The Religious Restraint and the Nurturing of Human Souls
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Second Session
The Shaykh : Why, I mean, is the taste of tobacco better than food?
The questioner : By Allah, it is a matter of habit. Even if it were not the case, a person is accustomed to something.
The Shaykh : Yes, but you are justifying what you are doing with a reason. If the reason is incorrect, the reason of addiction to smoking is sufficient. Addiction to smoking is enough, without adding to this reason of addiction a second, incorrect reason that we change the taste of the food. (Al-Albani, may Allah have mercy on him, laughs). And then you say today, as a doctor, and we say in your capacity as a doctor, do you not believe in the harm of tobacco more than we do?
The doctor: Correct.
The Shaykh : So why do you consume what harms you?
The doctor: By Allah, I do not know how to explain it, except that a person has no willpower.
The Shaykh : How can you say there is no willpower? This is not what we want to hear from you, Doctor.
The doctor: If Allah wills.
The Shaykh : But it appears that the doctor is taking it only from a medical perspective, acknowledging the harm of tobacco.
The doctor: One hundred percent.
The Shaykh : But I say, and I mean what I say, that you are looking at tobacco only from the medical angle. So, in your capacity as a doctor, you believe there is harm. But doctors in general, if we look past whether they are believers or not, Muslim or disbeliever, and so on, they do not have a personal restraint that keeps them away from committing what harms them. The evidence is that many European and American doctors drink alcohol, and they believe it is harmful as well, meaning like tobacco or more than tobacco. But the medical belief that a certain thing is harmful to its user does not result in a restraint that makes him abstain from it. Here, the religious restraint and its effect on nurturing human souls become apparent. Therefore, I want to draw your attention, in your capacity not only as a doctor but as a doctor and a Muslim. Do you understand me well?
The Doctor: Yes.
The Shaykh : Ah, so you must have a religious restraint that forbids you from smoking. This religious restraint comes to you not only from the medical side, but from the side of knowledge of the Islamic Shari'ah.
The Shaykh : Why, I mean, is the taste of tobacco better than food?
The questioner : By Allah, it is a matter of habit. Even if it were not the case, a person is accustomed to something.
The Shaykh : Yes, but you are justifying what you are doing with a reason. If the reason is incorrect, the reason of addiction to smoking is sufficient. Addiction to smoking is enough, without adding to this reason of addiction a second, incorrect reason that we change the taste of the food. (Al-Albani, may Allah have mercy on him, laughs). And then you say today, as a doctor, and we say in your capacity as a doctor, do you not believe in the harm of tobacco more than we do?
The doctor: Correct.
The Shaykh : So why do you consume what harms you?
The doctor: By Allah, I do not know how to explain it, except that a person has no willpower.
The Shaykh : How can you say there is no willpower? This is not what we want to hear from you, Doctor.
The doctor: If Allah wills.
The Shaykh : But it appears that the doctor is taking it only from a medical perspective, acknowledging the harm of tobacco.
The doctor: One hundred percent.
The Shaykh : But I say, and I mean what I say, that you are looking at tobacco only from the medical angle. So, in your capacity as a doctor, you believe there is harm. But doctors in general, if we look past whether they are believers or not, Muslim or disbeliever, and so on, they do not have a personal restraint that keeps them away from committing what harms them. The evidence is that many European and American doctors drink alcohol, and they believe it is harmful as well, meaning like tobacco or more than tobacco. But the medical belief that a certain thing is harmful to its user does not result in a restraint that makes him abstain from it. Here, the religious restraint and its effect on nurturing human souls become apparent. Therefore, I want to draw your attention, in your capacity not only as a doctor but as a doctor and a Muslim. Do you understand me well?
The Doctor: Yes.
The Shaykh : Ah, so you must have a religious restraint that forbids you from smoking. This religious restraint comes to you not only from the medical side, but from the side of knowledge of the Islamic Shari'ah.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.