Smoking is one of the major problems of the present age. Smokers are getting sick slowly. Smoking weakens their hearts and depletes their energy. There is no doubt that smoking is a silent killer. Smokers must know about the silent killer, smoking or tobacco. Because smoking is slowly taking them to the grave or leading to a miserable and cursed life of diseases.
The good news for non-smokers is that Allah SWT has saved them from the dangers of smoking. Many people say that there is no proof that smoking is forbidden in the Quran and Hadith. However, according to several verses of the Quran and several interpretations of hadiths, it is proved that smoking is forbidden.
The decision of the Fatawa Department of Saudi Arabia, including Bin Baaz Rah, is that smoking is haram. There are many reasons why smoking is haram.
Why is Smoking Haram in Islam?
1/ Cigarettes, tobacco, etc. are very bad things. And all inferior things are haram in the eyes of the Shariat. Allah SWT said that,
وَيُحِلُّ لَـهُمُ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَيُحَرِّمُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْـخَبَائِثَ
Translation: And he (the Messenger of Allah, peace, and blessings of Allah be upon him) made the pure and good things lawful for them and prohibited the bad and impure things. – (Surah Al-A’raf 7:157)
2/ Smoking is a special waste of resources. And wasting wealth is haram. According to the 1983 report of the International Health Organization, if two-thirds of the money spent on cigarettes in the current world were spent on health, it would be possible to meet the health needs of every person in the world.
Allah SWT says:
وَلَا تُبَذِّرْ تَبْذِيْرًا، إِنَّ الْـمُبَذِّرِيْنَ كَانُوْا إِخْوَانَ الشَّيَاطِيْنِ، وَكَانَ الشَّيْطَانُ لِرَبِّهِ كَفُوْرًا
Translation: Never waste resources. Because the wasters are the brothers of the devil. And the devil is very ungrateful to his Lord – (Surah Bani Israil 26-27)
Again Allah SWT said that,
وَلَا تُسْرِفُوْا، إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْـمُسْرِفِيْنَ
Translation: But do not be extravagant (in clothing and food). Because Allah SWT never likes wasteful people. – (Surah Al-A’raf 7:31)
If it may be impermissible and haram to hand over your wealth to an unscrupulous person because he will squander it, then you can think yourself sane and waste your money in the smoke of smoking, and it may also be permissible.
Allah SWT said that,
وَلَا تُؤْتُوْا السُّفَهَآءَ أَمْوَالَكُمُ الَّتِيْ جَعَلَ اللهُ لَكُمْ قِيَامًا
Translation: And do not give the weak-minded your property, which Allah has made a means of sustenance for you – (Surah An-Nisa 4:5)
3/ By smoking one’s life is pushed towards destruction. And suicide and pushing one’s own life towards destruction is a grave haram and a serious sin. Allah SWT said that,
وَلَا تَقْتُلُوْا أَنْفُسَكُمْ، إِنَّ اللهَ كَانَ بِكُمْ رَحِيْمًا، وَمَنْ يَّفْعَلْ ذَلِكَ عُدْوَانًا وَّظُلْمًا فَسَوْفَ نُصْلِيْهِ نَارًا، وَكَانَ ذَلِكَ عَلَى اللهِ يَسِيْرًا
Meaning: Do not kill yourselves [or one another]. Indeed, Allah is ever Merciful to you. And whoever does that in aggression and injustice – then We will drive him into a Fire. And that, for Allah, is [always] easy. – (Surah An-Nisa 4:29-30)
Again Allah SWT said that,
وَلَا تُلْقُوْا بِأَيْدِيْكُمْ إِلَى التَّهْلُكَةِ
Translation: Do not throw [yourselves] with your [own] hands into destruction [by refraining] – (Surah Baqarah 2:195)
4/ According to the opinion of all the health experts of the world, smoking is extremely harmful for health. So you cannot destroy your health through this. Because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has forbidden you in this regard.
On the authority of Abdullah bin Abbas and Ubadah bin Swamit, they said: The prophet SAW said that,
لَا ضَرَرَ وَلَا ضِرَارَ
Translation: There should be neither harming (darar) nor reciprocating harm (dirar).
– (Ibn Majah 2369, 2370)
5/ Smoking harms believing men and women. Because, when a smoker smokes, the non-smokers around him suffer from the smoke of cigarettes etc. Allah SWT said that,
وَالَّذِيْنَ يُؤْذُوْنَ الْـمُؤْمِنِيْنَ وَالْـمُؤْمِنَاتِ بِغَيْرِ مَا اكْتَسَبُوْا فَقَدِ احْتَمَلُوْا بُهْتَانًا وَّإِثْمًا مُّبِيْنًا
Meaning: Those who hurt believing men and women while they have committed no crime, such people will indeed bear the burden of slander and sin. – (Surah Al-Ahzab 33:57)
6/ Eating halal things like onions and garlic while going to the mosque for prayer is prohibited, but there is a special virtue of praying in congregation in the Shariah. Because, when the angels are suffering from it, how can one go to the mosque smoking?
On the authority of Jabir bin Abdullah RA narrated from The Prophet SAW and said that,
مَنْ أَكَلَ الْبَصَلَ وَالثُّوْمَ فَلَا يَقْرَبَنَّ مَسْجِدَنَا، فَإِنَّ الْـمَلَآئِكَةَ تَتَأَذَّى مِمَّا يَتَأَذَّى مِنْهُ بَنُوْ آدَمَ.
Meaning: He who eats this (offensive) plant, i. e garlic, and sometimes he said: He who eats onion and garlic and leek, should not approach our mosque for the angels are harmed by the same things as the children of Adam. – (Al-Bukhari 854; Muslim 564)
Smoking is Forbidden in Islam
According to principles of Islamic jurisprudence, smoking is prohibited. Again, Many types of cancer are caused by smoking. Cancers of the lungs, throat, lips, alimentary tract, respiratory tract, tongue, mouth, bladder, kidney, etc. are among them.
Apart from this, the problems of smoking include loss of appetite, difficulty in breathing, headache, hearing loss, sudden death, tuberculosis, indigestion, stomach ulcers, liver perforation and complete destruction, physical fatigue, chest disorders, excessive phlegm and cough, Weakness of nerves, loss of beauty, etc.
