The Islamic views on tobacco vary by region. Though tobacco or smoking in general is not explicitly mentioned in the Quran or hadith, contemporary scholars have condemned it as potentially harmful, and have at times prohibited smoking outright (declared it ) as a result of the severe health damage that it causes. A tobacco fatwa is a fatwa (Islamic legal pronouncement) that prohibits the usage of tobacco by Muslims. Arab Muslims tend to prohibit smoking (despite Saudi Arabia ranking 23rd in the world for the percentage of its population that smokes) and, in South Asia, smoking tends to be considered lawful but discouraged.
For many Muslims, the legal status of smoking has changed during recent years, and numerous fatwas, including from notable authorities such as Al-Azhar University in Cairo, now consider smoking haram (prohibited). The reasons cited in support of the reclassification of smoking as prohibited include Islamic law's general prohibition of all actions that result in harm. For example, the Quran says, "And spend of your substance in the cause of God, and make not your own hands contribute to your own destruction." Additionally, jurists rely on the exhortations in the Quran not to waste money. Greater appreciation of the risks associated with secondhand smoke has also led recent jurists to cite the obligation to avoid causing willful annoyance, distress, or harm to other people.
Fatwas condemning smoking have been issued in Egypt, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Morocco (pre-colonial), Oman, Qatar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, among others.
History
The earliest fatwa regarding smoking was issued in Morocco in 1602. Following the introduction of tobacco to the kingdom in 1598, King Ahmad al-Mansur sought guidance from religious scholars in Fez. The kingdom's Grand Mufti and the Wali of Sila both ruled that smoking was forbidden in Islam. This ruling failed to have much effect on tobacco use in the kingdom, leading the Mufti to issue a second ruling forbidding its use, as the use of all "intoxicants and harmful substances" is forbidden in Islam. This categorical prohibition was unsuccessful, and the Mufti and the other scholars who joined him in his ruling were either killed by a mob angry at this ruling or fled the country.
In recent years, tobacco fatwas (Islamic legal pronouncements) have been issued due to health concerns.
The Qur'ān, does not specifically prohibit or denounce smoking, but gives behavioral guidance:
“Don't throw yourself into danger by your own hands...” (Al Baqarah 2:195) “You may eat, drink, but not waste” (Al-A‘râf 7:31) "Do not kill yourselves for God Almighty is most merciful to you" (An-Nisa 4:29)
In practice, at least one recent survey found that observant Muslims tend to avoid smoking. A study of young Muslim Arab-Americans found that Islamic influences were correlated with some diminished smoking. Conversely, an Egyptian study found that knowledge of an anti-smoking fatwa did not reduce smoking. Overall, the prevalence of smoking is increasing in Islamic countries.
The prominent scholar Yusuf al Qaradawi argues that smoking is no longer an issue of dispute among Islamic scholars due to the knowledge of health risks.
The reported juristic disagreement among Muslim scholars on the ruling concerning smoking, since its appearance and spread, is not usually based on differences between legal proofs, but on the difference in the verification of the cause on which the ruling is based. They all agree that whatever is proved to be harmful to the body and mind is prohibited, yet they differ whether this ruling applies to smoking. Some of them claimed that smoking has some benefits, others assured that it had few disadvantages compared to its benefits, whereas a third group maintained that it had neither benefits nor bad effects. This means that if scholars had been certain about the harmfulness of smoking, then they would undoubtedly have considered it prohibited.[…]
Second: Our inclination to consider smoking prohibited does not mean that it is as grave as major sins like adultery, drinking alcohol or theft. In fact, prohibited matters in Islam are relative; some of them are minor prohibitions whereas others are major, and each has its own ruling. The major sins, for example, have no expiation other than sincere repentance. However, the minor sins can be expiated by the Five Prayers, the Friday Prayer, the Fasting of Ramadan, the Night Vigil Prayer in Ramadan, and other acts of worship. They can also be expiated by avoiding the major sins.