Explaining the Harms of Smoking

The Shaykh : As for smoking, it is very foul. It contains this foul disease, which is cancer. So the one who smokes harms himself and harms others. Moreover, the harm to himself is not limited to his health; it also affects his wealth. Because if a Muslim, no matter how rich he is, has a private driver, what would he say to you? He would say, for example...

The questioner : ...his taste.

The Shaykh : A type of taste, meaning he differs from all other people. Suppose he is a millionaire; his taste is such that he takes these five pounds and lights a match, and he holds it like this to enjoy it. How does the hashish user enjoy it? What does he enjoy...

The questioner : We have not tried it.

The Shaykh : He enjoys this scene here. What harm is there in this box full of millions of these five-pound notes? Is this action permissible?

The questioner : It is not permissible.

The Shaykh : No one says it is permissible.

Another questioner : ...

The Shaykh : Now look, the one who smokes a cigarette does not do anything. We said a five-pound note; if he took one Jordanian pound or one dinar or half a dinar and lit it like this, he would not be harmed at all, but he would have wasted money. And it came in the authentic hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and how does he enjoy burning this half dinar or dinar or more than that? The one who smokes does not burn it like that; he rolls it like a cigarette and smokes it. Which is worse: the one who burned it like that and enjoyed it, or the one who burned it and inhaled it? Which is worse? Tell me, you, Mr. Abu What?

The questioner : Abu Ahmad.

The Shaykh : Abu Ahmad, praise be to Allah. And he is also Abu Ahmad. Which is worse: the one who burned it and enjoyed it, or the one who burned it and inhaled the smoke of it?

The questioner : The one who inhaled it.

The Shaykh : The one who inhaled it. So, he is wasting, not only harming himself with the smoke, but also harming his wealth...

The questioner : Even if he

The Shaykh : Even if he is rich, you say he is rich. So what about people who spend a dinar every day, and perhaps more, and they have children and kids, as you said? So the harm is not limited to the self; it is also limited to the wealth, besides the annoyance of other people. Smoking is fouler than drinking alcohol and fouler than smoking hashish. So one of them, long ago, before the harm of smoking was discovered, what did he say? He said: This is the speech of the jurists, the students of knowledge who understand, and you, if Allah wills, are among them. He said:
The Shaykh : "The original ruling in it is permissibility, and the prohibition of it is absolute due to its foulness.
The Shaykh : And there is a long disagreement among them, and the relied-upon position is the detailed ruling.
The Shaykh : If it harms him in his mind or body, or if he has a dire necessity for the price,
The Shaykh : then its use is forbidden; otherwise, it is permissible in our Shari'ah and lawful.
The Shaykh : But excessive use of it is distracting, and its foul smell is prohibited.
The Shaykh : Their jihad in it is a jihad against desire; their silence and their prohibition of it are equal.
The Shaykh : Rather, it may incite a young man obsessed with smoking, and he would belittle the one who is restrained.
The Shaykh : And the ultimate word in it is that it is from plants, and it is all lawful,
The Shaykh : except that which harms the bodies or the minds; that is a different matter.
The Shaykh : Allah has informed us, "Here is the lesson.
The Shaykh : " Allah has informed us, and then the Chosen One, about honey that it is a healing.
The Shaykh : Even though it harms the one with a fever, and the prohibition of the harmful is known."
The Shaykh : If a person has a fever and you come and give him honey, you increase his fever on top of fever; it harms him, even though honey is a healing for people. So what about this foul thing that harms people? It is forbidden without doubt. And I remembered the harm, the incidental harm to the smoker of tobacco from this beautiful poem: "And excessive use of it is distracting." I observe the smoker of tobacco; it is not possible that he remembers Allah (Mighty and Majestic). It is not possible at all, because the free time is wasted in what...

The questioner : In the cigarette.

The Shaykh : In the smoke. He has no time, because this nicotine has become an essential thing in his body...

The questioner : O Most Beautiful.

The Shaykh : And therefore, you will not find these afflicted with smoking tobacco to whom the saying of Allah the Exalted in the Qur'an applies: ..

The questioner: Allahu Akbar.

The Shaykh : You will not find it. This is one of the effects of what? Smoking tobacco. So one of these harms is sufficient to forbid smoking, so what about you, Abu Ahmad, who has gathered all the harms? Now, bring out what you have. I am finished.

The questioner : Who taught people about it?

The Shaykh : It is none other than Satan. It is Satan, none other.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : None other than Satan, ever. ..

The questioner : I want to know who, in the time of the Messenger...

The Shaykh : O Abu Ahmad, may Allah be pleased with you. Your knowledge of who planted it and your ignorance are the same. Rather, perhaps your ignorance of it is better than your knowledge of it. What benefit is there for you in knowing about it? One who is a devil from the devils of mankind or the jinn. The important thing is that you know that this is forbidden: planting it, harvesting it, drying it, what is it called, cutting it...

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Preparing it into cigarettes, and so on, and then smoking it. All these preliminaries are forbidden for Muslims. Yes.

The questioner : The question, meaning it has two branches. They say there is no evidence...

The Shaykh : Abu Ahmad, it is six o'clock.