Smoking

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Everybody knows that cigarette smoking is bad for you. But why do teenagers start smoking (this is the age when typically people start the habit, some even younger), and why smokers just don't quit?

A study shows that people who smoke can't quit because they are addicted to nicotine. Some didn't know that it is addictive. So, most of them think that they will smoke for a while and then stop. Teenagers start smoking in part because their elders smoke and in part because other teenagers smoke. The study further indicate that it seems highly likely that cigarette advertising––– which associates smoking with youth and music and joy and sex––– is an auxiliary factor, perhaps a quite potent one.

The U.S. Surgeon General's Office calls cigarette smoking to America's worst drug addiction problem. It involves addiction to the drug nicotine in tobacco and possible other tobacco substances.

However, the view that cigarette smoking is an addiction to the drug nicotine seems to fly in the face of common sense. Some people have quit smoking with relatively little difficulty. Some of us probably know quite a few individuals personally who have quit. So perhaps, the case for the addicting nature of cigarette smoking is being exaggerated.

Regardless, we are accountable to Allah for what we do with Allah's blessings, including our bodies, our money, and our environment.

Cleanliness and hygiene are emphasized to the extent that it has been considered a part of our Iman (Faith). It is known that smoker's mouth is unclean and foul smelling "like a cigarette ash-tray."

A smoker's body is polluted with smoke. So, the smoker should not pray until they have cleansed themselves.

Allah says,

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَقْرَبُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَأَنتُمْ سُكَارَىٰ حَتَّىٰ تَعْلَمُوا مَا تَقُولُونَ وَلَا جُنُبًا إِلَّا عَابِرِي سَبِيلٍ حَتَّىٰ تَغْتَسِلُوا ۚ وَإِن كُنتُم مَّرْضَىٰ أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ أَوْ جَاءَ أَحَدٌ مِّنكُم مِّنَ الْغَائِطِ أَوْ لَامَسْتُمُ النِّسَاءَ فَلَمْ تَجِدُوا مَاءً فَتَيَمَّمُوا صَعِيدًا طَيِّبًا فَامْسَحُوا بِوُجُوهِكُمْ وَأَيْدِيكُمْ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ كَانَ عَفُوًّا غَفُورً‌ا

"O you who believe! Do not go near prayer when you are Intoxicated until you know (well) what you say, nor when you are under an obligation to perform a bath-- unless (you are) traveling on the road--until you have washed yourselves; and if you are sick, or on a journey, or one of you come from the privy or you have touched the women, and you cannot find water, betake yourselves to pure earth, then wipe your faces and your hands; surely Allah is Pardoning, Forgiving." (Qur'an An-Nisa 4:43)

The smell of cigarette smoke can be very offensive to non smokers, probably worse than the smell of garlic or onions.

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,

"He who has eaten garlic or onion should keep away from us or our mosques." (Bukhari and Muslim).

Allah says:

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّمَا ٱلْخَمْرُ وَٱلْمَيْسِرُ وَٱلْأَنصَابُ وَٱلْأَزْلَٰمُ رِجْسٌۭ مِّنْ عَمَلِ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنِ فَٱجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ

O ye who believe! Intoxicants and gambling,(dedication of) stones, and (divination by) arrows, are an abomination,- of Satan's handwork: eschew such (abomination), that ye may prosper. (Qur'an Al-Ma'idah 5:90)

إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنُ أَن يُوقِعَ بَيْنَكُمُ ٱلْعَدَٰوَةَ وَٱلْبَغْضَآءَ فِى ٱلْخَمْرِ وَٱلْمَيْسِرِ وَيَصُدَّكُمْ عَن ذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ وَعَنِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ ۖ فَهَلْ أَنتُم مُّنتَهُونَ

Satan's plan is (but) to excite enmity and hatred between you, with intoxicants and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of God, and from prayer: will ye not then abstain? (Qur'an Al-Ma'idah 5:91)

The word intoxicant has three meanings:
(1) To induce, especially the effect of ingested alcohol.
(2) To stimulate or excite.
(3) To poison.

The latter two meanings are very valid and applicable to nicotine.

Medical investigations show that cigarette smoking is a major factor in the development of many cases of cancer, heart trouble, chronic lung and respiratory disease and other ailments. Cigarette smoking in pregnant women results in deleterious health effects on their newborn children.

وَأَنفِقُوا۟ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَلَا تُلْقُوا۟ بِأَيْدِيكُمْ إِلَى ٱلتَّهْلُكَةِ ۛ وَأَحْسِنُوٓا۟ ۛ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُحْسِنِي

"And spend of your substance in the cause of God, and make not your own hands contribute to (your) destruction[190]; but do good; for God loves those who do good." (Qur'an Al-Baqara 2:195)

It is scientifically proven that the exhaled smoke of the smoker is hazardous to non-smokers around him.

It is unlawful to harm another Muslim. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

Do not envy one another, and do not inflate prices for one another, and do not hate one another, and do not turn away from one another, and do not undercut one another in trade, but [rather] be Slaves of Allah and Brothers [amongst yourselves]. A Muslim is the brother of a Muslim : he does not oppress him, nor does he fail him, nor does he lie to him, nor does he hold him in contempt. Taqwaa (Piety) is right here [and he pointed to his chest three times]. It is evil enough for a man to hold his brother Muslim in contempt. The whole of a Muslim is inviolable for another Muslim : his blood, his property, and his honor. (Muslim)

The amount of money a smoker spends on cigarettes go up in smokes (not including the money spent on smoker's health care).

Allah says,

وَآتِ ذَا الْقُرْبَىٰ حَقَّهُ وَالْمِسْكِينَ وَابْنَ السَّبِيلِ وَلَا تُبَذِّرْ تَبْذِيرًا ﴿٢٦﴾ إِنَّ الْمُبَذِّرِينَ كَانُوا إِخْوَانَ الشَّيَاطِينِ ۖ وَكَانَ الشَّيْطَانُ لِرَبِّهِ كَفُورً‌ا ﴿٢٧

"And give the relative his right, and [also] the poor and the traveler, and do not spend wastefully. Indeed, the wasteful are brothers of the devils, and ever has Satan been to his Lord ungrateful." (Qur'an Al-Isra 17:26-27)

Whether smoking is haram or not, it is clear that smoking is a wasteful act.

إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ

...Surely He (Allah) loves not the wasters. Qur'an Al-An'am 6:141

Anyone who smokes should resolve to quit entirely. And those who are thinking about picking up that habit, think again.

If you smoke and if you want to quit, you can quit inshaAllah. Nothing is difficult through Allah and nothing is easy through ourselves.

Allah says,

الَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ الرَّسُولَ النَّبِيَّ الْأُمِّيَّ الَّذِي يَجِدُونَهُ مَكْتُوبًا عِندَهُمْ فِي التَّوْرَاةِ وَالْإِنجِيلِ يَأْمُرُهُم بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَاهُمْ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَيُحِلُّ لَهُمُ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَيُحَرِّمُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْخَبَائِثَ وَيَضَعُ عَنْهُمْ إِصْرَهُمْ وَالْأَغْلَالَ الَّتِي كَانَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ فَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِهِ وَعَزَّرُوهُ وَنَصَرُوهُ وَاتَّبَعُوا النُّورَ‌ الَّذِي أُنزِلَ مَعَهُ ۙ أُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ

"Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful." (Qur'an Al-'Araf 7:157)

May Allah give you tawfiq. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. JazakAllahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam