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Tobacco smoking

From Encyclopedia of Contemporary Jurisprudence
Author: Hamza Ahmadi
  • Abstract

Tobacco smoking is the inhalation of smoke produced by burning tobacco, the widespread use of which among Muslims led jurists to examine its religious ruling. Some jurists have issued fatwas prohibiting it, others have ruled it permissible, and still others have suspended judgment.

The no-harm rule is the most important argument invoked by proponents of the prohibition of tobacco smoking. They maintain that tobacco smoking causes considerable harm to health and that, according to the no-harm rule, anything harmful to health is prohibited. This argument has been criticized by proponents of the permissibility of tobacco smoking, who have stated that the concept of harm is not fixed but depends on individuals’ different constitutions, temporal and spatial circumstances, and the amount consumed. According to these jurists, tobacco smoking is harmful only to certain individuals and is prohibited only for them; therefore, no general ruling can be issued declaring it prohibited for everyone.

Muslim jurists believe that no explicit text has been transmitted concerning the religious ruling on tobacco smoking; nevertheless, some of them have exercised precaution, while others, invoking the principle of exemption and the presumption of permissibility, have issued fatwas permitting it.

Explanation of the Issue and Its Significance

Tobacco smoking, or smoking tobacco, is the inhalation of smoke produced by burning tobacco with devices such as cigarettes, hookahs, cigarette holders, pipes, or similar implements.[1] These terms have been discussed in the jurisprudential chapters on prayer and fasting.[2] Muslim jurists have independently discussed the religious ruling on its purchase and sale.[3] Tobacco smoking, in terms of whether or not it is harmful, has likewise been discussed as an independent issue both in the past and in contemporary jurisprudence.[4]

History and Context of the Emergence of the Discussion

According to Hurr al-Amili and some others, tobacco was introduced into Islamic countries by European unbelievers and polytheists.[5] The introduction of tobacco into Islamic countries has been dated to the final years of the tenth century AH.[6] Accordingly, it has been reported that tobacco was first introduced into the Ottoman Empire (present-day Turkey) in 1605 CE.[7] According to some reports, tobacco entered Iran in the early eleventh century AH.[8] Following the spread of tobacco in Islamic countries and the prevalence of its use among Muslims, jurists began examining its religious ruling.[9] One group declared it permissible, while another declared it prohibited.[10]

The Usuli-Akhbari Dispute over the Religious Ruling on Tobacco Smoking

Due to their differing principles regarding prohibitive doubts concerning legal rulings, Usulis and Akhbaris also disagree over the religious ruling on tobacco smoking, to the extent that, during one period, the prohibition of tobacco use and smoking was regarded as a symbol of Akhbarism, while its permissibility was considered a symbol of Usuli thought.[11] According to the Usulis, the principle of exemption applies to prohibitive doubts concerning legal rulings; that is, where, first, a mujtahid doubts the existence of an obligation in a particular issue; second, the doubt originates from the absence of an explicit text on that issue, the ambiguity of a text, or a conflict between texts; and third, the matter revolves between a general ruling of prohibition and non-obligation.[12] Under these circumstances, the Akhbaris have advocated suspension of judgment or precaution.[13]

Accordingly, since it is maintained that no explicit text or narration has been transmitted concerning tobacco smoking,[14] there is doubt and uncertainty as to whether its general ruling is prohibition, permissibility, or reprehensibility. In accordance with their own principles, some Usulis have applied the principle of exemption and regarded it as permissible,[15] whereas the Akhbaris have adopted suspension of judgment and precaution regarding this issue.[16] In Benefit 51 of the book Tusi Benefits, Shaykh Hurr al-Amili discusses the ruling on tobacco smoking.[17] In this section, he refers to twelve arguments advanced by Shia jurists to establish the prohibition of tobacco smoking.[18]

The Theory of the Prohibition of Tobacco Smoking

A group of Muslim jurists have declared tobacco smoking prohibited and have invoked the following arguments to establish its prohibition:

The Harmfulness of Tobacco to the Body

Citing the no-harm rule, many Muslim jurists have regarded tobacco smoking as prohibited only when it causes significant and considerable harm to the body.[19] These jurists do not, of course, regard tobacco as inherently prohibited; rather, they issue a fatwa prohibiting its use insofar as it may cause considerable harm to the body and once its harmfulness has been established. For example, according to the fatwa of Sayyid Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani, the use of narcotics, cigarettes, and hookahs is prohibited when it entails extraordinary and serious harm.[20]

Some jurists have issued an unconditional fatwa prohibiting it.[21] For example, Hurr al-Amili presents the reasoning of some of these jurists as follows: all those accustomed to tobacco smoking, as well as physicians, have reported the harms arising from it, and according to a narration from Imam al-Sadiq (a),[22] the harmfulness of something is regarded as the cause of its prohibition; therefore, tobacco smoking is prohibited.[23] Among contemporary Shia jurists of the fifteenth century AH, Makarem Shirazi has likewise issued an unconditional fatwa prohibiting tobacco smoking on the basis of the no-harm rule.[24] He states that physicians and experts unanimously agree that tobacco and cigarette smoking cause serious and life-threatening harm to the body,[25] and that they therefore fall under the ruling of prohibition pursuant to the no-harm rule.[26]

A group of Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi‘i, and Hanbali jurists, as well as Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz (d. 1420 AH), the Saudi Wahhabi mufti, have also issued fatwas prohibiting tobacco smoking on the basis of the no-harm rule.[27] According to these jurists, specialists report that tobacco smoking causes serious and considerable harm to the body, and, pursuant to this rule, whatever harms the body is prohibited.[28]

Tobacco as One of the Impure Things and a Cause of Self-Destruction

Citing the verse “and He prohibits for them impure things”, some scholars have regarded tobacco as an instance of these impure things and have consequently ruled it prohibited.[29] It has also been stated that because tobacco smoking causes numerous diseases, it constitutes a form of casting oneself into destruction, which God has prohibited in the verse concerning destruction.[30]

Tobacco Smoking as Contrary to Precaution

Shia Akhbaris and some Sunni jurists, such as Muhammad ibn Ahmad Illish (d. 1299 AH), a Maliki jurist, have invoked the principle of precaution to establish the prohibition of tobacco smoking.[31] According to this principle, certain matters are clearly prohibited and must be avoided, others are clearly obligatory and must be performed, while the obligation or prohibition of still others is unclear and subject to doubt; judgment regarding such matters must therefore be suspended to avoid falling into what God has prohibited.[32] Tobacco smoking is among the matters subject to doubt, and failure to suspend judgment concerning it results in falling into divine prohibitions and destruction.[33]

Expenditure on Tobacco as Extravagance and Waste of Property

Spending money on tobacco smoking constitutes extravagance and waste of property, because it not only provides no benefit to the body but is also harmful; and according to Verse 43 of Sura Ghafir and certain narrations,[34] extravagance and waste of property are prohibited.[35]

The Permissibility of Tobacco Smoking

Some jurists have issued fatwas permitting tobacco smoking and have invoked the following arguments:

Disputing the Harmfulness of Tobacco to All Bodies

According to Sayyid Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei, the concept of “harm” is not an absolute and fixed concept to which the ruling of prohibition is intrinsic and inseparably attached; rather, it is an unfixed and relative concept that varies according to individuals and their different constitutions, the amount of the substance said to be harmful, and different times and places.[36] Tobacco has likewise been regarded as belonging to this category. Some jurists have stated that its harmfulness is not fixed and that it may be harmful only to some bodies but not to others; it therefore cannot be subsumed under a general rule and declared prohibited in all cases.[37]

Tobacco Is Wholesome and Lawful

Sayyid Nimat Allah Jazaeri maintains that everything on earth and everything that grows from it is lawful, as attested by verses such as the verse “It is He who created for you all that is on the earth” and the verse “Eat of what is on the earth, lawful and wholesome”, unless specific evidence establishes its prohibition.[38] According to him, tobacco is likewise one of the things that grow from the earth, like other plants, and no religious text or specific evidence has been transmitted prohibiting its use; therefore, it is lawful and wholesome.[39]

The Presumption of Permissibility

No explicit text has been transmitted prohibiting tobacco smoking, and, according to Sayyid Nimat Allah Jazaeri, all early and later Shia jurists unanimously agree that whatever has not been prohibited by an explicit text is lawful.[40] Therefore, on the basis of the presumption of permissibility, tobacco smoking is permissible.[41]

According to the Kuwaiti Jurisprudential Encyclopedia, some Sunni jurists, after challenging the arguments for prohibition, have regarded tobacco smoking as reprehensible.[42] According to these jurists, if the harms of tobacco smoking are established, it is prohibited; if they are not established, the presumption is that it is permissible.[43] Some have also stated that since most Muslims are afflicted by it, it is preferable to issue a fatwa permitting it in order to avert hardship from Muslims, and that a fatwa of permissibility is more consistent with ease and the rule of negation of hardship than a fatwa of prohibition.[44]

The Ruling on Tobacco Smoking for a Fasting Person and in Public Places

According to most jurists and religious authorities, obligatory precaution requires a fasting person to refrain from the smoke of all forms of tobacco, as well as narcotic substances absorbed through the nose or beneath the tongue.[45]

Jurists have also discussed the ruling on tobacco smoking in public places. According to the fatwas of some of them, smoking cigarettes or hookahs in public places, gatherings, or public transportation is impermissible if it causes considerable harm to others or causes them annoyance, and it is likewise impermissible on another person’s property without that person’s consent.[46] Makarem Shirazi has stated that smoking in government or private offices where it has been prohibited is impermissible and prohibited, even if it does not cause annoyance to others.[47] He has also regarded the advertising of cigarettes as prohibited because they are considered harmful products.[48]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Tayyar et al., Simplified Jurisprudence, vol. 13, p. 44; Atiq, Jurisprudential Rulings Relating to Smoking, p. 19.
  2. ↑ Collective of Authors, Persian Jurisprudential Dictionary, vol. 3, p. 586.
  3. ↑ For examples, see Hurr al-Amili, Tusi Benefits, p. 224; Tayyar et al., Simplified Jurisprudence, vol. 13, p. 44; Atiq, Jurisprudential Rulings Relating to Smoking, p. 19; Collective of Authors, Kuwaiti Jurisprudential Encyclopedia, vol. 10, pp. 109-110.
  4. ↑ For an example, see Khoei, Comprehensive Rulings on Medical Issues, pp. 360-361.
  5. ↑ For examples, see Hurr al-Amili, Tusi Benefits, p. 224; Abd al-Salam al-Tawila, Jurisprudence of Beverages and Their Prescribed Punishment, p. 436.
  6. ↑ Abd al-Salam al-Tawila, Jurisprudence of Beverages and Their Prescribed Punishment, p. 436.
  7. ↑ Atiq, Jurisprudential Rulings Relating to Smoking, pp. 24-25.
  8. ↑ Fathallahpour, “Tobacco,” p. 389.
  9. ↑ Rahimi, “An Examination of Jurisprudential Verses Concerning the Permissibility or Prohibition of Tobacco Smoking from the Perspective of the Two Islamic Schools,” p. 70.
  10. ↑ Rahimi, “An Examination of Jurisprudential Verses Concerning the Permissibility or Prohibition of Tobacco Smoking from the Perspective of the Two Islamic Schools,” p. 70.
  11. ↑ Adalat-Nejad, “Tobacco: Jurisprudential Discussions,” p. 391.
  12. ↑ Vahid Behbahani, Usuli Treatises, p. 349; Shaykh Ansari, Unique Principles, vol. 2, pp. 18-20.
  13. ↑ Vahid Behbahani, Usuli Treatises, p. 349; Shaykh Ansari, Unique Principles, vol. 2, pp. 18-20.
  14. ↑ Shaykh Ansari, Unique Principles, vol. 2, p. 18.
  15. ↑ For examples, see Jazaeri, Numani Lights, vol. 4, p. 44; Shaykh Ansari, Unique Principles, vol. 2, p. 19.
  16. ↑ For an example, see Hurr al-Amili, Tusi Benefits, p. 226.
  17. ↑ Hurr al-Amili, Tusi Benefits, p. 224.
  18. ↑ Hurr al-Amili, Tusi Benefits, pp. 224-226.
  19. ↑ Usuli and Bani-Hashemi Khomeini, Manual of Islamic Rulings (Religious Authorities), vol. 2, p. 922.
  20. ↑ Sistani, “Comprehensive Manual of Islamic Rulings”, official website of the Office of the Grand Religious Authority Sayyid Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani.
  21. ↑ Hurr al-Amili, Tusi Benefits, p. 224; Aliyan-Nejadi, Cigarettes: The Deadly Phenomenon of Our Age, p. 6.
  22. ↑ Kulayni, al-Kafi, 1407 AH, vol. 6, p. 242.
  23. ↑ Hurr al-Amili, Tusi Benefits, 1423 AH, p. 224.
  24. ↑ Aliyan-Nejadi, Cigarettes: The Deadly Phenomenon of Our Age, p. 13.
  25. ↑ Aliyan-Nejadi, Cigarettes: The Deadly Phenomenon of Our Age, p. 20.
  26. ↑ Aliyan-Nejadi, Cigarettes: The Deadly Phenomenon of Our Age, p. 13.
  27. ↑ Collective of Authors, Kuwaiti Jurisprudential Encyclopedia, vol. 10, p. 102; Jurisprudential Encyclopedia, “The Ruling on Smoking Tobacco”, al-Durar al-Saniyya website.
  28. ↑ Jurisprudential Encyclopedia, “The Ruling on Smoking Tobacco”, al-Durar al-Saniyya website.
  29. ↑ Hurr al-Amili, Tusi Benefits, p. 224.
  30. ↑ Tayyar et al., Simplified Jurisprudence, vol. 13, p. 44; Atiq, Jurisprudential Rulings Relating to Smoking, p. 54.
  31. ↑ Hurr al-Amili, Tusi Benefits, p. 226; Illish, Fath al-Ali al-Malik fi al-Fatwa ala Madhhab al-Imam Malik, vol. 1, p. 122.
  32. ↑ Hurr al-Amili, Tusi Benefits, p. 226; Illish, Fath al-Ali al-Malik fi al-Fatwa ala Madhhab al-Imam Malik, vol. 1, p. 122.
  33. ↑ Hurr al-Amili, Tusi Benefits, p. 226; Illish, Fath al-Ali al-Malik fi al-Fatwa ala Madhhab al-Imam Malik, vol. 1, p. 122.
  34. ↑ Kulayni, al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 60.
  35. ↑ Hurr al-Amili, Tusi Benefits, p. 225.
  36. ↑ Tohidi, Misbah al-Fiqaha (Lecture Notes from Ayatollah Khoei’s Advanced Course on Transactions), vol. 1, pp. 77-78.
  37. ↑ Jazaeri, Numani Lights, vol. 4, p. 44.
  38. ↑ Jazaeri, Numani Lights, vol. 4, p. 44.
  39. ↑ Jazaeri, Numani Lights, vol. 4, p. 44.
  40. ↑ Jazaeri, Numani Lights, vol. 4, p. 44.
  41. ↑ Jazaeri, Numani Lights, vol. 4, p. 44.
  42. ↑ Collective of Authors, Kuwaiti Jurisprudential Encyclopedia, vol. 10, p. 107.
  43. ↑ Collective of Authors, Kuwaiti Jurisprudential Encyclopedia, vol. 10, p. 107.
  44. ↑ Collective of Authors, Kuwaiti Jurisprudential Encyclopedia, vol. 10, p. 107.
  45. ↑ For examples, see Khoei, Manual of Islamic Rulings, p. 276; Sistani, Manual of Islamic Rulings, p. 335; Usuli and Bani-Hashemi Khomeini, Manual of Islamic Rulings (Religious Authorities), vol. 1, p. 974.
  46. ↑ Sistani, “Comprehensive Manual of Islamic Rulings”, official website of the Office of the Grand Religious Authority Sayyid Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani; Makarem Shirazi, New Inquiries, vol. 1, p. 286.
  47. ↑ Makarem Shirazi, New Inquiries, vol. 1, p. 286.
  48. ↑ Makarem Shirazi, New Inquiries, vol. 3, p. 601.

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