The OP has fallen into the common trap of applying the Christian concept of sin to the Islamic context.  Christianity is generally a binary system of sins.  Things are forbidden or they are not.  Islamic is full of more subtle interpretations.  Things are good and bad, some worse or better than others.  This allows for contradictions, such as an Islamic wine jug.  I chalk this up to how the hadith were compiled.<p>This medieval jug can also no more tell us about &quot;Islam&quot; than a pot from 13th century Ireland can tell us about Lutheranism .  At best they are tiny snapshots within an epic history.