The Evidence for the Prohibition of Smoking

The Shaykh : Then added to this are the hadiths that explicitly address the one who eats garlic and onions, even though garlic and onions are legumes that have benefits for the body, and extracts from them may be used in some treatments in some medicines. Nevertheless, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , Now, perhaps your minutes have run out a long time ago, is that not so?
Abu Layla : How, Shaykh?

The Shaykh : The minutes.
Abu Layla : Yes, but...

Another questioner : ... my Shaykh...

The Shaykh : Hehe, , So the bad smell does not only harm the believing humans, but also the angels, and this is something that does not cross the minds of smokers. More than that, it came in Sahih Muslim to the cemetery, as if he is indicating that this one who harms his Muslim brothers in one of the houses of Allah has no right and does not deserve to live with the living, but rather to live with the dead who do not feel or perceive when they will be resurrected. If the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) cared about the one who harms Muslims with lawful food, namely garlic and onions, which are only beneficial because of their bad smell, what would the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) have said if he had been in this age? Would he not treat smoking at least as he treated the smell of garlic and onions, or would he treat smoking with more severity? And I have no doubt about this, because smoking is harmful from a health perspective, as you know. Therefore, while we believe that what is forbidden is what Allah has forbidden and what is lawful is what He has made lawful, we should not limit ourselves to forbidding things merely because a text says "forbidden" and permitting things merely because a text says "lawful." There are rules, for example, as you know, that correspond to the lawful. The original ruling for things is permissibility. So we say, for example, drinking tea is permissible; we do not need a text that details it specifically. The point is that if we want to establish the lawfulness of something, such as drinking tea or similar modern beverages of today, we do not need a detailed text permitting that drink. It is sufficient for us that it falls under the rule "the original ruling for things is permissibility." Likewise, it is sufficient for us in prohibiting things that were not known before, because they contain harm, especially if they cause damage, that they fall under the rule established by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in the well-known hadith , as well as what was mentioned earlier: "Harm the believers." And there is a verse in the Noble Qur'an about harming the believers. So the purpose is that what is forbidden is what Allah has forbidden and what is lawful is what He has made lawful, but sometimes the prohibition or permission is not by the word "forbidden" or the word "lawful," but by what leads to one of them. Otherwise, we would fall into the problem of some ignorant addicts, not only of smoking but also of intoxicants, who say, "Give me a text in the Qur'an that intoxicants are forbidden." This may be difficult for some ignorant people because no one can bring them a verse from the Qur'an that says drinking intoxicants is forbidden. But the learned jurist, as I said earlier, is not required to stick to the word "forbidden" or the word "lawful," but he expands his understanding of one of the rulings with other texts, as is the case with that ignorant question about there being no text in the Qur'an regarding the prohibition of intoxicants. There is a text in the Qur'an, because Allah the Exalted first says: "So avoid them." This indicates the obligation to avoid intoxicants, so it means it is forbidden. Second, in the Noble Qur'an: . Third, the well-known hadith . And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . The point is that it is not necessary for us to have a text saying "smoking is forbidden," because it is sufficient that it falls under some of the general implications mentioned earlier by us. Otherwise, where would we derive the prohibition of hashish or opium from? From the same door by which we prohibited smoking, because this answer may be difficult for some who read the books of the Sunnah and find in Sunan Abu Dawud . But this hadith has weakness in its chain; there is a man in it named Shahr ibn Hawshab, who, although he was truthful in himself, had poor memory. So the point is that the prohibition of these types of narcotics, and there are many of them today and many names for them, is sufficient to eliminate them by the evidence we presented earlier for the prohibition of smoking. Even though smoking is distinguished by the severity of its prohibition compared to those narcotics, because the prohibition of those narcotics comes from the aspect of harm to the body, but they do not have that bad smell, even for those who pray among them when they enter the mosque, they drive away those around them. Those who smoke hashish are not like that, whereas those who are afflicted with smoking are repulsive by their bad smell, because it becomes an inseparable part of their life and nature, until you see the marks of smoking on the fingers of those who smoke, and the smoker's mouth has turned yellowish-brown while he is black, because of how much he smokes. And so on. As for if we enter into the details of the harm from a medical perspective, you are aware of that. This is what we have of an answer suitable for the occasion now regarding smoking.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : Have you finished your time?
Abu Layla : By Allah, my Shaykh, I have not finished the tape.

The Shaykh : Hehe, finish the tape.