Araqi_(drink)

Araqi (drink)

Araqi (drink)

Date-liquor distilled illegally in Sudan

For the Levantine unsweetened distilled spirit, see Arak (drink).
For the East Asian liquor, sometimes also spelt "arak", see arrack.

Araqi (Arabic: عرقي, romanized: ʿaraqī; also araki, aragy)[1] is a date-liquor distilled in Sudan. The 1983 introduction of sharia in Sudan prevented licit sales of alcohol, but a black market exists to meet local demand. The drink is made by mixing dates with water and yeast, fermenting the mix, and then distilling it. It is usually drunk neat.[2]

Quick Facts Type, Country of origin ...
Boy distilling alcohol in South Sudan; most araqi is made in home stills like this.

During the war in Darfur, a number of southern Sudanese women came to the north as refugees, and found that some of the only professions available to them were prostitution or brewing araqi, the latter being a skill some already had, with a reliable market demand. A 2000 UN report noted that 80% of the women in Khartoum's women's prison were there on charges of prostitution or brewing araqi.[3]

Araqi is also popular in South Sudan, which split from Sudan in 2011 and where alcohol is legal.[4]

Home distilling can lead to methanol poisoning; 10 died and several others were blinded by a batch of incorrectly distilled araqi in East Darfur in 2017.[5]

In 2020, a new law permitted alcohol sales to non-Muslims in Sudan.[6]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "After Decades of Civil War, Can Sudan Survive Peace?". WRMEA.
  2. [2]
    "Sudan's date-gin brewers thrive despite Sharia". BBC News. 2010-04-29.
  3. [3]
    Rogaia Mustafa Abusharaf (1 August 2009). Transforming Displaced Women in Sudan: Politics and the Body in a Squatter Settlement. University of Chicago Press. pp. 73–. ISBN 978-0-226-00201-9.
  4. [4]
    ""Wine/Gin" Making in the Sudan". March 28, 2018.
  5. [5]
    "Deadly drink kills at least ten, blinds two in East Darfur". Radio Dabanga. 15 December 2017.
  6. [6]
    "Sudan legalises alcohol for non-Muslims for first time in 40 years". The Irish Times.
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