Alcohol, defined

Submitted by Rebecca Moulds (United States), Mar 2, 2009 at 11:18

Looking up several ideas for the origin of the word "alcohol" I stopped at the one on Wikipedia: wikianswers.com/Q/How_did_the_word_'alcohol'_originate. According to Wiki, the word is from the Arabic "al-kuhul" (kohl) "the pure spirit of anything." That this word is most likely Arabic is not the issue, but just an interesting fact.

However, because now the word "alcohol" usually means a spirit, whether for topical use or for imbibing, nevertheless the importance of alcohol cannot be dissed. It is also quite versatile in that it has so many properties---imagine adding it to petrol to fuel our cars, using it in cosmetics and also drinking it, to mention just a few uses. This latest opinion from Mohammed an-Najimi is just that--an opinion, and a totally unsubstantiated one. Nit-picking to find a fault with something is not justification for abstaining from it.

Although personally I find the addition of ethanol of no importance or advantage except to stretch the actual petrol usage, there is nothing morally wrong with it. The problem with people such as an-Najimi is that they are fuelling their lives by trying to find the fault in others, rather than taking out the mote in their own eyes first.

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