Egypt: King Abdullah's Glass of Wine

A rumor has been spreading in the blogosphere, accompanied with a photograph of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia showing him seated beside US President George W Bush while holding a glass of wine in his hand. And as you all know, alcohol is prohibited in Islam, and it is a sin to drink or even stay in a place where it is being served or available.

King Abdullah\'s Glass

Abu Ammar (Lukmet Eish) wrote here:

هل رأيتم صورة الملك السعودى وهو يتناوب ويشارك مع الرئيس الأمريكى المنتهية ولايته سيء الذكر جورج بوش كؤوس الخمر .. نعم إنها كأس الخمر هل رايتم تلك الصورة يا أصحاب الفضائيات الدينية ، هل رأيتم تلك الصورة يا رجال الدين فى كل الدنيا ، إياكم أن تقولوا أن الملك أخذها كتقليد ولم يشربها وربما يكون هذا صحيحا ، لكن ألم يكن من الأولى أن يرفض الجلوس على مائدة يشرب عليها الخمر ، ومن قبل فعلها السيد محمد خاتمى الذى رفض زيارة لفرنسا بسبب تقديم الخمر على مائدة الطعام والسؤال الذى يطرح نفسه ماذا لو كان هذا الأمر من عامة المواطنين كنا سمعنا صراخا من مشايخنا الكرام الذين لا يستأسدون إلا على أمثالنا شأنهم شأن الحكومات العربية يضربون شعوبهم بالأحذية ، لكنهم مثل النعام إذا وجهت لهم إهانة من الأعداء وهذا الذى يحدث من هيئة الأمر بالمعروف والنهى عن المنكر الذين يجلدون الأطباء المصريين فماذا هم فاعلون فى كأس الملك
Have you seen the photographs of the King of Saudi Arabia drinking with the the ill mentioned President of the United States, George Bush, whose term will end soon? Yes, it was a glass of wine. Have those clerics and religious satellite channel owners seen this picture. Please don't start telling me that it was just some kind of custom, and that the King was just holding the glass without drinking from it. He would have better refused to be seated in such place where alcohol is presented. Mr. Mohamed Khatami – the former president of Iran – did it before and refused attend an event in France because alcohol was served in a meal. What if it was an ordinary citizen and not the King? I am sure the clerics then wouldn't have remained silent like they are now. Are they only brave when it comes to us, and they are just the Arab governments who only punish their citizens but not the rulers. The Saudi authorities have sentenced some Egyptian doctors living there to prison and ordered for them to be whipped, and I am really eager to see how will they act towards the King's glass of wine.

And also Nawara (Tahyyes) wrote here about the incident:

يا فضيحتي؟ بتشرب خمرة يا سعادة التقي
هي حصلت خمرة على الملأ؟
What a scandal! Are you drinking alcohol Mr. Religious One?
How dare you drink wine in public!?

And although, Nawara's post was so brief, a huge debate was started in the commenting section on her blog. Some bloggers, like Tafatefo, were against the post, and he wrote:

بس الصوره دي شايفها امبارح عند واحد .. وقلتله حرام عليك .. مين قالك انها خمره
وكنت فاكر ان حضرتك شفتيها .. وقلتي انها يمكن مش خمره
بس حضرتك مش أهل للوقوع واتهام الناس بالشبهات
I saw the photo yesterday at someone's blog, and told him, how can you be that sure that it is wine?
I thought you also saw it and expected you to give yourself a break, and not to be that sure that it is wine.
You are not supposed to accuse people without solid evidences.

I personally don't think the photograph is clear enough, and it is really hard to tell if it is wine or not.

13 comments

  • Wine glasses are abundant in Saudi Arabia; wine, not so much.

    Grape juice, ‘Saudi champagne’, and other drinks are served in wine glasses simple because they’re more ‘elegant’. There is no way to tell from a photograph what is in any given glass. I think it’s grape juice. Anyone care to prove me wrong?

  • […] Does King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia drink wine? […]

  • Drunk

    The Saudi King is a clear example for the failure of islam as a religion, he needs to bow his head 2 more centimeters and it will hit the ground

    كما أنتم يولّى عليكم

    Yalla what slave will sign next, who is the new SADAT? kneel down muslims kneel down , even to wine

    Failures
    Fachiloon li diyanatin fachila !

  • Drunk

    to John Burgess:
    saudi arabia is stabbing all the islamic world in the back, backing up the american interests and working against the palestinians who’ land was stolen, can you proove me wrong, a glass of wine is nothing compard to that, after all the Land of the Prophet, is occupied by the americans ………….. the integrity of mecca isn’t enough

  • Evil Yankee

    ياجماعة ليش متفاجئين ، كأنو شي جديد ، عادي

  • jeff parker

    he drinks and they all drink. they are a bunch of hypocrites. why his daughters walk without head covered but in saudi arabia he gives women death penalty for driving or not covering face?

    he just come to my town last week and his sons drink wine and he also does it in Chester’s over here…. Jalal talabani of iraq also comes here and does the same thing….

    here is a link.
    http://www.startribune.com/local/34749324.html?elr=KArks:DCiUHc3E7_V_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

  • salaam
    i agree with the picture not being published enough to recognise whether its wine or just a grape juice…but if it is wine then we cant have such individuals running islamic countries as they are at authority to set good examples to society to individualise the ummah and islam…and for the attacks on palestine im totally against them.how can one take anothers life just like that they dont have a right killing all those innocent poeple…according to islam all muslims should stick besides one another and inshallah will defeat them with bad intentions etc.so why arent all the muslim ummah signing petitions and going to the aid of the people of palestine and mny other islamic countries..they are the lands of our beloved prophets salalahu alayhe wasalams so why arent we helping to protect what is rightfully belongings of islam.we cant let kafirs become rulers of these lands…help everyone in need and pray for them if you cant go further thats more than enough for them..live a good life and live by the sunnah…they kafir did bad with our beloved prophets so dont let them take advantage of his ummah today.if he was here today he wouldnt let his ummah down he’d support them in everyway he can.he wouldnt hurt or let anyone hurt them..think about it and take action today..tc salaam

  • Basheer

    Plesase dear brothers stop this froud message
    anybody can prove this with solid proofs?
    that is first
    secondly, even if it is true, this is not the way to respond.
    we are muslims. we have to follow the prophetic way.
    a number of hadeeth in saheeh muslim mentioning how to respond to bad rulers ! please check before spreading such mails.

  • Mr khatami never had win as Drink,it was just water.
    Fundamentalists in Iran claimed he had win on the glass to make pressure against him.

  • Raza

    Please see the video here:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7yhR20ny7k

    If you pause on 7 seconds, you will notice that his goblet is of a clear liquid. Only when he moves it in front of the yellow chair that it appears yellow. So in all likelihood it could be water. All kinds of cases can be made about the Saudi family’s private and political behavior. But that should not be a reason to accuse him of drinking if there is not solid proof.

    Holy Quran (5:8) “let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to piety.”

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