Smoking

Turning to Islam When Your Life is Being Puffed Up In Smoke

By Kashif Shahzada

Out of the three states of matter, solid, liquid and gas, oxygen as a gas, is one of the most vital ingredients for the preservation of life. The air we breathe comprises 21 % oxygen, 78 % nitrogen and other gasses along with water vapors. Fresh air and oxygen are very important for the existence of life. If the percentage of oxygen decreases in the air we breathe then that results in harmful effects for us. Deliberately inhaling a substance, which we know has a negative effect on ourselves, is foolishness and a result of looking at some short-term aspect of such a practice only and ignoring the long-term consequences. It is no hidden secret that smoking is hazardous to health. Almost every pack of cigarettes has this printed on it.

Guidance from the Qur’an

Having realized the negative impact of smoking, let us turn to the Qur’an for guidance. We observe that Allah enjoins that those things should be consumed as sustenance that are “Halal” (permissible) and “Tayab” (Good, wholesome, healthy). “Tayab” means that which is good and has positive implications for us rather than negative ones. Take the following ayah (verse) in consideration:

“Spend your wealth for the cause of Allah, and be not cast by your own hands to ruin; and do good. Lo! Allah loveth the beneficent.” 2:195

The words worth reflection in above verse are translated as: “…and be not cast by your own hands to ruin…”  Now smoking fits exactly in the above category. People are aware of its harmful effects but still indulge in it. Would not smoking lead to physically destroying oneself by his or her own hands (conduct) and violate the commandment in the ayah?

Society is also aware of the destructiveness of the practice of smoking: In his testimony before the U.S. Senate committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, former U.S Treasury Dept. Secretary Lawrence. Summers said:

“Smoking is by far the largest preventable cause of premature death in the U.S. As Dr. David Satcher noted in his testimony last week, over 400,000 Americans die each year of tobacco-related diseases. This toll exceeds the deaths from AIDS, homicide, suicide, alcohol use, illegal drug use, fires and auto accidents combined. Recent estimates suggest that on present patterns of tobacco-use, an estimated 25 million of today’s Americans will die prematurely from a smoking-related disease.”

Isn’t the above sufficient to say that smoking leads us to destruction by our own hands and doesn’t this come under the order given in Sura 2:195?

In Sura al-Araaf we are reminded:

“O children of Adam! wear your beautiful apparel at every time and place of prayer: eat and drink: but waste not by excess for Allah loveth not the wasters.” 7:31

The words which should be reflected upon with considering the subject under discussion are translated as: “..but waste not by excess for Allah loveth not the wasters.”

Compare the above Qur’anic injunction to what Lawrence Summers further says:

“Behind these heavy human costs of smoking lie equally heavy economic costs for our nation: We spend about $60 billion each year treating smoking related illnesses. On its own, smoking during pregnancy — which results in 2500 fetal deaths and doubles the odds of being born with low birth weight and potentially suffering problems later in life as a result — costs the country some $3-4 billion every year; Fires caused by smokers cost another $500 million — and 2000 lives — per year; Smokers with group life insurance push up the premiums of the non-smokers in their insurance pool by about $4 billion dollars per year; We must also consider the enormous cost to our economy from all the premature retirements and premature deaths of productive workers that are caused by smoking — amounting to $60 billion or more in lost wages.” [Presented before a US Senate Panel on 24^th March, 1998]

The above is just the tip of the ice berg, as to what smokers did to the US society way back in 1998. Imagine the damage that may have been done in more than a decade. Isn’t smoking a waste of such precious resources and lives? And compare this with what Allah said in 7:31: “..but waste not by excess for Allah loveth not the wasters.”

In Sura Al-Isra we are reminded;

“And render to the kindred their due rights as (also) to those in want and to the wayfarer: but squander not (your wealth) in the manner of a spendthrift.” 17:26

Wasteful spending of resources is abhorred in the above verse, and I think you’ll agree that smoking does come under this category, i.e. wasteful spending, what is called “Tabzeer” in Arabic. Along with ordering that we should not waste our resources on futility, Allah also identifies those who do so as;

“Verily spendthrifts are brothers of the Evil Ones; and the Evil One is to his Lord (Himself) ungrateful.” 17:27

Religious Reasons for Kicking the Habit

In the light of the above it should be evident to us that what is a cause of our own destruction by our own hands is not liked by Allah and wasting our resources and un necessary spending is detested in the Qur’an. Real Life examples from a technologically advanced nation such as The United States of America were provided above and we can judge how smoking or tobacco consumption falls in the direction of Qur’anic reprimands. It is no hidden secret that smokers are at a high risk of heart disease and fatal diseases like Cancer. In case a person suffers from such a smoking related illness, then is he being just and kind to his dependents and near ones? After all, it isn’t the patient who suffers in such cases but his family and near one’s also undergo the tension and hardship in the process. In the light of above, it is a wise decision to quit smoking as early as possible.

Not only for one’s own self but for our near and dear one’s as well, and in turn revert our lives to the guidance of Allah in His Book, Qur’an. The above Qur’anic injunctions are very clear in detesting the use of items such as tobacco and a person who claims to accept the Book of Allah as guidance should refrain from such a habit by all means.

I would recommend that along with other means and therapies to quit smoking, they also practice fasting during the month of Ramadan as well as in other months to get rid of their addiction, for fasting gives us self-control.

If the Qur’anic orders are implemented in society, then that would result in saving humanity from many of its losses and misgivings. Human beings arrive at the truth after trials and errors but the marvel of Allah’s Revelation is that it comes to the absolute truth straightaway and objective investigation will confirm that what Qur’an suggests is beneficial for Mankind.

“We send down (stage by stage) in the Qur’an that which is a healing and a mercy to those who believe: to the unjust it causes nothing but loss after loss.”17:82