Digital Photo Gallery of Ted Szukalski : Blog Archive : Islam and smoking

Islam and smoking

Muslim girl smoking

I hope one of the visitors here can shed some light on this: why can Muslims smoke and yet they cannot drink because alcohol harms you.

Tags: drinking, islam, smoking

April 14th, 2008 Posted by Ted Szukalski | Photography | 12 comments

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12 Comments »

I might be wrong… But I lived in an Islam country for a long time…. I think smoking is not allowed by the Islam, but lots of Muslims are uninhibited when overseas… or when living in a non Islam country… and even at home :p

You may check this out… I learned something as well…
http://islam.about.com/library/weekly/aa090600a.htm

The irony goes as far as having Middle East creating narghile …

Comment by Frederic | April 16, 2008
I wish if you have just advised, you have done something worst , that is taking picture without permission ( What a crime u discovered )

Comment by ASM | May 6, 2008
ASM,
this was a curiosity photograph. It was not designed to be negative - it was designed to
post a question why one vice (alcohol) is bad and another (smoking) is not. I thought I
was very considerate and highlighted the question without showing the girl’s face.

Also, for your information: in Australia taking photographs in public is perfectly legal
and does not require permissions or consent.

Ted

Comment by Ted.Sz | May 6, 2008
Smoking is harmful, but to the individual, and only very indirectly to the group. Alcohol is harmful, both to the individual and to the group or village or town etc. Think drunk driving, alcohol-fuelled violence in domestic and social situations.
It seems to me that Islamic culture is much more concerned about the group, village etc whereas Western/Judaeo-Christian culture is much more concerned about the individual. Individualsim in the West has brought endless problems to the wider society; one example is gun-ownership in the U.S. Islamic group-mores seems to bind the individual to the survival of the wider society. This is a fundamental difference. Personally I would sacrifice alcohol if it guaranteed that I would not be king-hit outside my local restaraunt.

Comment by Tony | May 25, 2008
I had the same question. I learned that in fact when tobacco became popular during the Ottoman Empire it was considered halal (allowed) only because the long term effects had not been discovered. When science finally advised that in fact smoking was harmful the scholars agreed that it would be made haram (forbidden), but by then it had been so engrained into the “culture” it has been difficult for many people to stop or even truly believe that it is not allowed w/in Islam.

Comment by Khadijah | July 14, 2008
Anything that harms a person’s health and well-being is forbidden in Islam. Because the negative affects of smoking have only just been discovered, Muslims have been reluctant in giving it up and some are even in denial about it being forbidden.

Comment by Naima | July 21, 2008
Smoking is Haram in Islam. (Not allowed).
If some people are doing it, this doesnt mean Islam is making it allowed.

The rules of Islam dont change upon the desire of its own people..

Comment by subzero | September 4, 2008
smoking is haram in islam as well as drinking..anything that harms your body is haram(sin), your body is not yours, it belongs to Allah/God/Lord…The Creator. life is a gift. how would you like it if you gave a gift that had heart in it and they wrecked it? same deal. BUT! alot of muslims use the excuse that its not haram cuz the prophet Muhammad (peace be apon him), smoked…the water pipe i believe it was..? well something along those lines. these people that claim this probably use points in islam to do what they want but when the points apose them they ignore it. smoking is also NOT a individual wrong! i have a right to clean air and i should have to hold my breath while being in public and neither should anyone else especailly kids. i’m a muslims canadian convert living in U.A.E. married syrian; i’m a ex-smoker of 13years, quit 3years ago. so this pic could just be an old one of me. about the picture, it depends on the intention of the photo for it to be wrong or right in this case its for the sake of learning/education. i don’t see anything wrong with that, if of the face maybe you could argue it. and it being a girl, most muslims men you could take picture of but couldn’t tell if they were muslim. that bothers me
malaak-jayne@hotmail.com

Comment by malaak-jayne | September 17, 2008
anybody can ware a scarf and pretne like they are muslim

Comment by lkjsdfkl | October 3, 2008
even smoking is not considered good ! but some ppl just can’t live with out it !

by the way the effect of wine is way different ! u basically lose ur human sence and become an animal ! u can’t think at that time, and what’s worst?

God gave us this body and we have to take good care of it so trust me most of us don’t even smoke :-X

Comment by HODA | October 3, 2008
Hey,

Basically Muslims are not allowed to inflict harm upon themselves as Allah has given us this body and so we should respect it. This in mind we are not permitted to smoke or drink alcohol. However, with alcohol its taken more serious because with alcohol you can also loose self restraints and consiousness which can be more harmful. So smoking in islam is not allowed but then in islam we are humans with a mind of our own to allow ourselfs to be tested.

However, if smoking or alcohol use is for medicinal purposes it is allowed but this doesnt really fit in with todays society as we have amazing replacements for it and so not in need of the small amounts of whisky for sore throats or smoking (originally designed to remove the plague)

I hope this helps if you need anymore questions answering please just conact me.
-S.

Comment by Muslimgirl | October 6, 2008
As salamu’alaikum. While drinking alcoholic beverages is unlawful for any Muslim no matter the age and or cercumstance, smoking is found to be very highly disliked.
Perhaps one can understand that approximatly 14 hundred years on back the process of harvessing tobaco then and its process of [perhaps] processing it for smoking then were and is unlike today with all the chemical and are other additives manufacturer’s use today in keeping it moist and perserves not to mention nicotine which may or may not by some brands be added to enhance ones urge to smoke.
One thing is for sure and that is Prophet Muhammad {P.B.U.H} himself had never smoked. So while he is the holy Prophet of Al-Islam and the one whom is the very best example of how one should practice it, his example should be sought on it and adopted: Prophet did not smoke.

Comment by Khalif Abdun Nuur Jusur | October 26, 2008