FATWA GIVEN BY ISLAMIC SCHOLAR ON SMOKING

FATWA GIVEN BY ISLAMIC SCHOLAR ON SMOKING

 In view of the harm caused by tobacco, growing, trading in and smoking of tobacco are judged to be HARAM.

The Prophet PBUH is reported to have said, “Do not harm yourselves or others”. Furthermore, tobacco is unwholesome and God says in the Quran that the Prophet PBUH enjoins upon them that which is good and pure and forbids them that which is unwholesome. Permanent Committee of Academic Research and Fatwa, Saudi Arabia. Abdul-Aziz bin Baz, Chairman. Abdul-Razzaq Afifi, Vice-President. Abdullah bin Ghadian, Member. Abdullah bin Qa’oud, Member

ISLAMIC CURE FOR SMOKING

ISLAMIC CURE FOR SMOKING

It is first recommended to make the firm intention, from deep in your heart, to give up this evil habit. Trust in Allah's words: Quran :: Surah: 3 [al-Imran] :: Ayat: 159-160 "...When you have taken a decision, put your trust in Allah. Indeed, Allah loves those who rely [upon Him]. If Allah helps you, none can overcome you; if He forsakes you, who is it - after that - that can help you? In Allah, then, let believers put their trust فإذا عزمت فتوكل على الله إن الله يحب المتوكلين ، إن ينصركم الله فلا غالب لكم وإن يخذلكم فمن ذا الذي ينصركم من بعده وعلى الله فليتوكل المؤمنين" If a Muslim is under any kind of stress, and then he must turn to Allah for help. Even medical science has rejected outright, the myth that smoking calms the nerves.

What we know for sure, is that the remembrance of Allah is healing, as Allah says: Quran :: Surah: 13 [ar-Raad] :: Ayat: 28 “Verily in the remembrance of Allah hearts are assured.ألا بذكر الله تطمئن القلوب ” So when the urge for smoking arises, resort to the Qur’aan and strive to comply with Allah’s commandments. Quran :: Surah: 29 [al-Ankabut] :: Ayat: 69 “Those who strive hard in our cause, we will surely guide them to our paths.والذين جاهدوا فينا لنهدينهم سبلنا” 

ILL EFFECTS OF SMOKING

ILL EFFECTS OF SMOKING

- It raises blood pressure. - The blood vessels in the eye are sensitive and can be easily damaged by smoke - Smokers take 25 per cent more sick days a year than non-smokers.

- It stains your teeth and gums.

- It increases your risk of periodontal disease, which causes swollen gums, bad breath and teeth to fall out.

- It can lead to progressive liver damage. Most hepatitis C patients are prone to severe liver damage when left untreated or when accompanied with smoking habits. - It reduces the blood supply to the skin and lowers levels of vitamin A.

- It damages the throat.

- It affects digestive system.

- It causes peptic ulcer.

- It causes hardening of the arteries.

- It causes constipation.

- It causes lung, mouth, throat, tongue, cervix and other cancers.

- It causes loss of eyesight.

- It causes loss of libido.

- It causes loss of figure.

- It causes loss of memory.

- It causes insecurity, anger, concentration, forgetfulness, violent behavior etc.

            The list is huge and goes on and on and on. I simply haven't space to include all the nasty diseases that smoking can give you. So, honestly, it’s best to quit NOW! 

SMOKING STATISTICS WORLDWIDE

SMOKING STATISTICS WORLDWIDE

 Pakistan Professor Javaid A. Khan, Consultant Chest Physician at AKUH, speaking on the ill-effects of smoking at a seminar held at Aga Khan University, Karachi on October 12, 2004. “40% men & 8% women in Pakistan are regular smokers. 100,000 people die every year from Tobacco related diseases. If we don’t take any action, the current global death rate of 5 million per year from tobacco use will increase to 10 million per year by 2025.” A 2008 survey of 450 students in Karachi found that 64.2 percent of males and 37.9 percent of females had smoked a `shisha’ at least once in their lifetime; 77.3 percent of males and 33.3 percent of females smoked a `shisha’ regularly. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Pakistan’s population of 160 million includes 22-25 million tobacco smokers; 36 percent of adult males and 9 percent of adult females smoke.

India - 900,000 Indians die because of smoking each year year. China - 1.2 million people die because of smoking each year. That's 2,000 people a day. Japan - smoking is the leading cause of death and is responsible for 20% of all cancers. 50 percent of men and 14 percent of women smoke. Russia - smoking kills between 400,000 and 500,000 Russians every year from smoking ailments. Indonesia - 200,000 people die each year of smoking-related diseases. Germany - 140,000 Germans die every year from tobacco-related illnesses. UK - 90,000 people die from smoking each year. USA - 443,000 Americans die because of smoking each year.

Secondhand smoke kills about 50,000 of them. 1,000 teens become new smokers every day in the United States Turkey - around 110,000 people each year die of smoking-related illnesses, according to official figures. France - there are about 66,000 smoking-related deaths each year Mexico - around 65,000 people die because of smoking each year. The country has 105 million people. Spain - 50,000 die because of smoking each year. About 30 percent of Spaniards smoke. Iran - 50,000 Iranians die each year from tobacco related illnesses, according to the government. 200,000 Iranian projected to die from smoking by 2019. Canada - 37,000 people die from smoking every year, according to the Ministry of Health. Egypt - 34,000 tobacco-related deaths each year. Saudi Arabia - 22,000 Saudis die of smoking related diseases every year, according to the Anti-Smoking Society. South Africa - 44,000 adults die each year from smoking, according to the NCAS [National Council Against Smoking]. Greece - 20,000 people die of smoking-related diseases each year. Australia - 15,000 to 19,000 Australians deaths each year are caused by smoking. 

FACTS ABOUT SMOKING

FACTS ABOUT SMOKING

According to the WHO World Health Organization], there are more than a million people every year who only die because of cigarette smoking. Worldwide, about 1.35 billion people smoke. The world population statistic in 2009 stood at 6.8 billion meaning almost 20% of the world’s population smokes & 5 million deaths per year in the world caused by cigarette smoking. Around 600,000 people die each year due to second hand smoke. It means in every 6.5 seconds a current or former smoker dies. Nancy Brinker, WHO's Goodwill Ambassador for Cancer Control: The tobacco use killed 100 million people in the 20th century and threatens to kill 1 billion more in the 21st - more than malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV combined if current smoking trends continue. By the mid-2020s, the WHO predicts, 85% of all smokers will come from the world's poorer countries. If the WHO forecasts are correct, smoking could become the world's biggest killer over the next 20 years, causing more deaths than HIV, tuberculosis, road accidents, murder and suicide put together. According to the organization smoking-related diseases are killing 5 million people a year worldwide and that number will raise to 10 million a year in the next 25 years. 

IS SMOKING IN ISLAM HARAM?

IS SMOKING HARAM IN ISLAM???

Smoking is one of the things which have caused a lot of problems and harm these days and it has spread like wild fire. Before we discuss this topic in detail, we should know that Allah the Almighty has divided things in the world into two types:

1- good or permissible [al-tayyibaat, al-halaal], &

2- evil or prohibited [al-khabaa'ith, al-haraam], and

There is no third type. Quran :: Surah: 7 [al-A'raaf] :: Ayat: 157 "And He makes good things halaal for them and bad things haraam. ويحل لهم الطيبات ويحرم عليهم الخبائث" Quran :: Surah: 5 [al-Maida] :: Ayat: 90 “O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah ], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.يآيها الذين آمنوا إنما الخمر والميسر والأنصاب والأزلام رجز من عمل الشـيطان فاجتنبوه لعلكم تفلحون ”

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston, 1978, P. 686 The word intoxicant has three [3] meanings:

i. to induce, especially the effect of ingested alcohol.

ii. To stimulate or excite.

iii. To poison. The latter two meanings are very valid and applicable to nicotine. Considering this fact, smoking can either be permissible and good or prohibited and evil.

 Previous Ulamas used to give a Fatwa that smoking is Makrooh based on the knowledge that they had at that time. Today science has advanced and hence the Scholars have changed their opinions keeping in view the ill effects of smoking which have come to light recently.

According to latest Fatwas given by more than 700 Ulamas (Islamic Scholars – Doctorate), they say cigarette smoking is Haram based on the Qur-anic verse of surah: 2 [baqara] :: ayat: 195 “Do not make your own hands the cause of your own destruction. ولاتلقوا بأيديكم إلى التهلكة ”

1- Smoking is a Killer. Smoking is nothing but a form of slow suicide. It causes diseases like lung cancer, tuberculosis and heart diseases (just to mention a few). And we know that Allah forbids us from killing ourselves. Quran :: Surah: 17 [al-Isra] :: Ayat: 33 "And do not kill anyone which Allah has forbidden...ولا تقتلوا النفس التي حرم الله" Quran :: Surah: 2 [al-Baqara] :: Ayat: 195 "Do not make your own hands the cause of your own destruction. . ولاتلقوا بأيديكم إلى التهلكة " Quran :: Surah: 4 [al-Nisa] :: Ayat: 29 "Do not kill or destroy yourselves for verily God is most Merciful unto you.ولا تقتلوا أنفسكم إن الله كان بكم رحيما"

2- Smoking inflicts harm on non-smokers. It is scientifically proven that the exhaled smoke of the smoker is hazardous to non-smokers around him. Many people encounter breathing problems when they accidentally inhale smoke from someone’s pipe or cigarettes, especially people suffering from bronchial asthma. It is also proved medically that non-smokers are harmed when in the company of smokers (i.e. passive smoking). The smoking of parents has been linked to respiratory problems in children and crib death. It is also the cause of many devastating fires. Quran :: Surah: 33 [al-Ahzaab] :: Ayat: 58 "Those who cause harm to believing men and women without any reason do a great sin.والذين يؤذون المؤمنين والمؤمنات بغير ماكتسبوا فقد احتملوا بهتانا وإثما مبينا"

3- Smoking burns [waste] wealth. The amount of money a smoker spends on cigarette smoking in a period of 30 years is calculated to be Two Hundred Thousand Dollars or more. All this money is simply wasted (not including the money spent on smoker's health care). Quran :: Surah: 17 [al-Isra] :: Ayat: 26-27 ”Do not spend wastefully (your wealth) in the manner of a spendthrift. Verily spendthrifts are brothers of the devils.ولا تبذر تبذيرا، إن المبذرين كانوا إخوان الشياطين”

4- Smoking effects worship. The body is polluted by smoking. Hence smokers cannot pray until they have cleansed themselves. Quran :: Surah: 4 [al-Nisa] :: Ayat: 43 "O you who have believed, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated until you know what you are saying or in a state of Janabah, except those passing through [a place of prayer], until you have washed [your whole body].ياآيها الذين آمنوا لا تقربوا الصلاة وأنتم سكارى حتى تعلموا ما تقولون ولا جنبا إلا عابري سبيل حتى تغتسلوا ” Everything that a smoker comes in contact with smell of cigarettes; His car, clothes, home, etc. Therefore, when a smoker prays in congregation he hurts his fellow humans with his smell as well as the angels. Muslim :: Book: 4 [Book of prayers] :: Hadith: 1147 The Prophet said: “Whoever has eaten from such greens as garlic, onions or leek should keep away from our mosque. Truly, the angels are harmed by what harms the offspring of Aadam.”