During the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), the fixed legal punishment (Hadd) for a person who drank alcohol was that people would hit him with their sandals and whatever was in their hands.In this Hadith, `Abd Ar-Rahman ibn Al-Azhar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "A man who had drunk alcohol was brought to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)," meaning the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) brought to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) a man who had drunk alcohol, "while he was at Hunayn," meaning during the Battle of Hunayn, and Hunayn is a valley between Mecca and Ta'if, where the famous battle took place on the fifth of Shawwal in the eighth year of Hijrah, the year of the Conquest of Mecca, and it was against Hawazin. "He threw dust in his face," meaning the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) took dust in his hand and threw it in the face of the drinker as a rebuke and disapproval of his drinking alcohol. "then ordered his Companions to strike him with their sandals and whatever they had in their hands," - another narration reads: "They hit him with what was in their hands; some hit him with a whip, some with a stick, and some with their sandals" - as a punishment for drinking alcohol. `Abd Ar-Rahman (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Until he said to them," meaning until the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to his Companions: "Stop," meaning cease hitting him, "and they stopped," meaning they ceased in response to the Prophet's (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) command. "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) passed away" indicating that he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not specify a fixed punishment for drinking alcohol. "Then Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) lashed for alcohol forty times," meaning he set the punishment for drinking alcohol at forty lashes. "Then `Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) lashed forty," meaning following the punishment of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), "at the beginning of his reign," meaning for a period during his caliphate, "then he lashed eighty at the end of his caliphate," meaning he set the punishment for alcohol at eighty lashes. "Then `Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) lashed," meaning during his caliphate, "both punishments, eighty and forty, then Mu`awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) confirmed," meaning he established for the people during his caliphate, "the punishment of eighty lashes." In a narration, the reason for `Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) setting the punishment at eighty is mentioned. `Abd Ar-Rahman ibn Al-Azhar said: "Khalid ibn Al-Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to him: 'The people have indulged in drinking and belittled the punishment and penalty.' He said: 'They are with you, so ask them,' and with him were the early emigrants (Muhajirun), so he asked them, and they unanimously agreed that it should be eighty lashes.".