I had a conversation today with a friend who says he cannot fast in Ramadan because he is unable to abstain from smoking due to his strong addiction.
Then I remembered Gamal al-Banna's opinion that smoking does not break your fast.
Although it is an opinion that I don't completely agree with, I think it gives leeway to an option that avoids an all-or-nothing approach in favor of a do-what-you-can approach.
It's is better to bend than to break is my principle. If I were my smoking friend and it was extremely difficult for me to abstain from smoking, I would fast during Ramadan by abstaining from all food and drink, except smoking. Isn't that better than not fasting at all?
Many people will say, "Allah will not accept your fast, so you shouldn't even bother," but how do they know? We can choose to view God as caring and benevolent or rigid and mean. I prefer to view Him as Caring and Benevolent.
After all, there is no mention in the Quran of a punishment for those who don't fast in Ramadan, yet there are caring and considerate ayahs regarding fasting that say "Allah desires ease for you; He does not desire for you difficulty" (2:185) and "It is better for you that you fast, if ye only knew." (2:184)
Friday, September 3, 2010
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17 comments:
I have a big problem with not smoking during Ramadan as well, and I wear a nicorette patch. I must admit, the one and only thing that has broken me is this smoking thing- and I have broken fast because of it: I feel like I am turning into an animal and I have to smoke to prevent that animal from going mad - its crazy withdrawal and the patch really helps with that.
My mother always says do what you can: she gets very dizzy when fasting, and so she will drink water and avoid everything else.
If someone tells you, you have an interview tomorrow in the evening for your dream job with a HUGE salary $1000000 and the interviewer MIGHT not like someone who smokes, would you smoke in the morning and then go to the interview in the evening. I guess not, so why risk it with Allah?
Adem,
Well yeah, if you think Allah is a person who has a mentality like ours. Another way of looking at Allah is as a God Whose "compassion encompassed all things." [al-Araf 7: 156.]
*Sure Allah's compassion, mercy and everything about Allah is beyond our imagination, but we also know one other thing from his Names (Sefat) that He is (Just Al AAdel), so again why should we risk the fact that Allah MIGHT not accept our fast and smoke. By doing so ee are defying one of the purposes of fasting, which is to abstain from certain things by submitting to the will of Allah. Lets say smoking is haram(which some sheikhs and fatwas are of this opinion) then wouldn't it be a bad gesture towards Allah to smoke while performing a holy thing like fasting.
*As for the punishment I am sure you believe in the Ahadith(if not then i cannot argue with you).
We know that there are 5 pillars of Islam one of them being Fasting in Ramadhan. And the Sahabas said abandoning one of the pillars of Islam is committing a grave major sin. Indeed some of them were of the view that he is a kaafir. If you want the exact Hadith i can send you. Quran doesn't mention everything, if its not in the Quran look in the Sunnah which is also from Allah BTW.
You might say quran mentions that Allah is compassionate but did not mention the punishment for not fasting so that makes his compassion more important than the punishment, and again i would say he is Al AAdel.
Adem,
Again, you are taking the "all or nothing" approach and what I am saying is that fasting imperfectly is better than not fasting at all. It's a step in the right direction.
Brushing your teeth once a week is better than not brushing them at all. Perhaps doing so will encourage you to start brushing them every day. Exercising once a week is better than not exercising at all. Perhaps doing so will motivate you to exercise more often. Flipping through a book is better than not reading it at all. Perhaps doing so will entice you into actually reading it.
They say we tend to create God in our own image. If a person happens to be a strict, intolerant, punitive, "my way or the high way" kind of person, he or she will tend to imagine God being the same.
If you are a caring, understanding and compassionate kind of person, you will imagine God that way.
The Prophet once described God as being more compassionate towards His creation than a mother towards her child. A mother who is teaching her child to walk does not do so by saying, "You either do it right or you don't do it all."
Yes, God described Himself in the Quran as being punitive at times, but that is only in regard to those who have bad intensions. Never did He warn of punishment to those who had sincere good intensions, but just needed to pace themselves.
Of course, we always have to say that God is even Greater than all of that, but greater doesn't only mean forceful, it also means compassionate.
Also, a mother who is teaching her child to walk does not punish him when he falls.
Yes, some people tend to create a punitive and intolerant image of Allah which they shouldn't because of all the things i mentioned earlier, and on the other hand some people abuse His compassionate attribute.
All the examples you gave me had no repercussions if they were not done. We do them because we want not because we have to. But not fasting in Ramadan has its repercussions, and i think i clarified that there is a punishment for not fasting in ramadan in my previous post.
Let me ask you, lets i am really addicted to some kind of a drink maybe a soft drinks(some people are really addicted to them, i know my cousin is and can't pass a day without drinking a couple of them), in this case would it be ok for the guy to drink and fast? Because if he drank why are we even calling it a fasting. and smoking does brake your fast.
Maybe if your end goal is a sincere one, (and only Allah knows our intentions), if you are planning to one day fast without smoking, and even while you are fasting from everything except smoking you should do it believing that what you are doing is wrong. then maybe……. and Allah knows,
I should probably not go into detail into this because i am not a person who is capable of giving a fatwa. This is a religious matter and there are a lot of things that have to be taken into consideration and i should leave it to the people who have the knowledge to decide on it. And i guess by saying its ok to fast and smoke is like giving a fatwa, and i don't know if you have the knowledge to give such a fatwa or not. If you don't then you shouldn't probably say it, because if you are wrong and other people follow what you said then……. what do you think?
Let me just make one thing clear, I myself dont know if its ok to fast and smoke or not. I just want to know based on what you got into the conclusion that smoking while fasting(or should we call it fasting while smoking) is ok.
Adem,
I did not say that smoking while fasting is OK, nor did I say that smoking is OK. I personally appose smoking. All I said is that "Fasting and smoking is better than not fasting at all." I built it on my belief that God is Compassionate. I don't say, "In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful," dozens of times a day for nothing.
A better thing to do would be to try fasting without smoking(and also pray for Allah assistance to help control his urges) and if the person cannot control his urges have a cigarette and then just make up for the days he broke his fast.
Fatwa al-Adem and other 'scholars' is one thing, but the Qur'an and hadiths are something else. Is not warfare bad for health? Yet the armies of Islam went to war and risked and suffered death and serious injury. While the Qur'an and ahadith do not mention smoking at all. To hell with fatwas from human beings who make up Islam as they go along to suit themselves.
Anonymous,
May I remind you that it is not up to you to decide who is going to heaven and who is going to hell. You yourself don't know if you are going to hell.
Why not pray for the people you disagree with that they may go to heaven by following you and what you are doing.
It seems to me that praying and fasting and then telling people to go to hell defies the purpose.
Peace be with you my friend. May we all go to heaven.
Making Haraam and Halal is the prerogative of Allah(swt)alone as He is the only Lawgiver. For that reason no human can make Haraam what He has not made so.
There is NO mention of smoking in the Holy Quraan which is COMPLETE. Therefore any fatwa on smoking, or anything else not made Haraam by Allah, is moot. Allah knows best.
I just read the first two comments, and I believe both of you agree on that the fasting should be right and perfect. The disagreement is around the exceptional cases. Brother sees that smoking is a habit that the person snooze to do it, whereas sister sees that addiction is a state that include this person among the exceptional cases. My opinion is that this person should try his/her best to fast without smoking and then if this person could not do it and is resulting in leaving even fasting, in this case we go what the sister said something is better than nothing which an important principal in Islam. In addition this person should ask Allah for acceptance and forgiveness from Allah. It is not to us to judge people because if the person is sincere and try his/her best to please Allah , we would find Allah merciful and compassionate. Who knows may be this is a way of thinking of quitting. Flexibility always Leads to a good results. How many people are acting and saying bad things while fasting, isn't this as important as eating. Why people are not focusing on changing the behavior as they focus on changing the eating habit?! I believe addiction is big issue that require Muslim jurists and doctors to be involved to help the person fast while trying to quit
smoking.
Allah knows best
Assalaamwalaikum, I my self have this issue in ramadan with smoking and fasting, tbh i have tried all the stated comprimises, as tru as it is that we the servants have NO right to say what is haraam or or Halal unless stated in the beautiful Quran, we have been given commen sense. Now I think to disregard that commen sense is foolish within itself, so not fasting is NOT an option. In my limited knowledge I think fasting is a must, smoking should be avoided because it has literally no benefit when compared to benefits of deen, but if one is weak such as myself and is likely to distress others due to my own shotfalls then i think smoking discreetly so not to cause others willpowers to fail is perhaps the cowards (my) option. Please bear in mind ALLAH HU ALIM as to whether my opinion has any standing and please make an educated desicion urself because it is you who will have to anser for urself, but back to the point repentance and forgiveness shud always be asked for because we never know the tru extent of our sins, and i think smoking should most definatly be avoided during fast. Allah Hu Akbar
Use common sense. Do the best you can. Don't get scared off by the militants who know what's best for everybody else.
flexibility can be a very good thing but smoking is harmful to your health (yours and people around you) ..... :)
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