drinkers of kumyz made of mare's milk.
However, I must say that our non-moslem ancestors have also shunned drunkards and excessive drinking. I follow their example in not becoming drunk and shaming myself in that process, for I see people that act in ways that are shameful for a person to act in a drunken haze.

In my view, also in the views of Chingiss Khan, a man who drinks not, is a man of clear mind. But with peer pressure I feel compelled to having a few glasses of beer, or going further, bottles of wine and raki, and often take part in competitions between friends.
Why it has been made haram, we can not know for sure.
But we can all agree that drinking in itself is not the best act to be encouraged.

Thanks for the input. I usually can go months without alcohol and usually that is only a beer or two, but even then, I would not feel the need to be repent so it would be extremely hypocritical for me to do so given my full intention to drink again at some later date.

I do want to try kumis one day.

Is the consumption of alcohol a big issue in Turkey?

Well, the consumption of alcohol is a social issue in Turkey, first and foremost of all. Alcohol is sold in most shops, and there are bars and discos in every city. It's as much as a big issue in Turkey as it's in the US.
It's even less of an issue: We do not have to wait until we're 21.
I for example, had my first beer at the age of eleven, although we drank it together with friends. No one really asks you how old you are or for an ID.
However, it is somewhat expensive, and generally left for special occasions, unless you want to drink the really cheap stuff, for the sake of becoming drunk. And then people ask you if you have a problem. You have to do a lot of explaining for that one.
But on social occasions, those who drink, drink. Our drinking tables are generally the talk of everyone. Especially if you sit at my table, for I only drink with refined and renown guests.

[Minimalist]

We were served some truly excellent Turkish red wine near Ephesos.

[kılıç_mehmet]

We were served some truly excellent Turkish red wine near Ephesos.

The wines of the region are well known. But the best wine can be drank in places unknown. Those are made by the alevis, aged within pots of clay who are buried deep beneath the earth. A single pot of that wine is very expensive, yet these are so great in taste, that one does not wish to drink any other sort of wine anymore. I have not yet tasted one, but a friend of mine said that it was the best wine he had ever tasted.

[Polaris]

Pretty much for the same reason that pork is not kosher. Just some stupid man-made rule.

Well it is speculated that certain food was deemed unclean due to not having proper refrigeration in that area. There are also rules that tell not to touch a dead animal I believe. It is about sanitation IMO....the one that makes the least sense is the mixing of meat and dairy...I think that maybe more to do with the fact both come from the same animal and it was seen as...wait NVM, it does not matter at all.

[Napoléon]

I don't really agree with alcohol, I know that would make me seem snooty and somewhat self-righteous but I'm certainly not. The problem I have with it is that the rationale of a person becomes compromised by drug use and I'd find it very hard to justify sacrificing what I'd consider to be the defining quality of humanity in order to simply be more social or have fun or whatever. No good may come of this.

You are a:

[Rev. Rye]

Actually, there is one verse in the Quran which explicitly denounces alcohol.

The Noble Qur'an - Al-Ma'idah 5:91

Shaitân (Satan) wants only to excite enmity and hatred between you with intoxicants (alcoholic drinks) and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of Allâh and from As-Salât (the prayer). So, will you not then abstain?

In the Hadith, there are more denunciations against Alcohol, as seen here.

[Erinome]

Catholicism is the perfect religion for drinking. The first time I got drunk was at an anniversary party in the cafeteria of the church/elementary school, post a special mass in honor of said anniversary, at the behest of my family. I was.... very young.

If you're going to believe a bunch of stupid crap, you might as well get wasted. You're already wasted.

[Rev. Rye]

Catholicism is the perfect religion for drinking. The first time I got drunk was at an anniversary party in the cafeteria of the church/elementary school, post a special mass in honor of said anniversary, at the behest of my family. I was.... very young.

If you're going to believe a bunch of stupid crap, you might as well get wasted. You're already wasted.

And there's an order of monks which not only brews beer, but brews beer which is commonly considered to be among the best in the world. They're called the Trappists, and I actually once wrote a short story that was set in a beer-brewing monastery.

[Minimalist]

Well it is speculated that certain food was deemed unclean due to not having proper refrigeration in that area.

No one had refrigeration and beef spoils just as much as pork.

Did you ever stop to think that the ban on pork may have originated simply because the creators of the "ban" did not raise pigs? Humans find lots of ways to create differences among people. The fact that one group raises and eats pigs and one group does not seems a natural.