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219. " they ask you concerning wine and gambling. say:
`there is a great sin in both of them, and (some) profits for people;
but their sin is greater than their profit'.
they ask you as to what they should spend. say:
`whatsoever can be spared'.
thus does allah make the signs clear to you,
in order that you may ponder."

commentary:
the statement in this verse is about two questions and their divine
answers. the first question is about `wine' and `gambling', thus:

"they ask you concerning wine and gambling. ..."

the term `khamr' in arabic lexicon means `a cover' , hence the
veil that women wear to cover their heads to observe ` hijab ' , it is
called ` khimar '. since the alcoholic beverages often delude the ability
of the distinction of the person who drinks and, in fact, it covers the
wisdom, in arabic language that kind of liquor is called `khamr'.

the term `maysir' is derived from the arabic word /yusr/ which
means: `ease, easiness, and facility', as if, in gambling, each of the two
parties wants to take the wealth of the other easily.
in answer to the question of some believers about wine and
gambling, the verse, addressing the prophet (p.b.u.h.), says:

" ... say: `there is a great sin in both of them,
and (some) profits for people; ..."

this profit maybe refers to those interests that the producers of
wine obtain through planting vineyards or preparing raisins for wine, or
selling wine; or the money taken as taxes, charges, and custom-duties;
or the profit some gain by establishing game-houses. but the sin and
interior loss of these two is graver than their exterior profits.

here are a few disadvantages resulting in drinking wine and
gambling listed in some commentary books:

1. shortening the lifetime

2. the negative effects on the procreation of babies specially if
the intercourse of the couple happens when the person is intoxicated.

3. the spread of immorality and the increase in the number of
crimes such as: theft, combat, murder, sexual offenses, and dangerous
driving accidents.

one of the scholars expert in natural science has said: " if
governments in the drunkard nations close half of the vintneries, we will
be able to close half of the hospitals and psychiatric asylums."

gambling is also known among the causes of: disturbance,
neurasthenic diseases, apoplexies  cerebral and hemacardiorrhagia, the
increase of heartbeats, inappetence, paleness, and so on. those who
deal with the factors of crimes (in some societies) have formally issued
that about thirty percent of the number of crimes are related to
gambling.

by the way, gambling surely has a destructive function in the
development of economics, because it wastes the mirth of the useful
work.

gambling has been announced forbidden and illegal in some of
non-islamic countries during the recent years. in england, for instance,
that law passed to be executed in 1853, in america in 1855 (where it is
again now practiced in some states), in russia in 1854, and in germany
it passed in 1873.
the second question is regarding to the quality of /`afw/ `charity',
when the prophet (p.b.u.h.) is asked about:

" ...they ask you as to what they should spend. say:
' whatsoever can be spared.'
thus does allah make the signs clear to you,
in order that you may ponder."

in the arabic dictionary, the term /`afw/ , in addition to the sense
of `pardon' and `forgiveness', means: `moderation, superfluous goods,
and the best thing of the wealth'. each of these meanings is fitting in the
verse; and the purpose of the term /`afw/, here, may conclude all of
these senses. that is, if you desire to spend, you should observe both
moderation, and do not disburse all your property as charity so that
thereafter you yourself become needy, and when you give something to
someone, give that of your most beloved things; for the qur'an says:
" by no means shall you attain to righteousness until you spend
(benevolently) out of what you love; ... " , (sura `al-i-`imran, no.3,
verse 92).

explanations:
1- when dealing a thing, we must be just. the verse does not
connive the profits of wine and gambling, but it propounds the subject
so that it animates the power and faculty of contemplation and
meditation in us.

2- both wine and gambling are the means of destruction of body
and soul. they are both causes of failure, so, they have come together in
the qur'an.

3- protect both wisdom and peace. with the prohibition of wine,
wisdom and contemplation has been protected; and by the prohibition
of gambling, the safety of peace and spiritual and economical security
have been guarded.

4- as the commentary books indicate, at the advent of islam, the
prohibition of wine had been introduced step by step until when it was
fully performed throughout the islamic society.

at the call of islam, people habitually used to drink wine
although it had been forbidden in the former religions. the divine
messages gradually made them ready to accept its prohibition. in sura
an-nahl, no.16, verse 67 the revelation says: "and of the fruits of the
palms and the grapes  you obtain from them intoxication and goodly
provision; ...", which means you may obtain both spirituous liquor and
good provision from grapes, i.e., spirituous liquor is not a good
provision.

after that, concerning wine and gambling, the verse under
discussion was sent down, saying that their harm, in comparison, is more
than their profits:

" ... there is a great sin in both of them, and (some) profits for people;
but their sin is greater ..."

then, in another occurrence, a different verse of the holy qur'an
was revealed, (sura an-nisa', no.4, verse 43), and commanded
muslim believers:

" ... do not go near prayer when you are intoxicated."

and, finally, the prohibition of wine was completely made
manifest and perpetual when the word of allah announced in sura
al-ma'idah, no. 5, verse 90, thus:

"... intoxications and gambling ... are only an uncleanness,
the satan's work; ..."

there are so many traditions and narrations from the prophet
(p.b.u.h.) and also from the holy imams (a.s.) condemning the use of
wine and as to what a miserable fate awaites the individual on the day
of judgement.
the holy prophet (p.b.u.h.), for example, is narrated to have said:

" all intoxicants are prohibited; and, curse of allah is on liquor, on him who
manufactures it, on him who helps its manufactures, on its seller, its
purchaser, its distributor, the user of its money, its loader, its bearer, and its
consumer." 1

1 al-kafi, vol. 6, p. 398