Q. What is the ruling on Smoking? Is it halal or haraam?

“Smoking is nothing but slow poisoning” – Dr Zakir Naik

A. (#DrZakirNaik): As Far as smoking is concerned several years before when science hadn’t advanced that far most of the scholars used to say smoking is ‘makrooh’ (not desirable but not haraam) based on the hadith of Muhammad (peace be upon him), “Anyone who eats garlic or onion should stay away from us and stay away from the mosque.” Because there is a bad breath. So when you are smoking the breath is worse than onion or garlic so based on this hadith scholars gave the ‘fatwah’ that smoking is ‘makrooh‘. But now after science has advanced we have come to know smoking is nothing but slow poisoning. Tobacco in any form whether it is smoking cigarettes’, ‘beedi’, whether tobacco in hookah, whether chewing tobacco or forms of tobacco containing nicotine and tar. And we know it is nothing but slow poisoning that’s the reason most of the non-Muslims also 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 saying “cigarette smoking is injurious to health.” and today according to statistics the WHO 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 learnt when I was doing medicine in my medical college that more than 90% of the lung cancer deaths are only due to smoking. 25% of cardio-vascular deaths are only because of smoking. 70-72% of bronchitis deaths are only because of smoking. Smoking is nothing but slow poisoning. It blackens your lips, blackens your gums and your fingertips, it damages the lips, damages the oesophagus, it damages your stomach and it can cause constipation, it can cause loss of appetite, it can cause loss of libido i.e. sexual power gets supressed. It can cause immunity to the drugs you take and it reduces the defence of your body. Based on these all researches there are today more than 400 Fatwas, the majority of the scholars they agree that smoking is haraam and all form of tobacco is haraam. There may be certain scholars in some countries including where I come from – India, they say it is ‘makrooh’ yet but most of the scholars otherwise throughout the world majority of them they agree that smoking is haraam. Allah says in the Quran in Surah Ar’auf Ch. 7 V. 157, “This Prophet asked you to do things which are good for you so take what he gives you which is lawful and good and he prohibits things which are unlawful, the things which are bad for you.” And Allah says in the Quran in Surah Al-Baqrah Ch. 2, V. 195, “Make not your own hands the cause of your own destruction.” Indicated do not kill your own selves. Because smoking is nothing but slow poisoning it comes under this category something like suicide. Every puff you take reduces your life so based on this there are more than 400 fatwas saying smoking is haraam. Allah says in Surah Al-Israa Ch. 17, V. 26-27, “Do not be a spend thrift, verily a person who is spend thrift is the brother of the devil.” And we know when we smoke it is nothing but extravagant. It is nothing but taking a pound note or few pounds or taking a dollar note and lighting up it with fire. It is nothing but burning money. And you can give list of reasons that why it is haraam but just to cut it short one more reason, you cannot harm your neighbour, you cannot harm your brother and in smoking when you exhale out the smoke it causes more damage to your neighbour. Passive smoking is more dangerous than active smoking. That’s why many countries like Singapore have banned public smoking.