Introduction
Discovery Of Tobacco
Tobacco was discovered by the
Spanish sailors on the American shores at about 1500 CE (900 AH). Since its
discovery, the epidemic of smoking has continued to spread all over the world. In
our times, one seldom finds a house not afflicted by it.
As early as the Seventeenth
Century, the European countries realized the dangers of smoking and fought
against it Laws were ordained in
Nowadays, the Western countries
continue their attempts to protect their peoples from the harms of smoking.
They employ media means, ordain laws and regulations, and apply other methods
to discourage people from smoking. Because of that, the rate of smokers has
declined to a certain degree in those countries.
Smoking Among
Muslims
Smoking was introduced to the
Muslim countries by the Europeans around 1000 AH. Its spread among the Muslims
was similar to that in the West. The unfortunate fact, however, is that in the
Muslim countries, no similar measures were exerted to protect the people from
it. To the contrary, the media continues to adom smoking and encourage people
to do it. This caused the epidemic of smoking to continue to spread in those
countries to such an extent that it has become hard to control.
Smoking has become the rule, and
abstaining from it the exception. Often, people look with astonishment and
disdain at a person who when a cigarette is offered to him, declines to smoke
explaining that he does not smoke.
Offering cigaretles to the guests
has become among the first rules of hospitality. Anyone who does not offer them
to his guests or insist on them to smoke would be violating the ethics of
hospitality and generosity!
Furthermore, some of those who
pretend to represent the Deen are among the worst addicts to smoking. When they
are reproached or reminded of their vice, they respond by providing weak
excuses to justify it in the name of Islaam. They slyly remark that there is no
clear text prohibiting smoking. Therefore, they conclude, smoking is not
prohibited, but is only makruh (disliked). By this, they provide a poor excuse
for the ignorant, and establish a very bad example for others.
Many Muslims have been influenced
by such statements, falling into the snares of addiction to smoking. This is
observed all over the world. A striking example is that all American airlines
now prohibit smoking, even on most international flights; on the other hand,
for Muslim airlines, one travels in a near-suffocation state, even on short
trips, because of the high number of smokers.
Thus, it becomes incumbent to
write an article which provides evidence concerning the ruling of smoking in
Islam. We hope that this will benefit our Muslim brothers and sisters; and we
ask Allah (T) to accept it from us as a sincere deed for His pleasure.
Definition
Smoking refers to the action of
lighting a cigarette, a pipe, a cigar, a water pipe, or any other object made
from tobacco or materials of similar effects. The object is then sucked on with
the lips to extract smoke. This smoke is inhaled into the chest and then
exhaled from the nose and mouth as a thick white smoke. "Smoking" is
now used to refer to the action of producing this smoke in English, Arabic, and
other languages.
Evidence for the Prohibition of Smoking
There are many reasons, any one of
which aufficient to rule smoking prohibited. Most importantly, it is harmful in
numerous ways. It is harmful to the Deen, health, environment, family,
brotherhood and social relations, property, etc. The following sections will
briefly outline some of its harms and evils.
Haram To The Deen
Smoking spoils a person's acts of
worship and reduces their rewards. For instance, it spoils the prayer, which is
the pillar of Deen. Allah's Messenger 
said: Whoever
eats garlic or onion, let him avoid us and our masjid, and stay in his home.
The angels are surely hurt by things that hurt the human beings.
Those with clean and undefiled
fitrah (nature) have no doubt that the smell emanating from the mouth of a
smoker is worse and more foul than that from the mouth of one who ate garlic or
onion. Thus, a smoker is in between two options, either to harm the praying
people and the angels with his foul smell, or miss the prayer in jama'ah.
Smoking also spoils fasting.
Fasting is very hard for the smoker. As soon as the day is over, he hastens to
break his fast on an evil cigarette instead of sweet dates or pure water. Even
if he fasts through the month Ramadan, a smoker is reluctant to fast on other
days. Thus he loses the great reward of those who fast even one day in Allah's
way.
Harm To The Human
Body
No one can deny the harm of
smoking to the human body. The medical evidence for this is well established
and overwhelming. Because of this, the law in the
Smoking contains poisonous
materials, such as nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide, arsenic, benzopyrene, etc.,
that the smoker swallows in small proportions. Their harm accumulates with time
to result in a gradual killing of the human organs and tissues.
The hazards of smoking to the
health are hard to enumerate. Cancer, tuberculosis, heart attacks, asthma,
coughing, premature birth, infertility, infections in the digestive system,
high blood pressure, nervousness, mouth and teeth diseases, etc., are among the
many health hazards that have been strongly linked to smoking.
These diseases may not appear all
at once, however a smoker is most likely to suffer from some of them, and his
suffering increases as he grows older. Furthermore, statistics have established
that smokers' age is, on the average, ten years less than other people's.
This is aufficient to prohibit
smoking. Islam prohibits any action that causes harm to oneself or to other
people. Allah (T) says (what means):
Do not kill
yourselves, Allah is indeed merciful to you.
Do not cast
yourselves, with your own hands, into destruction.
And the Messenger says: No
harm may be inflicted on oneself or others.
The feet of a human being will
not depart, on the day of Judgement, from his standing before his Lord, until
he is questioned about five things: his lifetime - how did he pass it, his
youth - how did he used it, his wealth - where did he earn it and how did he
spend it, and how did he follow what he knew.
Whoever consumes poison,
killing himself with it, then he will he consuming his poison in the hellfire,
and he will abide in it permanently and eternally.
Harm To The Mind
and Will Power
Smoking is harmful to the human
mind and reason. An obvious demonstration of this is that one who is addicted
to it passes through periods of severe craving, making it hard for him to
think, concentrate, solve a problem, or do any important matter, until he
smokes.
When one smokes, his muscles
slacken, and he passes through a brief period of delirium that curtains the
thought. His digestive system is also affected, causing him frequent
nervousness and trembling of the hands. He passes through periods of
excitability, in itation, and insomnia.
Thus, instead of being Allah's
slave, a smoker becomes slave to his cigarette. He develops a weaker control of
his sense and reason. The faculty of reason, clear and unobstructed, is one of
Allah's great bounties on people. He (T) praised it in numerous places of the
Qur'an; and He called on people to use it to see the truth and obey Him in a
better way. Allah wants of the believer to be strong and capable of controlling
the reigns of his desires. He (T) said (what means):
AIIah (T) wants
to let you into His mercy, whereas those who follow the desires want you to
drift far away (from the right path).
Harm To The
Environment
A smoker emits his poisons in the
faces of his companions, wife, children, and the environment. It is well
established that second-hand smoke is almost as dangerous as first-hand. Thus,
whether they like it or not, a smoker's associates are forced to inhale the
smoke and be themselves smokers as well.
In addition to the poisons
normally carried in the smoke, if a smoker has an contagious disease, such as
tuberculosis or influenza, his exhaled smoke and coughing carry the disease to
those around him.
Furthermore, a smoker irritates
people by the foul smell and poisonous nature of his smoking. If they suffer
from asthma or allergies, they are forced to move away from his vicinity.
The Prophet () said: Anyone
who believes in Allah and the Last Day should not hurt his neighbor.
Thus, smoking constitutes a
definite harm to other people; this is prohibited, as was indicated in the
hadith cited earlier.
Also, a smoker is certainly a bad
companion to sit with, as is depicted in the following hadith:
Verily, the example of a good
companion and a bad one is like that of a perfume merchant and a blacksmith: As
for the perfume merchant, he would either grant you (some perfume), or you
would buy (some perfume) from him, or (in the least) you would get a good smell
from him. And as for the blower of the bellows (ironsmith), you would either
get a foul odor from him, or he would burn your clothes.(9)
Harm To The
Property
A smoker wastes his wealth on that
which harms and has no benefit; he will be asked about his wealth and how he
spent it, as has been cited in the hadith earlier. His wealth belongs to Allah,
so how would he dare to waste it in disobedience to Him? Allah (T) says (what
means):
And do not
entrust to the imprudent ones the possessions that Allah has placed in your
charge.
And do not
waste (your resources) extravagantly. Indeed the squanderers are the brethren
of the devils
And the Prophet () said: Allah
hates for you three things: gossiping, begging, and wasting money.
Furthermore, there are numerous
cases of burnt carpets, furniture, and even complete houses and establishments
that have resulted from this disastrous vice.
Moral Decadence
Smoking is a form of moral
decadence. It is most spread among the low-class immoral people. It reflects
blind imitation of the non-Muslims. It is mostly consumed in bars, discos,
casinos, and other: places of sin. A smoker may beg or steal if he does not have
the money to buy cigarettes. He is ill-mannered with his friends and family,
especially when he misses taking his necessary "dose" at the usual
time.
Evil Substance
Smoking involves the consumption of
an evil substance (khabeeth). It has a foul smell, foul taste, and is harmful
to the body. This is aufficient to: prohibit it, because Allah (T) says (what
means):
(The Prophet)
who will enjoin upon them the doing of what is right, forbid them the doing of
what is wrong, make lawful to them the good things of life, prohibit for them
the evil things, and lift from them their burdens and the shackles that were
(previously) upon them.
Resembling The
People Of The Fire
A smoker inhales the smoke that
does not give him any nourishment. This is similar to the action of the people
of the Hell fire who eat harmful thorny plants:
No food will be
there for them but a poisonous thorny plant, which will neither nourish them
nor still their hunger.
Bad Example
A smoker, whether he likes it or
not, makes of himself an example for his children and others to follow. He
leads them to commit this evil. Actions sometimes have a stronger effect than
words. Thus, even if he advises them or forbids them from smoking, his partaking
of it provides them with a strong excuse to do it.
The problem is worse when the
smoker is of known piety or knowledge. In such case, his harm becomes more
emphasized, because more people take him as guide and example, and are thus
lead astray by him. This multiplies his sins and increases his burden.
Hostility Toward
The Good People
The majority of good people avoid
smoking and stay away from smokers. Therefore, a smoker would be forced to stay
away from them - at least while he smokes. He puts himself in a selective
exile, creating a spiritual distance and hostility between him and the good
people, and a closeness to the evil people. The effects of this become more
apparent and acute with time. Note that this applies equally to any sin that a
person commits, small or large.
Low Self Esteem.
A smoker despises himself, because
he feels that a little cigarette is controlling him. Realizing his weakness
before desires, this creates in him a feeling of defeat in the face of
hardships.
Scholars' Verdic
Since smoking became known to
Muslims, all of the great scholars who have the capability of Ijtihad (deriving
verdicts in new situations) agree to its prohibition. Thus, there is no value
for baseless opinions, conflicting with this, provided by self-proclaimed
lesser scholars.
Warnings
In discussing the subject of the
prohibition of smoking, there are some important warnings that need to be
mentioned:
1.
As indicated
before, the prohibition of smoking is not restricted to cigarettes, but applies
as well to other objects that have similar effects such as cigars, pipes,
water-pipes, chewing tobacco or sniffing tobacco, etc.
2.
The reasons
mentioned above for prohibiting smoking apply as well, and more strongly, to
various types of drugs and hashish such as marijuana and -tat. These materials
have additional problems such as causing drunkenness, death, madness, etc.
3.
The
prohibition of smoking is not restricted to consuming it, but applies as well
to offering it to people, sitting with those who are smoking, or selling it.
All of this involves helping people commit sins, which is prohibited, as Allah
(T) says (what means):
Help one another in righteousness and
piety, and do not help one another in sinning and transgression. And fear and
revere Allah; verily, Allah is severe in punishment.
Also, Allah's Messenger () said: Indeed
when Allah prohibits something, he prohibits eating its price.
Treating the Disease of Smoking
Only few of those addicted to
smoking are able to stop it. The reasons for this are many, among which are the
following:
a.
The addictive
nature of the poisonous substances contained in it.
b.
The smokers
are not totally convinced of its prohibition.
c.
They do not
have a strong determination to refrain from it.
The following are some suggestions
to help a person stop smoking:
1.
Rely on Allah
sincerely, with full determination not to return to smoking, in compliance with
Allah's command:
When you decide on a certain course of
action, place your trust in Allah.
2.
Stop
immediately instead of claiming it is best to do it gradually. The gradual
approach is the way of one who does not trust his determination and the will
power that Allah has granted him. Let the example be taken from the Sahabah
who, as soon as Allah's command reached them regarding alcohols:
Will you not then desist? they immediately poured out all the alcohol
that they had and said, "We desist our Lord, we desist!" They did
this despite the fact that alcohol has a greater addictive power over those who
drink it.
3.
Avoid the bad
company of smokers and smoking environments that are full with the smell of smoke.
4.
Change the
food diet by abstaining from foods and drinks that would entice the craving to
smoke such as spices, meat, tea, and coffee; and eating a lot of vegetables and
fruits.
5.
Use medically
tested and established procedures to help stop smoking, as directed by
physicians, such as nicotine patches, nicotine gum, etc.
6.
Expel the
secret whispers of Satan who continuously dictates to the human being that he
is weak and incapable of refraining from sinning, as Allah (T) says (what
means)
It is but Satan who instills (into you)
fear of his allies; so do not fear them, but fear Me if you are (truly)
believers.
Fight then against the allies of Satan;
indeed, Satan's guile is weak.