Islam, the Muslim religion founded by the Prophet Muhammad (spelt variously Mohammed, Mohamet, etc.) in the 7th century ad, has had, and continues to have, the most profound effect on the history of wine. The consumption of any alcoholic drink was prohibited by Muhammad so that wine is neither officially consumed nor enthusiastically produced in most of the Near and Middle East, some of North Africa, and parts of Asia. Wine is therefore no longer produced in much of the land most closely associated with the origins of viniculture, and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the late 20th century represents a considerable constraint on the world’s wine consumption.
