A man who takes narcotics and is addicted to them until they have become his sustenance: how does he repent?
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The questioner : The questioner says: A man takes narcotics and is addicted to them, and if he leaves them, he meets his death, because his body has become accustomed to them and they have become his sustenance. How does he repent?
The Shaykh : This person who used to take narcotics, may Allah protect us from it, until they became part of his blood, flesh, and nerves: if he has strong faith in Allah the Mighty and Majestic, it will be easy for him to leave them. For this reason, when intoxicants were prohibited in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)—and their prohibition was in the sixth year of the Hijrah, meaning late in the period, and the people had become completely accustomed to them—what did they do? They said, "By Allah, our blood, flesh, and nerves grew up on them, and it is difficult for us to leave them forever." But they poured them out in the markets and did not care about them. However, Allah, by His wisdom, made the prohibition of intoxicants gradual. So we say to this addict: leave this thing gradually, leave it little by little, and use what removes the germs of this vile disease from your body, which is draining the blood and injecting new blood. If this draining is done once after another, that is closer to leaving it. And if that is not available to you, then you leave it little by little, seeking help from Allah the Mighty and Majestic and asking Allah the Exalted for protection.
The Shaykh : This person who used to take narcotics, may Allah protect us from it, until they became part of his blood, flesh, and nerves: if he has strong faith in Allah the Mighty and Majestic, it will be easy for him to leave them. For this reason, when intoxicants were prohibited in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)—and their prohibition was in the sixth year of the Hijrah, meaning late in the period, and the people had become completely accustomed to them—what did they do? They said, "By Allah, our blood, flesh, and nerves grew up on them, and it is difficult for us to leave them forever." But they poured them out in the markets and did not care about them. However, Allah, by His wisdom, made the prohibition of intoxicants gradual. So we say to this addict: leave this thing gradually, leave it little by little, and use what removes the germs of this vile disease from your body, which is draining the blood and injecting new blood. If this draining is done once after another, that is closer to leaving it. And if that is not available to you, then you leave it little by little, seeking help from Allah the Mighty and Majestic and asking Allah the Exalted for protection.