By Cyril Anderson

Part One of Two

 One question that comes up a lot in Islamic law discussions is the legality of use of tobacco by Muslims.  There is some difference of opinion on the issue.  Many Sunni scholars say it is forbidden due to dangerous health effects.  Amongst Shia scholars, there are different opinions.  Some say that in the absence of proof from the traditions, there are no grounds to rule it forbidden.  Others say it depends on the amount of use and whether that amount could be taken to be harmful to the health.  Tobacco use is widespread in the Arab and Muslim world, both in the form of cigarettes and in other forms.  In fact, the smoking of flavored tobacco called sheesha using water pipes (narghila) has become the latest craze in North America.  The purpose of the article is to look at some of the factors that would shape the legality or illegality of tobacco from an Islamic Law perspective.

 The first use of tobacco was by Native Americans for thousands of years before the coming of the Europeans to North America.  Europeans discovered tobacco with the exploration of the new world from the 16^th century on, following Raleigh’s explorations in Virginia.  Native Americans considered tobacco a sacred plant, and used it in religious ceremonies, and in intra-tribal and inter-tribal negotiations, taking advantage of temporary calming and attention focusing effects of tobacco.  Also smoked at important times of life, and was used for trade by natives.  Believed that the smoke carried prayers upwards to God.

Following American colonization of Virginia, tobacco began being cultivated in an organized way for export to Europe.  Later, it’s use spread elsewhere through the European Empires, particularly the British.  Tobacco was not known to the Muslim world during the times of the imams; therefore no direct information from traditions.

 To assess the case of tobacco, a comparison can be made with the case for alcohol.   There are a number of reasons for alcohol prohibition.  For one, alcohol is a poison, as are all alcohols.  This is why alcohols are used as disinfectants.  Ethanol is the least poisonous alcohol, so at low doses, it is only mildly poisonous, producing the moderate to severe temporary brain dysfunction known as “drunkenness.” There are personal health effects to heavy drinking over time, including heart disease, liver damage, and kidney damage.  Use by pregnant women can lead to birth defects and fetal alcohol syndrome.  There is of course alcohol addiction, or alcoholism.  Extremely heavy binge drinking over a short period of time can lead to alcohol poisoning, potentially causing death.  It is said that there are some mild positive effects to very moderate amounts of consumption of certain alcoholic drinks, notably beer and wine.  However, these results are disputed and the effects are not dependent on the alcohol itself, but in trace substances within the drinks.

Alcohol impairs judgment, lowers inhibitions, diminishes reaction time and motor skills, and distorts and impairs thinking.  In general it acts by diminishing brain function, with the range of impacted functions increasing with increasing levels of alcohol in the bloodstream.  Effects of drunkenness vary from person to person.  Some people become relaxed and docile, others become loud and boisterous, others become chatty and laugh, some become sad and cry, while others become angry or aggressive or abusive. By all normal definitions, it is an intoxicant. 

 Due to the intoxicating nature of alcohol and the effects it has on people and their behavior, widespread alcohol use, on a societal level, also leads to a number of societal ills that affect people other than the ones drinking.  This includes rowdiness in public and disturbing the peace, fights and brawls (particularly near bars and pubs), domestic violence, including murder and attempted murder, sexual assaults, drunk driving, property damage, etc.  Alcoholism can lead to unemployment, homelessness, divorce, wife and child battery, the breakup of households, and suicide.  Habitual abusive alcohol use is often associated with mental illness such as depression, sometimes becoming a sort of “self-medication,” that may be used in general to dull psychological pain caused by painful memories from sexual or other forms of child abuse, or traumatic memories like being in an accident or being a crime victim or an innocent victim in a war zone.  Illicit youth binge drinking can be particularly harmful, with possibility of youth suffering alcohol poisoning or falling prey to using alcohol as a crutch at an age when young people can be prone to depression and stress because of the challenges of adolescence.  A significant portion of the population is known to be vulnerable to alcoholism, and there is evidence of genetic, hereditary links to alcoholism.

 All of these are heavy social costs.  A society can try to limit these negative effects through education campaigns promoting “responsible drinking” and the avoidance of drunk driving, but even this is a cost, and, from experience in Canada, there is questionable effect.  Still, on some level, there will be abuse, and a negative overall effect on the society. 

                               Part One                    Part Two