What is the ruling on smoking?

The questioner : You have tired us, O Shaykh, this is the last question.

The Shaykh : Please, what is this good news?

The questioner : We know that what is lawful and what is forbidden comes from Allah (Mighty and Majestic). What Allah has made lawful in His Book or on the tongue of His Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is lawful, and what Allah has forbidden in His Book or on the tongue of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is forbidden. So what is the ruling on smoking here, and what is the evidence for that? May Allah reward you.

The Shaykh : You have fallen upon an expert. We have not doubted for decades, and not since it was broadcast on the radio and television, as they say today, about the harms of smoking and that it is a strong cause of the malignant disease of cancer. It was known from ancient times that smoking harms the body, but some did not consider this harm to be certain for all those who are addicted to smoking. It was thought that some might be harmed and some might not. But now it has become a medical fact, beyond doubt or dispute, that smoking, with the substance in it known as nicotine, is a substance very harmful to the body. Therefore, smoking is forbidden with us from aspects that can be limited to three. The first aspect, which is clear and has no issue, is its foul smell that harms the believers who are free from smoking. Before completing this discussion, it is necessary to point out that no one, whether among those addicted to smoking or among the doctors who study this smoking medically, can say that smoking, in itself, is beneficial to health. No one says this at all. So, since it is devoid of any benefit and is characterized by a foul smell, and this foul smell is accompanied by harm, from this aspect, the use of smoking is forbidden. Now, I am speaking only from the aspect of the smell, not from the aspect of physical health harm, because we know from the authentic Sunnah that harm is not permissible in Islam, even with the sweetest speech, even with the recitation of the Qur'an. This is explicit in a hadith in the Sunan of Abu Dawud, the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, and the Muwatta of Malik, from the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri: so that you do not harm the believers. So, he forbade them from harming by raising their voices in the recitation of the words of Allah, so that you do not harm the believers. Who are these believers? They are those who share with these loud reciters in reciting the Qur'an by sitting in the mosque, and each one has his own purpose in sitting. Either he remembers Allah in secret, and that is the best of remembrance, or he studies with some of his brothers jurisprudence, knowledge, or hadith, and so on. Those loud reciters disturb him with their loudness, so they are harmed by the loudness. So, the Messenger (peace be upon him) forbade them from such harm. If the wise Shari'ah forbade such harm, and how gentle it is, by making them hear the words of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), yet as long as it is accompanied by harm, it is not permissible to raise your voice with the words of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), the Qur'an. This is a very gentle matter. A Muslim who is free from desire, first, and from sectarian bias, second, can be convinced that if smoking had nothing in it but the harm it causes to those around him, the sitters, and I do not say the worshippers, because when we stand in the row and a man who smokes comes to us, we almost break our prayer because of its foul smell. So, he harms us while we are praying and conversing with our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) in prayer. This is more severe harm than the harm of those who raised their voices with the Qur'an.