Philosopher:Muslim fundamentalists should 'drink wine to learn tolerance'

[link to www.telegraph.co.uk]

Muslim fundamentalists should "learn how to drink wine" because it would make them more tolerant, according to a philosopher.


By Lucy Cockcroft
Published: 3:58PM GMT 03 Feb 2010
Fundamentalists should drink wine, according to Roger Scruton
Fundamentalists should drink wine, according to Roger Scruton Photo: Ian Jones

Roger Scruton, 65, urged "lunatic fundamentalists who have set their heart on giving Islam a bad name" to imbibe, although it is considered against their religion, claiming it would help them to a more moderate view.

Dr Scruton's statement is part of an article in the latest issue of Decanter, the international wine magazine, in which he argues for the Latin maxim 'in vino veritas', or from wine comes truth.

He has found himself at the centre of controversy in the past after alleging that multicultural living was a mistake, an opinion which led to him being accused of racism and xenophobia.

The philosopher, a research professor for the Institute for the Psychological Sciences in both Washington and Oxford, considers himself one of the first to "extract the philosophical truth in wine", which is the topic of his new book 'I Drink Therefore I Am'.

He observes that the most important thing about wine is the reality that is contained within it, rather than "what you blurt out under its influence."

Dr Scruton, also a wine critic for the New Statesman, laments the passing of the "laughing, tolerant" phase of Islam, as demonstrated in The Thousand and One Nights, the collection of Arabic folk tales.

He also cites wine-loving Muslim philosophers like the 11th century Ibn Sina, also known as Avicenna, who is claimed to have called wine "the best friend of wise people."

To find that tolerance again he believes "Muslims must learn again to drink, and should be piously applying themselves to the task."

Until that happens, Dr Scruton contends, the Koran will continue to be misinterpreted, and the truth that life "is not a fact but a gift" will never be recognised.

"Without the benefit of wine it is hard to seize this truth; harder still to recognise the obligation that it imposes, to be gentle with others, and to allow them their own space," he writes.

His views will anger many Muslims, who generally consider alcohol to be haram, or forbidden.

Ajmal Masroor, from the Islamic Society of Britain, said: "I wonder, has he made these comments while sober or intoxicated?

"Mr Scruton is entitled to his opinions, but it seems to me he just wants to make a headline. This is not a comment I, or most Muslims, will be giving much thought to."