Islam

The harmful consequences of smoking are known to everybody. yet some people ignore them and keep smoking. harming not only themselves but the people around them. many people smoke. including Muslims. but one wonders: Since Islam is a whole way of life and since it covers all aspects of human life, what's the Islamic stance on smoking?

Islam prohibits "tobacco" in any form which makes smoking haram (forbidden). However some Muslims still argue over it and claim that "it's not mentioned in the Qur'an so it shouldn't be considered haram". well, this reasoning is false and based on ignorant judgment.

According to Qur'an and Hadith (The saying of Prophet Mohammed -peace and blessings of Allah be upon him- all intoxicants are haram. the God almighty said in his final revelation:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَ الْمَيْسِرُ وَ الْأَنصَابُ وَ الْأَزْلَامُ رِجْسٌ مِّنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ
“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.”
translation of 5:90

Tobacco causes Physical, Intellectual, and Moral Effects on the Human System "Tobacco, moreover is of itself, an intoxicating substance".

He -glory be to him- also said:
وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ
“And [we (God) have] shown him [man] the two ways [good and evil]”
translation of 90:10
Allah -Glory be to him- has given us the right and freedom to choose our own path, whichever path we chose He makes that path easier for us. So choose the right one which leads to righteousness so you can have Allah’s mercy and countless blessings.)

The God also said:
وَلَا تُلْقُوا بِأَيْدِيكُمْ إِلَى التَّهْلُكَةِ
"Don’t make your own hands the cause of your own destruction"
translation of 2:195

and:
وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ
And do not kill yourselves"
translation of 4:29

Smoking Kills. it's a fact. and it’s even written on every cigarette pack, and we all know it. still some Muslims argue that smoking is not haram because the Qur'an doesn't say so. As a matter of fact, all prohibitions in Islam are not named one by one. a few general ones are named in the Qur'an and hadith and rules are set for people to deduce the rest. Judgment is made not only through explicit and specific rules but also deduced by judging from the scientific discoveries of the consequences and effects of the subject in question. According to WHO (World Health Organization)

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs339/en/

Tobacco kills nearly 6 million people each year. More than five million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while more than 600 000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke. isn't this enough reason?

The God almighty gave us a rule of how to identify what's haram and what's halal. For example, he said in the Qur'an:
وَيُحِلُّ لَهُمُ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَيُحَرِّمُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْخَبَائِثَ
“And [the prophet] makes lawful to them [the believers] the good things and makes unlawful to them impure things”
translation of 7:157

Just ask yourself, is cigarette pure or impure? I'm not asking about it when it's still unpacked.
As a matter of fact, Cigarette IS impure. if you disagree, then google images of "cigarette disease" and enjoy them.
I say cigarette is impure as it causes several diseases which are mentioned again and again by doctors, it contains nicotine which is nothing more but a poison.
if I were to tell you: "look, I have a big bottle of poison. what do you say I give you one sip per day until you finish the whole bottle?" that's crazy, right? what if I ask you to pay me for the bottle of poison? only a mad person would accept such insanity.

Besides, since Smoking is addictive and harmful, it's a waste of money. a smoker burns his wealth for no good reason and there is no difference between the person who’s smoking and the person who commits suicide.

Did you know that the Lord almighty said:
وَلَا تُبَذِّرْ تَبْذِيرًا إِنَّ الْمُبَذِّرِينَ كَانُوا إِخْوَانَ الشَّيَاطِينِ ۖ وَكَانَ الشَّيْطَانُ لِرَبِّهِ كَفُورًا
And do not spend wastefully, indeed, the wasteful are brothers of the devils, and ever has Satan been to his Lord ungrateful"
translation from 17:26-27

The prophet Mohammed -peace be upon him- said: "There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm" Therefore the prohibition of smoking is not restricted to consuming it, but applies as well to offering it to people, sitting with those who are smoking, or selling it. All of this involves helping people commit sins, which is prohibited.

Even medical science has rejected outright the myth that smoking calms the nerves. So many people who do believe that cigarettes are good for the removal of the sadness and departure of the worries should know that it’s not true. Now almost all the scientists expunged this idea and concluded to the fact that cigarettes are actually causing a person to get tensed instead of healed. However what we Muslims know for sure is that the remembrance of the Creator is THE ONLY healing power, for there is no one to guide us better then Allah -Glory be to him- who stated in his final revelation:
أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ
"without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest"
translation from 13:28