Help! Very Confused About the Islamic Ruling On Cannabis & Psychedelic Use!

[Muhammad]

وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته

I'd like to add the following points:

1. When researching the Islamic ruling on an issue, it's important to turn to the right sources, such as reputable scholars who will base their verdicts upon the Qur'an and Sunnah. Rulings of Islam are not based upon our personal experiences and inclinations. Below are some links to fatwas on the issue:

https://islamqa.info/en/answers/191...uana-psilocybin-mushrooms-mescaline-and-so-on
https://islamqa.info/en/answers/176...the-same-ruling-as-the-one-who-drinks-alcohol
https://islamqa.info/en/answers/115761/ruling-on-smoking-various-types-of-hasheesh-marijuana
https://islamqa.info/en/answers/176623/ruling-on-using-drugs-marijuana-to-ease-pain
https://www.islamweb.net/en/fatwa/84951/use-of-cannabis-in-islam
https://islamqa.org/hanafi/askmufti/45184
https://www.amjaonline.org/fatwa/en/87728/marijuana


2. We do not indulge in acts of worship or piety just to feel good. Our main concern is to get closer to Allah سبحانه وتعالى and that He is pleased with us. Finding sweetness or internal peace comes as a natural consequence but it is not the ultimate goal. With taking drugs, it's the opposite: the goal is to simply experience euphoria with no intention of getting closer to Allah - so how can this be 'personal enlightenment'? Allah سبحانه وتعالى has taught us how to draw near to Him and has given us the best example in His Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم. That is what we should be following, not our own ideas. We have to always correct our intentions as well as seek to attain the goal in the proper manner.

3. With regards to the claim that Cannabis is 'virtually non-toxic', we should be aware that in the experience of psychiatrists, who are doctors that see a lot of people struggling with drug addiction amongst other problems, drugs are well known to have side-effects and complications. Effects of Cannabis use include tachycardia, hypotension, vasodilatation, increased appetite, dry mouth and reduced intraocular pressure. Complications of Cannabis may involve (1) acute toxicity: anxiety, panic attacks, persecutory delusions, visual hallucinations and impairment of short term memory and attention; (2) Chronic toxicity: impaired short-term memory and attention, dependence syndrome, exacerbation of chronic respiratory disease and induction or exacerbation of psychosis.

So even if a person does not see the harms of such drugs based upon their initial experience, it does not mean problems will not occur later. We should not make a conclusion from limited personal experience.

1. In 2014 Grand Ayatollah Rohani issued a fatwa, which labels psychedelics used in the right setting, intention and under expert supervision as Halal

Sufi founder, Rumi Mevlana is well known to have used psychedelics, namely arundo dorax (DMT) with together with Syrian rue (as MAOI):

Ayatollah Rohani is a Shi'i, and it is known that among the Shi‘ah are those who hold beliefs and principles which are contrary to those of the people of Islam. Therefore, it is ill-advised to be using their fatawa in your research.

Also, among the Sufis are those who adopt religious innovations and acts that are misguided. For example, they introduced some practices like worshipping Allah سبحانه وتعالى through dancing, jumping, whirling and swaying while reciting Dhikr, all of which are considered deniable religious innovations. See this link for more details: https://www.islamweb.net/en/fatawa/416/extravagant-sufis
[Note the statement of Imam Abu Bakr At-Tartooshi about dancing and ecstasy being the way of the worshippers of the calf]

The criterion for whether something is right or wrong goes back to the Qur'an and Sunnah. We should be referring to those scholars who are upon the guidance of these two sources of Islam. We cannot simply use any fatwa we come across regardless of who it is from just because it is in line with what we want. Likewise, before we follow the practice of anyone we should look to see whether it is in accordance with the teachings of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.

To conclude, Psychedelics have been used since centuries in all regions of the world. DMT is a endogen neurotransmitter, which our brain and that of all living beings produce by it self.

According to UK-rehab, the integrity and accuracy of tests suggesting this have been questioned and there is currently no scientific consensus regarding how widely DMT is found in the natural world.

Total darkness is enough for our brain to release DMT, which again is linked to experiencing the oneness of Allah. Or why do you think had all the prophets their mystical experiences in a cave? Because of the total darkness and through this the DMT production in our own brains.

We need to be extremely careful about making statements about the Prophets عليهم السلام, suggesting that their miraculous experiences and the Revelation that came to them was due to, or enhanced by, chemicals in the brain - we seek refuge in Allah سبحانه وتعالى from such thoughts. The Revelation was not some kind of hallucination or drug-induced state; it was an address by an Angel bearing the Words of Allah سبحانه وتعالى to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, whom Allah سبحانه وتعالى selected to bear His message and communicate it to humanity. The timing and circumstances of extraordinary events were varied and numerous, not always in a cave. For example, the Angel Jibreel عليه السلام came to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in the form of a man whilst he was sitting with his Companions. Another time the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was shown Paradise and Hellfire whilst he was praying the eclipse prayer. Angel Jibreel عليه السلام also came to him with his head covered with dust after the battle of al-Khandaq... and so on.

It's also worth pointing out that the effects of drugs like DMT is not consistent with what the Prophets عليهم السلام experienced. DMT can cause altered states of consciousness during which users may be totally unaware of their surroundings, and can cause euphoria. In contrast, after the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم received Revelation, he would be aware of everything that the Angel had told him, and he was the one who would tell his Companions what had been Revealed to him. He also suffered great hardship when the Revelation came to him. 'Aa'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her and with her father) told us that, 'The Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم would receive revelation on an intensely cold day, and by the time it departed from him, his forehead would be dripping with sweat.' More can be said, but I hope what has been mentioned is sufficient to remove any doubt on this issue.

I wasn't able to view the other link you posted about psychedelics in Islamic culture. However, these points you have mentioned from your research are very weak and in fact far-fetched in justifying the use of psychedelics. I hope anyone contemplating the use of drugs will seriously re-consider their position and keep themselves safe from this danger. To think it will somehow help you get closer to Allah سبحانه وتعالى is nothing but a delusion. Islam has taught us how we can get nearer to Allah سبحانه وتعالى and that is more than sufficient for us. May Allah سبحانه وتعالى Guide and Protect us, Ameen.

 

[whitedove]

It reaches a point where it is so frustrating to hear weed smokers defend weed to the bottom of their hearts and it truly does not matter what evidence you provide them with, they will simply give you something back every single time. Anything. I know people who long term have been affected badly through marijuana use ( their own admission ) and I tried it one time *yes I am aware I shouldn't have *, please note I am not a smoker. I tried it on one occasion out of curiosity and I had a trip. I was with a friend in a car and it suddenly felt like everything was swaying, reality was distorted and kind of dream like. Logically my brain knew that in fact it was impossible for us to be swaying ( almost like I was on a rollercoaster) and my limbs felt floppy. When we got out of the car i needed help actually walking straight. To be frank, I actually freaked out and wanted to be back to normal asap. This was from ONE SINGLE try. But like I say you could give marijuana users hundreds of real examples how it can trigger paranoia, schizophrenia and many other mental problems ( to be honest I cannot even be bothered to Google and give exact references ) but it is accessible online and I have skim read through peoples replies who have given some, and STILL they will debate with you. Please if you chose to and want to use the drug, go ahead and do so. But seriously you know it is wrong and you know it is haram. Anything that harms our bodies and mind, is haram. Let's not make the excuses ESPECIALLY on a subject that not only has so much scientific evidence of it's negative impact but also that can countless people can also directly share of either having experienced bad trips at some point or having had long term effects due to casual use of it. It is also important to add that long term and casual users of any drug ( irrelevant of soft or hard ) noticeably develop psychological problems. This is me wording it nicely I'm afraid ( I.e they become messed up ). I am sorry if I have on this occasion not read through all the posts on this thread beforehand and I would usually criticise that as an unintelligent to chip in without having done the reading, but I feel fixed and strongly about this. P.s I am not judging you, just simply saying there's no point in attempting to make ourselves feel better about things we already know we aren't meant to be doing. Either do it and know it is wrong or do it with the intention of stopping it and cutting out. The best thing you can do for yourself though is to cut it out. I promise you, will do you much more harm then good, as well as be an open gate for you to experiment down the line with other things. Yes you might not. But there's a good chance it will. It is not attractive either. Marijuana smokers always seem to be so dopey. A good start to keeping away from that kind of stuff, is to turn your focus to fitness. Get your adrenalin from working out, you will feel pumped up in a good and healthy way. Might sound boring but it is the best feeling after you exercise, your body releases endorphins. A natural, free and halal high. Drop the drugs and go to the gym.

 

[BiggyBiggy]

I think I have made a decent argument for my case in the thread post and am putting into consideration several of answers I have received. Since you mention that you yourself are a "drug user & cannabis smoker", I'd like to hear your side too in order to contrast the other answers I have received. If you have read it my reply (3rd post) could you please shed some light on if psychedelics are haram in Islam. If so, why are they haram despite having little to no harmful side effects physically and being spiritually and mentally beneficial (this is a hypothetical scenario - just because they have helped me personally does not mean its the same for everyone and I acknowledge I have no right to say they are spiritually or mentally beneficial without concrete proof so just consider this as a hypothetical situation for the sake of discussion). If you believe they are not beneficial and in fact do cause harm, physical or mental please discuss them (the harms/dangers) with me.



Once again thankyou for your time.

---- Bro I went through all this struggle and questions before Allhumdollilah I refused to do DMT, DMT Spirit Molecule. Damnn bro u sold ur soul (conscious) to the devil, the good u see is a show, that's why u have a good and a bad trip, illumination all aroubd u, eyes watching u! it's Dajjal himself 3rd eye, awakening, objects !!!
U done phsycodelic's, u make deals, promises! but u forget most, but remember bits, it's shaitan, presence of entities, presence of supreme, bright lights, Allah is Noor and u feel the godly love and care, but that's to experience when we die not on DMT or any phsycodelic's. Sorry to say u sold ur soul ur more alert, Ur more open to things, not afraid of after or death.
Messed up bro.

 

[Rosenaw]

---- Bro I went through all this struggle and questions before Allhumdollilah I refused to do DMT, DMT Spirit Molecule. Damnn bro u sold ur soul (conscious) to the devil, the good u see is a show, that's why u have a good and a bad trip, illumination all aroubd u, eyes watching u! it's Dajjal himself 3rd eye, awakening, objects !!!
U done phsycodelic's, u make deals, promises! but u forget most, but remember bits, it's shaitan, presence of entities, presence of supreme, bright lights, Allah is Noor and u feel the godly love and care, but that's to experience when we die not on DMT or any phsycodelic's. Sorry to say u sold ur soul ur more alert, Ur more open to things, not afraid of after or death.
Messed up bro.

Subhan allah. And can I please ask you how you came to this conclusion ?

 

[Rosenaw]

‏وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته

I may be too late, you might not even be alive subhan allah. Because for one thing we definitely know tomorrow is not promised but death is inevitable.
I too had the same problem.
What I realised is that I could of had all the advise in the world, But it did not change my thought processes until I wanted to change. But the first step is I started looking for answers and ma sha allah like your doing your self, it’s a good step. The first thing is that I started thinking about death. Would I be happy to die in any substance. No. I would rather die while I’m reciting the Quran. Or praying, or making duas. Or helping others. Or anything that follows the prophet peace be upon him and his companions. In sha allah. The thought of me dying high or on a trip.. scared me! Yes, I loved it! And I genuinely thought it was good for me and to the world, but that’s how the shaytan gets you, (oh do it, it’s no harm! It ‘actually’ brings you closer’ makes you think your doing a good thing! Which in fact.. we’re not. Which one do I love more. My creator ‏سبحانه وتعالى or the dunya (worldly) pleasures? Most definitely my creator. So I stopped. It was hard.. very! But it had to be done. Elhamdoulil lah I stopped, elhamdoulil lah allah ‏سبحانه وتعالى led me back to the straight path and I pray he ‏سبحانه وتعالى allows me to stay on this path but life can be unpredictable subhan allah.

also! Listen to loads of strong authentic not weak lectures. That helped a lot.

I really do hope I helped some how, to you or who ever is reading this and looking for answers, because I too was looking for answers and that’s what lead me here. And me reading all the excuses made me certain that it is not the way of Islam.
At the end of the day. Allah knows best! Allah knows all.
This is just my opinion and my experience.

May Allah ‏سبحانه وتعالى forgive us. Have mercy on our souls. And lead us to the straight path. Ameen!

Salamualkum

 

[Michael0]

Hey, as someone who used to struggle with addictoin to both cannabis and psychedelics, I can tell you that they are both intoxicants.

LSD is an intoxicant because it messes up your decision making. It makes your emotions extremely intense, to the point that dropping a hot dog on the ground could make you cry for hours. Some people who take LSD even mistakenly think they are God. DMT is even worse. If you have a good grasp on the reality of Islam, taking DMT can totally mess up your view of reality and make you doubt Islam. DMT is really really horrific, I can't describe how scary it is, just don't do it. you will regret it horribly right after taking the first hit from the pipe.

Cannabis is an intoxicant because it simply reduces your intelligence for the duration of the high. As someone who values my intelligent brain, it was a very scary experience to be unable to troubleshoot basic computer/phone problems while high, or not even be able to do simple math. I found that cannabis makes reality "Feel funny" and left me feeling existentially disturbed for a couple of days.

 

[hbb]

salam I would private message but I am a new member so it doesnt let me

Was just wondering what your opinions on this situation is now? would appreciate if you could get back to me inshallah as I know this is an old thread.

 

[Dunya69]

Salam alaikum wa rahmatu Allah wa barkatuhu

Brother I understand your frustrations and been researching this for years.

First of all the word alcohol is Arabic in origin, but Allah instead uses Khamer, i.e intoxicant. Intoxicant is not a good translation as you said anything taken in excess can be intoxicating. In order to by pass the loss of translation let's rather look at the characteristics of khamer in arabic language 1. one that gives temporary pleasure (nashwa) and is an obstacle to reason (aqel). Based on that then psychedelics are Khamers.

Regarding you tobacco comment, this is not true, that Tobacco is Makrooh i.e not preferred in contrast to prohibited, as Tobacco is clearly Haram i.e prohibited. The only difference between Tobacco's and psychedelic prohibition is that the former is not prohibited based on khamer law but harm law, as it is not defined as khamer based on the characteristics above.

Sadly however, our scholars are not up to date with new Khamers, like benzos and what have you, so indeed we see inconsistency in rulings, which are based on stereotypes of a drug than its reality. For example many scholars allow benzos but not marijuana even though the former is way more toxic and addictive, when in reality they are both Haram.

As for the past few years research on psychedelic therapy, these studies should be taken with a pinch of salt, they are all funded by companies that have LSD or psilocybin patents but most importantly and what you have to realise to understand the difference between anecdotal evidence of healing and logical science and hence Islam (as Islam is pure logic, this is why I replied because I could see you are a good logical thinker and it's our scholars and drug companies who failed you not Islam) is that all these studies don't have long term follow up i.e did the effects last, most studied have 2 months follow up with some with 6 months. There are anecdotal evidence that the remission from depression or anxiety is for 2 weeks to few months followed by a worse relapse into depression or anxiety. The studies and western corporations only concentrate on the good outcomes and for a financial reason not truth seeking reason.

Regarding the ruling on using drugs as medicine, no scholar worth their salt would allow the use of alcohol as medicine except to prevent imminent death, so why should opiods or psychedelics have a different ruling. Again the issue here is the lack of knowledge of our scholars on these substances, there is no new fatwa here, just lack of worldly knowledge to apply the fatwa in the right place. Pain is not an emergency and companions of the prophet rejected alcohol consumption when they are getting their legs amputated so imagine back pain or depression etc, that's not am emergency. This is also backed up by statistical facts of opioid epidemic in the west, where majority of addicts being middle working class starting their addiction after getting prescriptions from doctors after minor pain symptoms like back pain etc which clearly shows the danger of prescribing such drugs for cases that are not fatal i.e prevention of fatality.

Lastly but not least, psychedelic use has been historically documented to be an occult ritual among pagan, polytheist and satanic cults. It's use in channelling evil deities like Genies and or Lucifer is also well documented among occultists.

I hope this clears the contradiction you see between Islam and science.

Happy truth seeking trip.

Jazakum Allah kharan

Salam