| Author | Topic |
SananK
USA
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 Topic initiated on Friday, July 22, 2005 - 2:19 AM 
Smoking the SHEESHA?
Assalamu Alaikum brothers and sisters, do you think Sheesha is Halal or Haram? It is a form of intoxication as I have heard many brothers tell me they get a buzz. It does provide smoke to the lungs and mouth which can cause physical damage to the body which is Haram. Some groups promote it and claim its not haraam and this spreads this bad habit to many of our young brothers/sisters.
I see some brothers and sisters go out and hang out and chill over a Sheesha smoking session. It is more popular now then ever and the popularity is on the rise.
It's basically culture based. Right?
Many brothers and sisters from Universities would go out and spend time smoking sheesha and say it is allowed and it's a tradition passed down. I was tempted to try it but then good or bad deed question arised in my head before I got to put my mouth to it. Had a temptation to be with the "what's hot now" crowd. Form of temptation I did a good thing to control?
I have asked some imam's before and found some even do it themselves but then again is it under intoxification and harming the body? Is it contradicting to the teachings? Can't quite get a clear answer from anyone. 
Is this just the usual type of topic different madhabs / point of views have a difference of opinion on?
It is a topic we should answer clearly now since it is on the rise.
Anyone know- should we give advice to go for it or should we give advice to hold up, what are we thinking?
Assalamu Alaikum |
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Asim2
PAKISTAN
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 Posted - Friday, July 22, 2005 - 3:00 PM 
1. It hurts the body .
2. It wastes money .
3. It wastes time .
4. It sets a bad example for others .
5. It may be addictive.
6. It may hurt others present there.
(you can also analyze some other issues in the light of above points) |
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SananK
USA
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Posted - Friday, July 22, 2005 - 7:23 PM
Assalamu Alaikum Asim2 I agree with what you are saying there. It does do all those bad things. Those are negative points about it based on facts and common sense.
Jazakhallah
Assalamu Alaikum |
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Roswell
PAKISTAN
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Posted - Saturday, July 23, 2005 - 7:48 PM
Salaam All,
As for Sheesha thingy, yes I've smoked but I dont ike it. Actually, its a flavored water like Apple mint which we suck. Usually they do not contain tobacco but some sheesa cointan though and I heard about it that its one puff is equivalent to the smoke of 20 cigarettes. I'm not sure about it. It has to be answered by some doc over here.
Regards,
Edited by: Roswell on Saturday, July 23, 2005 7:52 PM
Edited by: Ibrahim on Saturday, July 30, 2005 12:31 PM |
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SananK
USA
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Posted - Saturday, July 23, 2005 - 9:34 PM
Walaikum Asalaam Roswell, yea they have many differnt flavors I guess. I have heard of the apple mint one and strawberry and etc. one puff equal to 20 cigarettes :| WOA. That's a lot if they contain that much compared to cigearettes. Hopefully some doc can put some knowledge up. Thanks for answering with your knowledge. Jazakhallah
Assalamu Alaikum |
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oosman
USA
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Posted - Sunday, July 24, 2005 - 2:00 PM
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SananK
USA
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Posted - Sunday, July 24, 2005 - 5:22 PM
| Assalamu Alaikum oosman. Well sheesha is also known as a Hookah by some? It's a pipe that people can share and has this base where tobacco and coal are put on top? I don't know how to even describe the thing. |
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Asim2
PAKISTAN
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Posted - Sunday, July 24, 2005 - 5:27 PM
Sheesha is another form of wasting money, time, health etc...
( if that 20 cigarrete thing is true then it is too dangerous )
By the way cigarretes also waste health, money, time etc.....
Edited by: Ibrahim on Saturday, July 30, 2005 12:34 PM |
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SananK
USA
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Posted - Sunday, July 24, 2005 - 5:42 PM
Assalamu Alaikum brother Asim, i agree with that it's wasting money, time, health, and etc numerous other possibilities. Yea that 20 cigarrete thing is a dangerous thought. Here's a thought that comes to mind? After reading how this form of pleasure can be a waste of money, well it's better to help our brothers and sisters that are starving, rather then do this form of temporary pleasure and waste money on it. And that money idea is so true, because some of my friends tell me it costs like $20 dollars to rent one in some places for like 3 people and they do this like 2 or 3 times a week. Which means it can be $60 for this. $60 to buy food and fill the stomaches of our starving brothers and sisters would be better way of thinking. Sheesha is expensive in usa as I am sure it is anywhere. If you can buy a plate of food for the price of usage of sheesha, that plate of food for a brother or sister in need is truly something we should think about. I like this idea. My question is coming to an answer. Jazakhallah brothers and sisters who post wise knowledge.
Assalamu Alaikum |
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Roswell
PAKISTAN
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Posted - Monday, July 25, 2005 - 7:04 AM
It costs Rs 180, around 2$ here 
The technical defination of Sheesha would be, It has the concentrated flavor ex: Double Apple etc which is smoked through coal filtered by water at inhalation. Usually it does not contain tobacco but it can be provided on request. |
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mnorwoo
USA
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Posted - Monday, July 25, 2005 - 1:06 PM
ASSALAAM ALAIKUM
So what, we are here to answer the question at hand. |
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Loveall
PAKISTAN
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Posted - Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 12:58 AM
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
QUOTE: Well sheesha is also known as a Hookah by some?
I also read or heard of SHEESHA first time in this forum therefore replying late after knowing what it is. If it is Hookah then I know it very well because I am basically a villager (farmer) and it is used mostly in the villages here in Pakistan. Surprisingly, in many villages it is presented as a part of the servings especially after meals, with great love especially to those who smoke. Not infrequently it is used in the urban areas too. All the present smokers smoke turn by turn after two or three puffs at every turn. Some Sheshas or Hookahs have the revolving system at the base to make the turn more convenient.
QUOTE: I don't know how to even describe the thing.
I try to describe, if not unrelated to the topic.
Hookah can be divided into three parts, bottom, top and central part-tubes.
The BOTTOM is just like a pitcher made up of clay, thick leather or some metal especially brass, depending upon choice of the individual. The bottom is filled with water upto some functioning level of puffing to bubble or blow the water.
The TOP is goblet shaped, having a hole in its stalk, made of specially clay. The container is filled with the tobacco beneath and the burning coal above. In some types especially in NWFP the burning matchstick is used instead of the burning coal. The tobacco is of such a quality that one matchstick is sufficient to burn it like cigarette.
The CENTRAL part consists of two tubes made up of plastic pipe; hollow wood, the bamboo stick of small diameter or some metallic tube and the both tubes are tied together. One end of the one straight tube is dipping into the water of the bottom while the other one (end) is fitted into the hole of the stalk of the top. Similarly one end of the other angulated tube is into the bottom jut above the level of the water (not dipping into it) while the other one is for applying to the mouth of the smoker for puffing.
The structure is of such a nature that some of the poisonous material of the smoke seems to be absorbed into the water of the bottom but still it is injurious to health.
The above is its basic structure otherwise the shapes may be different indigenously. I described it in detail in response to the statement of SananK, “I don't know how to even describe the thing”. I am correct only if it is that Hookah about which I know.
QUOTE: Usually they do not contain tobacco but some sheesa cointan though
The hookah I described can’t work without tobacco.
QUOTE: I heard about it that its one puff is equivalent to the smoke of 20 cigarettes. It has to be answered by some doc over here.
QUOTE: Hopefully some doc can put some knowledge up.
It depends upon the type of tobacco used. Some types are called sweet tobacco while others bitter to very bitter. But most real smokers like the bitter variety. One type usually available in NWFP is very bitter. It is so say intense that two or three puffs are sufficient to quench the desire of even the heavy smoker, at that time and such a thing may surely suffocate the non-smoker.
It is also upto choice of the smoker to add some sweets, cardamom, aniseeds, cumin, coriander or mint etc to the tobacco, to make the flavour more palatable.
DISADVANTAGES:
Almost everyone knows that smoking in every shape is injurious to health.
The harmful effects depend upon type of the tobacco used but generally it is heard that Sheesha or Hookah is less poisonous than the cigarette smoking because its smoke passes through the water, which is changed many times a day and some of its poisonous ingredients are absorbed into the water. In spite of having some benefit over the cigarette, Sheesha or Hookah is still not a good thing, in general.
In addition to the smoke, which dilutes the concentration of Oxygen required for us, the active chemical ingredient of almost every type of tobacco is NICOTINE but its concentration varies from type to type of tobacco. The smoke consists of a mixture of dangerous gases like carbon mono-oxide etc, inorganic carbon and many other dangerous particles, which get settled, in the lungs.
I would like to repeat here the disadvantages pointed out by Asim2 with one addition of foul smell from the mouth. It is a gift of smoking to the smoker and this foul smell is not easily removed by even regular mouthwashes and brushing unless the source is removed permanently.
It must be remembered that a non-smoker, near a smoker is equally rather more affected in the short term because of lack of adaptation to withstand. And in a non-smoker a small dose of the smoke (nicotine) may cause the same consequences as the heavy dose in the smoker.
In addition to its many chronic non-cancerous effects, it is one of the major causes of oral and other cancers. The causes of the cancers specially that of oral one are easily remembered by “6Ss” (Bailey)- Smoking, Spirit, Spices, Sepsis, Syphilis and Sharp edge of the tooth causing repeated injury to inner side of lips and cheeks and we may now suggest 7th “S” as SHEESHA to the author of the book.
Although lung cancer is more common in men, the rate in women has increased while that in men has decreased. The cause may be explained by giving up smoking by the men and the increasing trend among the women.
One of the REFERENCES: Cuschieri A, Steele RJC, Moosa AR. Tumours of the lung. In: Essential Surgical Practice, 4th Edition; Vol. 2. Arnold, London: 2002, Page. 1159-79.
ADVANTAGES:
In spite of its heavy disadvantages, it is not without some advantages as the following.
It is heard that it was invented by some Hakeem (A health practitioner who treats by crude form of herbs, metals and ores, and literally Hakeem means Wise- one of the names of Allah) as a part of treatment of some diseases the evidence of which is available even today in the 21st century as it (Smoking) has the beneficial effects in Ulcerative colitis and Cohn’s diseases (See the following reference). These diseases are characterized by chronic diarrhoeas accompanied by mucus, pus and blood in the stools. But it must be remembered that not every such diarrhoea is due to these diseases as these are not very much common. ALWAYS CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR.
REFERENCE (for the beneficial effects of smoking): Russell RCG, Williams NS, Bulstrode Christopher CK. Small and Large intestine: In. Bailey and Love’s practice of Surgery, 24th Edition: Arnold, London: 2004; Page: 1163.
ISLAMIC POINT OF VIEW:
In light of the Quranic verses (2: 173), (5: 3), (6: 145) and (16: 115) one can use smoking for some beneficial effect like as a part of treatment of some diseases. See below the text, for Example, of the verse 2: 173.
“He has only forbidden you what dies of itself, and blood, and flesh of swine, and that over which any other (name) than (that of) Allah has been invoked; BUT WHOEVER is driven to NECESSITY, NOT DESIRING, NOR EXCEEDING THE LIMIT, *NO SIN* shall be upon him; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful” (2: 173).
It means that even if the blood, flesh of swine and over which name other than Allah is whispered (see the latter in context of Shirk and the concession given to the mankind) is allowed in the necessity but not desiring, WHY NOT SHEESHA or the Hookah OTHERWISE our religion NEVER allows any thing which hurts our body, wastes our money………..etc.
In context of the foul smell, in a Hadith, the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) had forbidden us, having eaten a raw onion, to enter the mosque and when this order is for a Halal thing what about the smoking, which is a bad thing? Entrance in the mosque (gathering) seems to be for the others, in the gathering, not to hate him due to the foul smell from the mouth while talking and whispering etc during Salat/Namaz (offering prayers). And therefore the use of Miswak (a wooden stick used to clean the teeth), perfumes and fragrances are said to be encouraged.
This is all what I know but God know better.
Wassalam! |
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oosman
USA
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Posted - Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 1:48 PM
Thank you for the excellent description and comments on disadvantages and permissibility of the hookah. I also knew about hookah, but sheesha was a new word for me. In English it is called hubble-bubble. I also found that some people put marijuana, hasish or other narcotic drugs and alcohol in the tobacco, which makes it more potent and dangerous.
From this article it seems it is very dangerous, more so than smoking:
"Carbon monoxide concentrations found in the bloodstreams of water-pipe smokers has been found to be quadruple the levels in cigarette smokers, the report said. The nicotine content in water-pipe tobacco also tends to be higher than that found in cigarettes. However, pipe smokers are less likely to make it a daily habit. Studies have shown lung and bladder cancer rates are higher among water-pipe smokers than among nonsmokers, and they are also at risk from pulmonary disease and other types of malignancies, the report said."
(from http://kaitlinj.nomadlife.org/2005/07/little-update-on-you-hubble-bubble.aspx )
I also remmember the nasty smell of hookah smokers, it was awful. There used to be a hookah cafe under my apartments. The whole neighborhood used to stink so bad, then we finally moved out of that place. Every evening local bedouins would get together in the bar and smoke water pipes (hookahs). They also share the pipes with complete strangers. I do not know if that can spread any diseases or not if you put someone else's pipe in your mouth.
Here are some pictures:
http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/379649/2/Nargiles__Water_Pipes_.jpg
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/worldmusic/onlocation/media/iranmain.jpg
http://www.tomasgustafsson.com/bagdad/hubble-bubble.jpg
http://www.schoolnet.edu.lb/nargile/nargil1.jpg |
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Asim2
PAKISTAN
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Posted - Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 2:19 PM
Brother Sanank, you said,
quote:
Here's a thought that comes to mind? After reading how this form of pleasure can be a waste of money, well it's better to help our brothers and sisters that are starving, rather then do this form of temporary pleasure and waste money on it. And that money idea is so true, because some of my friends tell me it costs like $20 dollars to rent one in some places for like 3 people and they do this like 2 or 3 times a week. Which means it can be $60 for this. $60 to buy food and fill the stomaches of our starving brothers and sisters would be better way of thinking. Sheesha is expensive in usa as I am sure it is anywhere. If you can buy a plate of food for the price of usage of sheesha, that plate of food for a brother or sister in need is truly something we should think about. I like this idea.
I appreciate these great thoughts. keep it up ! and think of others that are not so well off ! |
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SananK
USA
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Posted - Saturday, July 30, 2005 - 3:39 AM
| Salaam Alaikum, however, overeating/ lassi does not injure other's around you like smoke can, lassi-its a form of food, not as injurious or toxic as smoke :) Just have to use common sense, when it comes to what you do and do it modestly. Cant take things that are up here in the toxic category and bring other things not so toxic up to that level. Passing of wind is human nature, so is a stomache ache. We can get it either way if we eat a lot or not eat so much, but this topic isn't human nature is it? |
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