It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), those who drank wine used to be beaten with hands, sandals and sticks until the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away. During the caliphate of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) the number of such people grew compared with the era of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Would that we fixed a (set) prescribed punishment for them." So he adopted the same manner in which they used to be beaten in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) continued giving them forty lashes until his death. Then after him Sayyiduna Umar al-Faruq (may Allah be pleased with him) became caliph, and he too continued giving forty lashes in the same way, until a man from the earliest Muhajirun who had drunk wine was brought. He ordered him to be flogged, and the man said: "Why are you flogging me? Between me and you is the Book of Allah!" Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: "Where in the Book of Allah do you find that I should not flog you?" He said: "Indeed, Allah Almighty says in His Book: 'There is no sin upon those who believe and do righteous deeds for what they have eaten (or drunk)' [Surah al-Ma'idah: 93] , and I am of those who believed and did righteous deeds, then feared (Allah) and believed, then feared (Allah) and did good; I was present with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) at Badr, Hudaybiyah, the Trench and the other battles." At this Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said (to the Companions): "Will you not answer what he says?" So Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "These verses were revealed as an excuse for those who had passed away and as a proof against those who remain. Allah excused those who had gone before, because they met Allah before the prohibition of wine was revealed, while it is a proof against those who remain, because Allah Almighty says: 'O you who believe, wine, gambling, idols and divining arrows are only an abomination from the work of Satan' [Surah al-Ma'idah: 90] ." Then he recited until he completed the next verse (and said) that as for those who believed, did righteous deeds, then feared (Allah), believed and did good, Allah Almighty has forbidden (them too) from drinking wine. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "You have spoken the truth. Now what is your view?" Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Our view is that when he drinks he becomes intoxicated, when he becomes intoxicated he raves, and when he raves he fabricates slander (against people), and upon the slanderer are eighty lashes." So Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) gave the order, and he was given eighty lashes. This hadith is sahih al-isnad (its chain is authentic), but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.