Abstemious is a word of origin from the Latin " Abstemius " and this, in turn, from the combination of " Abs " indicates absence or deprivation and " Temetum " which translates as " Alcoholic drink ". It can be defined as a person who does not consume alcoholic beverages. There may be several factors why a person decides to stop drinking alcohol; a person becomes a teetotaler either for religious reasons, ethical, health or simple dislike of alcohol. A person who has never consumed alcohol is considered a teetotaler, therefore those who at some point have been alcoholics and have renounced it due to addiction or consequences of suffering health problems cannot be classified with this term.
In the religious world, Buddhism, Muslims and some Christian groups such as evangelicals, abstemiousness is promoted. In Buddhism it is essential to achieve greater clarity and understanding, the consumption of alcohol causes the exact opposite. When one converts to Buddhism, certain precepts are accepted and one of them is that alcohol should not be used as a way to cloud judgment and since it is what they serve for the most part, Buddhists remain abstainers.
Alcohol is prohibited in many Muslim countries by a veto prescription that appears in the Qur'an. For example, the prohibition of alcohol was carried out gradually, not immediately. The oldest verse tells the believers " Do not approach prayers with a cloudy mind, unless you can understand everything they say " (4:43), it is then a prohibition of drunkenness; "If they ask advice about wine and gambling, tell them:" There is some profit in them for men, but the sin is greater than the profit"(2: 219). However, there is a lot of diversity in the application of abstemia according to the country and the time. Saudi Arabia bans the production, importation and consumption of alcohol and imposes severe punishments on those who violate the ban: weeks or months in jail and possibly whipping and an Arabian horse. Kuwait also has laws that prohibit the consumption of alcohol, but it is not punished with lashes (but with jail). Qatar bans importation and punishes those who get drunk with jail or deportation. However, alcohol is available in the restaurants and bars of certain hotels, and foreign nationals can obtain alcohol through a permit system.
