Islamic Ruling On Smoking

As far as smoking is concerned, several years before...when science hadn't advanced that far, most of the scholars used to say that smoking is makhrooh (disliked) based on the Hadith of Muhammad (ﷺ) which is mentioned in Sahih Bukhari, Vol. no. 1 in the Book of Adhan, Hadith no. 855 where the Prophet said that, 'Anyone who eats garlic or onion, they should stay away from us and stay away from the mosque.' Prophet said that, you know, don't come to the mosque after having garlic or onion because there's bad breath. When you are smoking, the breath is worse than onion or garlic. So based on this Hadith, therefore, garlic and onion doesn't become haraam (forbidden), it becomes makhrooh (disliked), so based on this Hadith, scholars give the fatwa (Islamic ruling) that smoking is makhrooh (disliked).

But now, after science has advanced, we have come to know that smoking is nothing but it's a slow poisoning. Tobacco in any form, whether in smoking cigarettes, whether bedi, whether tobacco in hokkah, whether chewing tobacco, all forms of tobacco contain nicotine and tar, and we know its nothing but slow poisoning. That's the reason most of the non-Muslims also, they agree that smoking is haraam. Not only the Muslim world, even the non-Muslims. That's the reason they put a statutory warning on the cigarette packs, they put a statutory warning saying, 'Cigarette smoking is injurious to health' or in some countries it mention, 'General surgeon's warning' or 'Surgeon general's warning: Smoking is injurious to health.' And anyone gives a add, whether in newspaper or in the magazine or television, it is compulsory that they have to highlight this statement, 'Smoking is injurious to health.' So I am not talking about the Muslim world, even the non-Muslim world agrees that smoking is nothing but slow poisoning.

And...today according to the statistics, the world health organization says that every year more than 4 million people die only because of smoking and if you count the other forms of tobacco it will be much more. And, today medical science tells us, and even I had learnt when I was doing my medicine in the medical college, that more than 90% of the lung cancer deaths are only due to smoking, whether cigarette or bedi, whatever it is. 25% of the cardio-vascular deaths are only because of the smoking. 70-75% of bronchitis and related deaths are only because of smoking. Smoking is nothing but slow poisoning. It blackens your lips, blackens your gums, your fingertips, it damages your lips, it damages your esophagus, it damages your stomach and it can cause constipation, it can cause loss of appetite, it can cause loss of libido, the sexual power gets suppressed, it can cause immunity to the drugs (medicines) you take and it reduces the defense of your body. There are today, more than 400 fatwa's, that majority of the scholars, they agree that smoking is haraam, and all form of tobacco is haraam.

Commentary by :- Sheikh Dr. Zakir Naik