Alcohol is sold freely in liquor stores in Jordan and served in bars and restaurants throughout the capital of Amman. It is also available in Muslim-majority Egypt, which is traditionally popular with tourists and is home to a Christian minority. There, the young and rich can sip on cocktails or wines in beach clubs or bars, many with foreign names, while swaying to music. Wine, beer and spirits can also be ordered online among other options. Still, drinking is rejected by most; in the Pew study, 79% of surveyed Muslims in Egypt said they viewed alcohol as morally wrong.
BREAKING THE RULES
In dry countries, some have gone to great lengths to obtain alcohol, at times risking arrest, or worse. In Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites, there have been reports of efforts to skirt the ban, including liquor runs by some to neighboring Bahrain. Attempts to sneak booze into the kingdom have over the years included bottles of whisky hidden in socks and cans of beer disguised as Pepsi. Some endeavors, however, end in tragedy. In 2002, 19 people in Saudi Arabia died and others were hospitalized after drinking cologne containing methanol. In Iran, some have also died from methanol poisoning after they drank toxic homemade brews.
DRINKING IN QATAR
Qatar, which like Saudi Arabia follows an ultraconservative version of Islam known as Wahhabism, has strict limits on the purchase and consumption of alcohol, though its sale has been permitted in hotel bars for years. During the World Cup, beer was originally supposed to be sold also at stadiums and at fan zones in the evenings. That changed Friday when it was announced that only non-alcoholic beer would be available at the stadiums, except for in the luxury hospitality areas where champagne, wine, whiskey and other alcohol is served. The vast majority of ticket holders don't have access to those areas.
The World Cup in Qatar is not the first to spur debate over whether alcohol sales should be allowed in matches. For the 2014 tournament, Brazil was forced to change a law to allow alcohol sales in stadiums - but the same cultural issues were not at play. Brazil had banned alcohol sales at soccer matches in a bid to curb fan violence. Some of those who were pushing for the ban's lifting said at the time that in-stadium beer sales were a key part of World Cup tradition.