The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate that the commonly held prohibition of alcohol did not prevent some members of the Muslim community from consuming intoxicating drinks. Specifically, this thesis will examine the consumption of wine in the Islamic world from the birth of the Prophet Muhammad (c. 570 CE) through the end of the reign of al-Ma'mun (218/833). Chapter 1 presents an overview of the presence and consumption of wine prior to the birth of Muhammad. It will be demonstrated that wine was a social and sometimes religious norm within the dominions that Islam was to dominate within a generation after Muhammad's death. Chapter 2 explores the prohibition of wine itself as revealed in the Qur'an and portrayed in literature. Chapter 3 examines the reigns of the Rashidun Caliphs and their efforts to come to terms with some parts of the community that were unwilling to cease drinking all forms of wine. Chapter 4 details evidence of continued wine consumption in the Umayyad Era and Chapter 5 similarly for the 'Abbasid era with an overview of the development of the law with respect to the use of wine.