Is Smoking Haraam? - Dr Zakir Naik

Is Smoking Haraam? - Dr Zakir Naik

Yusuf Chambers: Dr. Zakir, Some scholars say that smoking is haraam. I’d like to know what is your opinion and does smoking invalidate the fast?

Dr. Zakir: As far as smoking is concerned several years before where science hadn’t advanced that far, most of the scholars used to say that smoking is Makhrooh based on the Hadith of Muhammad (saws) which is mentioned in

Sahih Bukhari Vol. no. 1 in the Book of Adhan Hadith no. 855 where the Prophet said that

“Anyone who eats garlic or onion, they should stay away from us and stay away from the mosque”

Prophet said that, you know, that don’t come to the mosque after having garlic or onion because it gives bad breath. When you are smoking the breath is worse then onion or garlic so based on this Hadith therefore garlic and onion doesn’t become haraam, it becomes Makhrooh so based on this Hadith scholars give the Fatwa that smoking is Makhrooh

But now after science has advanced we have come to know that smoking is nothing but it’s a slow poisoning. Tobacco in any form whether in smoking cigarettes whether bedi whether tobacco in Huqqa whether chewing tobacco all forms of tobacco contain nicotine and tar and we know its nothing but slow poisoning. That’s the reason most of the non-Muslims also, they agree that smoking is Haraam. Not only the Muslim world even the non-Muslims. That’s the reason they put a statutory warning on the cigarette packs, they put a statutory warning saying “Cigarette smoking is injurious to health” or in some countries it mentions “General Surgeon’s Warning” or “Surgeon General’s warning: Smoking is injurious to health”. And anyone gives an add whether in newspaper or in the magazine or television it is compulsory that they have to highlight this statement “Smoking is Injurious to Health” so I am not talking about the Muslim world even the non-Muslim world agrees that smoking is nothing but slow poisoning.

And today according to statistics the World Health Organization says that every year more than more than 4 million people die only because of smoking. And if you count the other forms of tobacco it will be much more. And today medical science tells us and even I had learnt when I was doing my medicine in a medical collage that more than 90% of the lung cancer deaths are only due to smoking. Whether cigarette or bedi whatever it is. 25% of the cardio vascular deaths are only because of smoking. 70 to 75% of Bronchitis and related deaths are only because of smoking. Smoking is nothing but slow poisoning. It blackens your lips, blackens your gums, blackens your fingertips, it damages your lips, it damages your esophagus, it damages your stomach and it can cause constipation, it can cause loss of appetite, it can cause loss of libido, your sexual power gets suppressed, it can cause immunity to the drugs you take and it reduces the defense of your body. And you can only give a talk on ‘Why smoking is Haraam’ and I have given a talk on ‘Dietary Laws in Islam’ and I have covered this topic in detail, time doesn’t permit me here but based on all these various research there are today more than 400 Fatwas the majority of the scholars, they agree that smoking is Haraam and all form of tobacco is haraam. There may be certain scholars of certain countries including this country where I come from, India, they say it is Makhrooh yet but most of the scholars otherwise throughout the world, majority of them they agree that smoking is haraam.

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