Smoking HALAL or HARAM You decide

Tobacco was not known during the time of the Messenger of ALLAH(Salla hu alaihi wa sallam) but our great deen introduced general principles under which fall derivatives and subordinate rules. Scholars of lslam, may ALLAH grant them HIS mercy, deduced from such basic rules the proofs of prohibition of smoking. The following are some substantiating proofs. ALLAH describes Messenger of ALLAH(Salla hu alaihi wa sallam) saying He makes lawful the good things for them and makes unlawful al-khabaa ith, (the filthy things) for them (Muslim & Others) There is no sane human being, let alone a Muslim, who disputes the fact that smoking is harmful. The actual word which is used in the ayah is to prohibit al-khabaa ith. It is plural of Khabeeth; which means everything that is filthy, evil, wicked and harmful, whose taste and odor are described as foul; all of which apply to tobacco. ALLAH the Exalted says Verily, the wasteful are the brothers of shaitan, and shaitan is ungrateful to his RABB (HOLY QURAN 17:27) There is no doubt that smoking is a means of wastefulness, and a health hazard. A Muslim should consider that the Prophet(Salla hu alaihi wa sallam) forbade eating garlic or onion just before coming to mosques that those who eat them may not bother the people in mosques by the smell of these to lawful plants. By right, tobaccos foul smell which is far worse than garlics or onions is a stronger reasons for avoiding mosques. ALLAH the Exalted says And do not destruct yourselves with your own hands (HOLY QURAN 2:195) According to medical researches done in the United States and Europe, tobacco contains many poisonous substances that cause fatal diseases such as cancer, respiratory, cardiac and digestive ailments. Insisting on smoking is committing slow-motion suicide. The Messenger of ALLAH(Salla hu alaihi wa sallam) said: And whoever consumes poison and kills himself, he shall be consuming it to Hell-fire forever and ever (Bukhari & Muslim) He also said: Cause no harm initially or in requital (Imam Ahmed & Ibn majah) Medical authorities in the East and West are unanimously agreed that smoking is hazardous to health. Those authorities finally managed to compel tobacco companies to imprint on every pack of cigarette a warning against smoking. Have you ever heard of any authority or individual challenging their findings ? World Health Organizations records show that 346,000 people die annually because of smoking in the US, 55,000 in Britain, 8,000 in Sweden, 140,000 in China. Records also show that 90% of lung cancer causes are related to smoking. Whom should you listen to, the words of ALLAH, the Exalted, and his Messenger (Salla hu alaihi wa sallam) or to the opinions of the semi-scholars who falsely allege that smoking is only makrooh, or blamesworthy ? ALLAH says: And it does not behoove a believing man or a believing woman, when ALLAH and his Messenger have decided on a

matter, that they have choice on that matter. And whoever disobeys ALLAH and his Messenger surely strays away in manifest error (HOLY QURAN: 33:36)