The claim: "Alcohol and gambling are personal choices; by banning them the Qur'an intrudes on freedom."
The Qur'an's rationale: harm, benefit, and addiction
The Qur'an does not impose the ban arbitrarily but with reasons:
- Alcohol and gambling are "a filth of Satan's work." (5:90)
- Social harm: "Satan wants, through alcohol and gambling, to sow enmity and hatred among you … and bar you from the remembrance of God." (5:91)
- A weighing: "In both there is great sin and some benefits for people; their sin is greater than their benefit." (2:219) — the benefit is not denied, but the harm is judged heavier.
An honest limit
Here the Qur'an makes a value choice: it prioritises harm to the mind, health, family and society over individual pleasure. Whether personal freedom or social harm comes first is an ethical debate; modern societies too partly restrict gambling/drugs. So this is not "an irrational imposition" but a reasoned choice. Whether one finds the reasoning sufficient is the reader's evaluation.
Source: Qur'anic verses (M. Okuyan meal). Presented soberly and respectfully, with a text/interpretation distinction.