"Drawing from revelatory, legal, historical, and exegetical documents from the Sunni and Shi'ite traditions, this book considers the Islamic condemnation of wine. Comparing the documents of the early period of Islam to Judaic and Christian works from the same era, Kueny (religious studies, Lawrence University) examines the rhetoric surrounding the proscription of wine, its marginalization and prohibition. This examination is used to elucidate the underlying strategies of conflict resolution, meaning construction, governance, spirituality, and identity, as they were present in early Muslim societies."

Qur'anic Vignettes of the Vine: Prophetic Discourse and the Signs for Those Who Know --Finding the Perfect World: Analytic Discourse and the Quest for Order -- Links to a Sacred Past: Narrative Discourse and the Refining of Communal Identity -- A Brief Word on the Poetic Portrayal of Wine -- Wine and Mystical Utterance -- Conclusions and Future Comparative Directions.