well, king james 6th of scotland, later to become james 1st of the united kingdom, has been coming in for a bit of stick in these forums of late as people (rightly or wrongly) have made personal attacks on him, seeking to cast doubts on the great translation of the bible completed during his reign in 1611.  be that as it may, when i looked him up in wikipedia, i discovered that he himself was a writer, producing several books. 

one of these volumes is entitled "A Counterblaste to Tobacco", which, in many ways, is very up to date indeed.  in it, james discusses peer pressure to smoke, second-hand smoke (which we would refer to as passive smoking), the bad manners of smoking in the presence of people who are eating, and the notion that it is a fashionable ie cool thing to do.  he also indicates that the effects of smoking on a persons "insides" were widely known, as smokers bodies had been dissected after they died.  above all, he frequently points out that it stinks!

what made me focus on this is the fact that in my country (scotland), smoking has been banned in all enclosed public places and clubs since last sunday, march 26th.  nowhere has the change been more noticeable than in our pubs, which were often thick with tobacco smoke.  i myself am very much in favour of the ban, and im sure the nations health will only improve as a result of it, and i say this as a smoker.  perhaps ill now have more incentive to give it up altogether.  im thinking of going to one of these support groups you see advertised.  the trouble is, ive now been smoking for so long, its difficult to imagine life without it.  but then a pub where you could not smoke would also have been unimaginable until recently

the Bible of course does not condemn it specifically, as it was not known in Bible times, but there is a verse in 1 corinthians, in chapter 6, verses 18, 19.  here the apostle writes about sinning against your own body, which for christians is a "temple" of the Holy Ghost, dwelling in us.  now the sin in question is fornication, but many teachers say that it also refers to anything that harms or defiles our bodies.  and do you know i now feel they are right, and i should do something about it

well i dont know what islam might have to say about it, specifically or otherwise, but i know smoking is a huge problem in pakistan, for instance, where i worked for 4 years many years ago 

here is an excerpt from james' book:

"And for the vanities committed in this filthie custome, is it not both great vanitie and uncleanenesse, that at the table, a place of respect, of cleanlinesse, of modestie, men should not be ashamed, to sit tossing of Tobacco pipes, and puffing of the smoke of Tobacco one to another, making the filthy smoke and stinke thereof, to exhale athwart the dishes, and infect the aire, when very often, men that abhorre it are at their repast? Surely Smoke becomes a kitchin far better then a Dining chamber, and yet it makes a kitchin also oftentimes in the inward parts of men, soiling and infecting them, with an unctuous and oily kinde of Soote, as hath bene found in some great Tobacco takers, that after their death were opened. And not onely meate time, but no other time nor action is exempted from the publike use of this uncivill tricke: so as if the wives of Diepe list to contest with this Nation for good maners their worst maners would in all reason be found at least not so dishonest (as ours are) in this point. The publike use whereof, at all times, and in all places, hath now so farre prevailed, as divers men very sound both in judgement, and complexion, have bene at last forced to take it also without desire, partly because they were ashanied to seeme singular, (like the two Philosophers that were forced to duck themselves in that raine water, and so become fooles aswell as the rest of the people) and partly, to be as one that was content to eate Garlicke (which hee did not love) that he might not be troubled with the smell of it, in the breath of his fellowes. And is it not a great vanitie, that a man cannot heartily welcome his friend now, but straight they must bee in hand with Tobacco? No it is become in place of a cure, a point of good fellowship, and he that will refuse to take a pipe of Tobacco among his fellowes, (though by his own election he would rather feele the savour of a Sinke) is accounted peevish and no good company, even as they doe with tippeling in the cold Easterne Countries. Yea the Mistresse cannot in a more manerly kinde, entertaine her servant, then by giving him out of her faire hand a pipe of Tobacco. But herein is not onely a great vanitie but a great contempt of Gods good giftes, that the sweetenesse of mans breath, being a good gift of God, should be willfully corrupted by this stinking smoke, wherein I must confesse, it hath too strong a vertue: and so that which is an ornament of nature, and can neither by any artifice be at the first acquired, nor once lost, be recovered againe, shall be filthily cOrrupted with an incurable stinke, which vile qualitie is as directly contrary to that wrong opinion which is holden of the wholesomnesse thereof, as the venime of putrifaction is contrary to the vertue Preservative."

good stuff, eh?

That was interesting, Fredi, and I am not one to bash either the good King James or his remarkable (for its beauty and grammar) translation of the Bible!  By the way, speaking here as an ex-smoker myself, I wish you all the best if you decide to quit.  One excellent way (I found) was to chew the nicotine-containing gum.  This, to me, was more effective than the skin patches (it only takes the edge off, but does not take the desire away).  Also, it seems to me, if you are a smoker of menthol cigarettes (which I wasn�t), consider filling a small tube with Vicks Menthol Eucalyptus (or Scottish equivalent) and suck on that as a surrogate.

If your experience is anything like mine in this respect, you should soon find that the desire, or �temptation,� if you will, comes more infrequently (if you interrupt the pattern) and then fades practically away.  I'm sorry to have to suggest this, but it might, at least at first, be advisable also to avoid the pubs, even if they are smoke-free, or to at least avoid the grog.  One's breath seems akin to the spirit, so why pollute it with carcinogens (rhetorical)?  All the best, then, in tidying up the temple, if you decide to do it.  

Serv 

Quite interesting.....I haven't came across a Quranic verse nor have I heard any Hadith stating any opposition to smoking. As I understand smoking especially scented tobacco by Arabs and other from the East is an old custom I believe the correct term is HOUKA (It's pronounced as HOO-KAH) which many still do today. There is also Hashish and weed and coke and all the good sinful stuff people can smoke. Since I have a faith of literalist since it is not "literally" discus in Qur'an there is no clear prohibition on it. If there was I wasn't aware of it and there are hundreds of people at these meiterranian cafe's that are probably guilty of this pleasure.

To me smoking is just as bad (if not worse) as drinking. It is more deadly than if one continued to smoke crack. Since I lift weights and work out I'm more conscious of what I put in my body, especially foods and drink. I'm guilty of one thing and that's sodas' and cookies and that is a habit I'm gradually changing but I think in general it should be common sense to all people. Anything foreign which is not a benefit to your body why put it in your mouth.

Cigarettes contain similar chemicals that come out of your exauhst in your car so why put something like that in your mouth? To those who say "It's not common sense to all" that is BS because obviously if you cannot run nto even 10 meters then there is a problem.

I have heard that the recommendation for prohibiting smoking in Islam stems from the principle of a saying of the prophet that whatever is harmful for the body is prohibited and since cigarettes have been proven to be extremely harmful they remain prohibited.  An argument may arise that there are probably thousand other things we ingest daily with some harmful effect, what the  Prophet(SAW) advised in this respect is.. when in doubt take that which is clear and move away from the doubtful ones... which presupposes that it is clear that cigarette is harmful to the body, so leave it.

In like manner you ll find a similar argument about intoxicants too where some argue that you ll find alcohol ( which is supposed to be prohibited) in a host of our day-to-day items of use .. from spirit for treatment of wounds, to glues e.t.c. However, since nobody take any of these items as drink, in my opinion they may be acceptable for their specific uses. Whatever intoxicates in large quantity is forbidden in even the smallest quantity and so the so called non-alcholic wines with just 3% alcohol content are forbidden. May Allah continue to guide us