Prohibition of Intoxicants in the Quran

Some people claim that intoxicants are not prohibited in the Quran. These individuals often utilize the following verse to back up this claim:

4:43 O you who believe, do not observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) while intoxicated, so that you know what you are saying…

يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَقْرَبُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَأَنْتُمْ سُكَارَىٰ حَتَّىٰ تَعْلَمُوا مَا تَقُولُونَ

The assumption from this verse is the belief that one can be intoxicated as long as they are not intoxicated, despite the fact that this is not what the verse states. The verse only states not to perform your Salat while you are intoxicated, and doesn’t indicate that when someone is not doing their Salat they can be intoxicated. In order to come to this understanding, they have to over extrapolate what the verse states.

The Quran is not a single verse. It is an accumulation of 6234 verses. If we read a verse in isolation and formulate an understanding that contradicts another verse, then it is proof that our understanding needs to be refined.

This is what we see when we read the following verse which warns us warns against taking a single verse in isolation to form an understanding that contradicts other verses of the Quran: