Smoking in Islam

[Samkurd]

Hello everyone,

I understand that smoking is haram in Islam but I don't really understand why. I am speaking about marijuana. I understand that it intoxicates a person but when i used to smoke i never forgot any prayer or time to pray.

It is a social thing where i live and i am also a diabetic. There are so many health benefits from marijuana for me and those with other illnesses. For example, diabetics will face future complications such as loss of eyesight, neuropathy, loss of kidneys and are put at a higher risk of heart failure / disease.

Doctors have found that the compound found in cannabis (Cannaboidiol) is extremely beneficial towards diabetics such as myself:

"Early studies indicate cannabidiol works as a consummate multi-tasker to protect the eye from growing a plethora of leaky blood vessels, the hallmark of diabetic retinopathy, says Dr. Gregory I. Liou, molecular biologist at the Medical College of Georgia.

“We are studying the role of cannabinoid receptors in our body and trying to modulate them so we can defend against diabetic retinopathy,” Dr. Liou says. Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in working-age adults and affects nearly 16 million Americans.

High glucose levels resulting from unmanaged diabetes set in motion a cascade ultimately causing the oxygen-deprived retina to grow more blood vessels. Ironically, the leaky surplus of vessels can ultimately destroy vision.

Dr. Liou, who recently received a $300,000 grant from the American Diabetes Association, wants to intervene earlier in the process, as healthy relationships inside the retina first start to go bad.

Cannabinoid receptors are found throughout the body and endogenous cannabinoids are produced to act on them. “Their function is very different from organ to organ but in the central nervous system, cannabinoid receptors are responsible for the neutralization process that should occur after a nerve impulse is finished,” says Dr. Liou.

Nerves come together at a point of communication called a synapse. Glutamate is a neurotransmitter that excites these nerves to action at their point of communication. “There are also inhibitory neurotransmitters such as GABA,” Dr. Liou says. Endogenous cannabinoids help balance the excitation and inhibition, at least until oxygen gets scarce.

In the face of inadequate oxygen, or ischemia – another hallmark of diabetes – nerve endings start producing even more glutamate, setting in motion an unhealthy chain of events. Pumps that keep the right substances inside or outside of cells start to malfunction. Excess nitric oxide and superoxides are produced, which are toxic to the cells. Another irony is the heightened activity increases the retina’s need for oxygen. “We are talking about nerve cell death,” Dr. Liou says. “In the retina, if a lot of our nerve cells die, our vision is directly affected.”

And that’s not all that goes wrong in the nerve-packed retina. Nearby microglial cells, which can function as cell-eating scavengers in the body, sense something is going wrong with the nerve cells, become activated and start an inflammatory process that can be fatal to nerve cells.

Interestingly, the body starts producing more endogenous cannabinoids to stop glutamate release, then produces an enzyme to destroy the cannabinoids to keep them from continuing to accumulate. The same thing happens in the brain after a stroke.
That’s why cannabidiol, an antioxidant, may help save the retina. Test-tube studies by others, as well as Dr. Liou’s pilot studies in diabetic animal models show cannabidiol works to interrupt essentially all these destructive points of action.

“What we believe cannabidiol does is go in here as an antioxidant to neutralize the toxic superoxides. Number two, it inhibits the self-destructive system and allows the self-produced endogenous cannabinoids to stay there longer by inhibiting the enzyme that destroys them.” Cannabidiol also helps keep microglial cells from turning on nerve cells by inhibiting cannabinoid receptors on microglial cells that are at least partially responsible for their ability to destroy the cells.

“Cannabinoids are trying to ease the situation on both sides. They help save the neuron and, at the same time, make sure the microglial cells don’t become activated. How good do you want a drug to be?” Dr. Liou says.

“We are very pleased,” he says of studies in which cannabidiol is injected into diabetic rats and mice. He hopes the compound in marijuana may one day be given along with insulin to stop the early changes that set the stage for damaged or destroyed vision.
American Journal of Pathology, Jan. 2006 Co-authors on the study include Dr. Azza B. El-Remessy, MCG Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology; Drs. Mohamed Al-Shabrawey, Nai-Tse Tsai and Ruth B. Caldwell, MCG Vascular Biology Center; and Dr. Yousuf Khalifa, MCG Department of Ophthalmology."

As you can see the results are very promising and seem to be the most natural way to prevent such complications for me in the future.

I do not drink and gave up smoking 3 months ago but i am constantly surrounded by it as i am in college. Being a diabetic has always scared me as the complications are close to inevitable according to my doctor so if cannabis is a good way to help me is it still haram for me to use it, provided the fact it is done in moderation such as once every two weeks or something like that?

I just want to know why it is considered haram to smoke (not to the point of blacking out, just to get a mellow high)

Sorry if some of you don't feel comfortable speaking about this i understand,

Thanks!

[tresbien]

The general rule in Islam is that any beverage that get people intoxicated when taken is unlawful, both in small and large quantities, whether it is alcohol, drugs, fermented raisin drink, or something else.

In his book Al-Halal wal Haram fil Islam (The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam) Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi states the following:

The first declaration made by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) concerning this matter was that not only is Khamr (wine or alcohol) prohibited but that the definition of Khamr extends to any substance that intoxicates, in whatever form or under whatever name it may appear. Thus, beer and similar drinks are haram.

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was once asked about certain drinks made from honey, corn, or barley by the process of fermenting them until they became alcoholic. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) succinctly replied, "Every intoxicant is Khamr, and every Khamr is haram." Reported by Muslim.)

And `Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) declared from the pulpit of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that "Khamr is that which befogs the mind." (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.)

Islam takes an uncompromising stand in prohibiting intoxicants, regardless of whether the amount is little or much. If an individual is permitted to take but a single step along this road, other steps follow; he starts walking and then running, and does not stop at any stage. That is why the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Of that which intoxicates in a large amount, a small amount is haram." (Reported by Ahmad Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi.) And again, "If a bucketful intoxicates, a sip of it is haram." (Reported by Ahmad, Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi.)
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/S...=1119503545310

"Khamr is what befogs the mind." These are the words spoken by `Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) from the pulpit of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) providing us with a decisive criterion for defining what falls under the prohibited category of khamr. There remains then no room for doubts and questions: any substance which has the effect of befogging or clouding the mind, impairing its faculties of thought, perception, and discernment is prohibited by Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and will remain so until the Day of Judgment.

Drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, opium, and the like are definitely included in the prohibited category of khamr. It is well known that the use of such drugs affects the sensory perceptions, making what is near seem distant and what is distant seem near; that their use produces illusions and hallucinations, so that the real seems to disappear and what is imaginary appears to be real; and that taking drugs in general impairs the faculty of reasoning and decision-making. Such drugs are taken as a means of escape from the inner reality of one's feelings and the outer realities of life and religion into the realm of fantasy and imagination.

Added to this psychological fact are the physical effects: bodily lassitude, dullness of the nerves, and decline in overall health. The moral consequences, moral insensitivity, weakening of the will power, and neglect of responsibilities are also well known. Eventually, drug addiction weakens a person and makes him a diseased member of society. Furthermore, drug addiction may result in the destruction of the family or even drive one to a life of crime. Since obtaining drugs involves a great outlay of money, drug addiction may take its toll on the family budget and even it may tempt the drug addict to resort to illegal means to pay for drugs.

When we recall the principle that all impure and harmful things have been made haram, there can be no doubt in our minds concerning the prohibition of such detestable substances such as drugs, which cause so much physical, psychological, moral, social and economic harm.

Muslim jurists are unanimous on the prohibition of those drugs which were found during their respective times and places. Foremost among them was Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, who said: “This solid grass (hashish) is haram, whether or not it produces intoxication. Sinful people smoke it because they imagine it producing rapture and delight, an effect similar to drunkenness. While wine makes the one who drinks it active and quarrelsome, hashish produces dullness and lethargy; furthermore, smoking it disturbs the mind and temperament, excites sexual desire, and leads to shameless promiscuity, and these are greater evils than those caused by drinking. This perverted habit has spread among the people after the coming of the Tartars. The hadd (prescribed punishment) for smoking hashish, whether a small or large amount of it, is the same as that for drinking wine, that is, eighty or forty lashes.

He explained the imposition of hadd for smoking hashish in the following manner: It is the rule of the Islamic Shari'ah that any prohibited thing which is desired by people, such as wine and illicit sexual relations, is to be punished by imposing hadd, while the violation of a prohibited thing which is not desired, such as (eating) the flesh of a dead animal, calls for Ta'zeer (disciplinary punishment). Now hashish is something desired and craved for, and it is hard for the addict to renounce it. Accordingly, the application of the texts of the Qur'an and Sunnah to hashish is similar to that of wine. (Fatawa Ibn Taymiyyah, vol. 4, p. 262. Also see his book, As-Siyasah Ash-Shar'iyyah.)

[Al Qalam]

There really is no way to rationalize the use of an intoxicant like marijuana (unless of course your addicted, and addicts can find all kinds of rationalizations.) You were not born under the influence of marijuana. Allah did not create you that way. Marijuana use is a decision you are making with your life and consciousness. By the way, marijuana is more carcinogenic than cigarettes. You really should do more homework about this drug. It's dangers far outweigh it's benefits.

[Gia]

:sl: brother,

Please check this link. I hope it can help u understand why smoking is haram in Islam

Smoking is haram in Islam