The symbolism of wine in the spiritual life has a long and distinguished history. The use of bread and wine as ‘species’ for the Christian Holy Eucharist harks back to the ‘sacrament’ of Melchizedec, the ‘shaykh’ of the prophet Abraham.

The central doctrine of Islam is al-tawhid, Unity. God is One; there is no god but God. And the Unity of God is reflected in the universe, in the unity of nature’s laws, as well as in the uniqueness of each object in nature.