Fariq Naik – Can I Work in a Tobacco Company

Fariq Naik
AI: Summary ©
Aather's potential harm to health comes from smoking and its health consequences, including lung-related diseases and respiratory damage. The prevalence of tobacco use and its impact on health is discussed, including the prevalence of cigarette smoking and its health consequences. Different ways of tobacco consumption, including cigarette, hookah, and paans, are also discussed, and advice is given against working in tobacco-based companies and avoiding smoking in general.
AI: Transcript ©
00:00:03 --> 00:00:05

As-salamu alaykum, Sheikh Fariq.

00:00:06 --> 00:00:09

My name is Alois Ubair Ahmed from Malaysia,

00:00:09 --> 00:00:12

and I'm a degree student about to graduate,

00:00:12 --> 00:00:12

inshallah.

00:00:13 --> 00:00:16

Is tobacco halal or haram?

00:00:16 --> 00:00:18

If it is haram, can I still work

00:00:18 --> 00:00:20

in a tobacco-based company such as in

00:00:20 --> 00:00:24

the marketing department or human resource department?

00:00:25 --> 00:00:26

The salary or the benefits that I get

00:00:26 --> 00:00:28

from this company, is it haram?

00:00:29 --> 00:00:30

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the

00:00:30 --> 00:00:33

glorious Qur'an, in Surah Al-Baqarah, chapter

00:00:33 --> 00:00:37

number 2, verse number 168, يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ

00:00:37 --> 00:00:40

كُلُوا مِمَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ حَلَالًا طَيِّبًا وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا

00:00:40 --> 00:00:44

فُطْوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ O you who believe, eat of

00:00:44 --> 00:00:45

the good things that we have provided for

00:00:45 --> 00:00:47

you, and do not follow the footsteps of

00:00:47 --> 00:00:47

the devil.

00:00:48 --> 00:00:50

So whatever is good for us, we should

00:00:50 --> 00:00:50

eat.

00:00:50 --> 00:00:53

Whatever is good for us, we should eat.

00:00:53 --> 00:00:55

And certain things Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala

00:00:55 --> 00:00:56

has prohibited for us.

00:00:56 --> 00:00:59

And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in

00:00:59 --> 00:01:00

the glorious Qur'an, Surah Al-Baqarah, chapter

00:01:00 --> 00:01:03

number 2, verse number 195, وَأَنْفِقُوا فِي سَبِيلِ

00:01:03 --> 00:01:09

اللَّهِ وَلَا تُلْقُوا بِأَيْدِيكُمْ إِلَى التَّهْلُكَةِ And do

00:01:09 --> 00:01:12

not let your hands be a cause of

00:01:12 --> 00:01:13

your own destruction.

00:01:13 --> 00:01:17

We know tobacco, it is harmful and injurious

00:01:17 --> 00:01:18

to health.

00:01:18 --> 00:01:22

According to WHO, that is the World Health

00:01:22 --> 00:01:27

Organization, it states and it says that every

00:01:27 --> 00:01:32

year 8 million people are killed due to

00:01:32 --> 00:01:33

the consumption of tobacco.

00:01:33 --> 00:01:36

Out of these 8 million people, majority of

00:01:36 --> 00:01:40

them, it is due to smoking, which is

00:01:40 --> 00:01:42

one of the main uses of tobacco.

00:01:42 --> 00:01:44

And out of these 8 million people, 1

00:01:44 --> 00:01:49

.3 million people, they are passive smokers, not

00:01:49 --> 00:01:49

active smokers.

00:01:50 --> 00:01:53

So when a person is smoking, besides harming

00:01:53 --> 00:01:56

and injuring, causing injury and damage to his

00:01:56 --> 00:01:59

body, he is even harming those around him

00:01:59 --> 00:02:01

when he is smoking in a public place.

00:02:02 --> 00:02:05

And passive smoking is more harmful than active

00:02:05 --> 00:02:05

smoking.

00:02:06 --> 00:02:09

And there are various diseases that a person

00:02:09 --> 00:02:11

can get because of cigarette smoking.

00:02:11 --> 00:02:13

It can cause lung cancer, it can damage

00:02:13 --> 00:02:16

the internal organs, it can damage the mouth,

00:02:16 --> 00:02:19

it causes blackening of the lips, blackening of

00:02:19 --> 00:02:21

the teeth and various other diseases.

00:02:21 --> 00:02:24

It can even harm the respiratory system, it

00:02:24 --> 00:02:25

can even harm the lungs.

00:02:26 --> 00:02:29

And statistics say that every puff a person

00:02:29 --> 00:02:33

smokes, his lifespan reduces by a few minutes.

00:02:34 --> 00:02:37

That's the reason it is clearly mentioned on

00:02:37 --> 00:02:39

the packets of cigarettes or on the boxes

00:02:39 --> 00:02:39

of cigarettes.

00:02:40 --> 00:02:41

And this is compulsory.

00:02:41 --> 00:02:45

It is written, smoking kills or smoking is

00:02:45 --> 00:02:46

injurious to health.

00:02:47 --> 00:02:48

And many a times we see on the

00:02:48 --> 00:02:51

packets or on the boxes of cigarettes, there

00:02:51 --> 00:02:54

are pictures of, for example, a person whose

00:02:54 --> 00:02:57

mouth is hugely damaged because of cigarette smoking

00:02:57 --> 00:03:00

and pictures of the lungs, how they are

00:03:00 --> 00:03:02

damaged because of cigarette smoking.

00:03:02 --> 00:03:06

All of this, it is present on many

00:03:06 --> 00:03:07

of the boxes of cigarettes.

00:03:07 --> 00:03:11

Even though it is present, yet people, they

00:03:11 --> 00:03:11

smoke.

00:03:12 --> 00:03:14

And yet this is a huge revenue for

00:03:14 --> 00:03:16

majority of the countries in the world, unfortunately.

00:03:18 --> 00:03:21

And the big companies, they know that even

00:03:21 --> 00:03:24

though they put this on the cigarette packets

00:03:24 --> 00:03:27

that smoking kills, yet people, those who smoke,

00:03:27 --> 00:03:28

they will yet buy the cigarettes.

00:03:29 --> 00:03:31

Because they know that this is an addiction.

00:03:32 --> 00:03:36

And tobacco, the main form or the main

00:03:36 --> 00:03:38

way in which tobacco is consumed, it is

00:03:38 --> 00:03:38

in the form of cigarettes.

00:03:39 --> 00:03:40

There are other ways of consumption as well.

00:03:41 --> 00:03:43

For example, you have e-cigarettes, you have

00:03:43 --> 00:03:44

the beedi, that is the lower form of

00:03:44 --> 00:03:45

cigarette that is mainly used in the Indian

00:03:45 --> 00:03:46

subcontinent.

00:03:47 --> 00:03:51

Then you have hookah, you also have, tobacco

00:03:51 --> 00:03:52

is used in paans.

00:03:52 --> 00:03:55

Paan is a kind of betel leaf and

00:03:55 --> 00:03:56

inside that tobacco is used.

00:03:56 --> 00:04:00

So tobacco-based paans are used wherein people,

00:04:00 --> 00:04:02

they eat these paans.

00:04:02 --> 00:04:06

So all forms of tobacco and consumption of

00:04:06 --> 00:04:08

tobacco in any form, it is haram, it

00:04:08 --> 00:04:09

is prohibited.

00:04:09 --> 00:04:13

Unfortunately, we see many Muslims, they consume tobacco,

00:04:13 --> 00:04:15

whether it be in the form of cigarettes,

00:04:15 --> 00:04:17

whether it be in the form of hookah,

00:04:17 --> 00:04:19

whether it be in the form of paans,

00:04:19 --> 00:04:20

etc.

00:04:20 --> 00:04:24

Unfortunately, many Muslims, they work in such companies.

00:04:24 --> 00:04:26

Now coming to your question that can you

00:04:26 --> 00:04:28

work in a tobacco-based company, but naturally

00:04:28 --> 00:04:29

no.

00:04:29 --> 00:04:32

Because the main source of income, it is

00:04:32 --> 00:04:33

haram of this company.

00:04:34 --> 00:04:37

Unfortunately, many Muslims, they work in such companies.

00:04:37 --> 00:04:39

Working in a tobacco-based company, whether it

00:04:39 --> 00:04:40

be in the marketing department, whether it be

00:04:40 --> 00:04:43

in the human resource department, any department in

00:04:43 --> 00:04:45

the tobacco-based company, it is prohibited, it

00:04:45 --> 00:04:46

is haram for a Muslim to work.

00:04:47 --> 00:04:49

We see that many Muslims, they have companies

00:04:49 --> 00:04:51

and they are businesses of tobacco.

00:04:51 --> 00:04:56

Unfortunately, which goes against the teachings of Islam.

00:04:57 --> 00:04:58

So we should see to it that we

00:04:58 --> 00:05:00

follow the teachings of Islam.

00:05:01 --> 00:05:04

And majority of the scholars, they say that

00:05:04 --> 00:05:07

consuming tobacco, it is haram, it is prohibited.

00:05:07 --> 00:05:09

And we know it very well that it

00:05:09 --> 00:05:11

hugely damages our health.

00:05:12 --> 00:05:15

And a person can get several diseases just

00:05:15 --> 00:05:17

by the consumption of tobacco.

00:05:17 --> 00:05:21

So all the people who are smoking cigarettes

00:05:21 --> 00:05:23

or consuming tobacco, I would request them that

00:05:23 --> 00:05:24

to quit.

00:05:24 --> 00:05:26

And we pray to Allah subhanahu wa ta

00:05:26 --> 00:05:29

'ala that may he help all the brothers

00:05:29 --> 00:05:32

and sisters, those who are involved in smoking,

00:05:32 --> 00:05:34

those who consume tobacco, may Allah subhanahu wa

00:05:34 --> 00:05:37

ta'ala help them quit tobacco.

00:05:37 --> 00:05:40

And we need to put those people who

00:05:40 --> 00:05:42

consume tobacco, they need to put in efforts

00:05:42 --> 00:05:45

in order to quit smoking.

00:05:45 --> 00:05:49

There are several incidences of people who, when

00:05:49 --> 00:05:52

they make a strong determination to stop smoking,

00:05:53 --> 00:05:55

they stop it, many of them stop it

00:05:55 --> 00:05:56

immediately.

00:05:56 --> 00:06:00

So having a strong determination, it is very

00:06:00 --> 00:06:00

important.

00:06:01 --> 00:06:03

So because the main source of income of

00:06:03 --> 00:06:05

these tobacco-based companies, it is haram, it

00:06:05 --> 00:06:07

is prohibited to work in such a company.

00:06:08 --> 00:06:11

But if a person, he is working in

00:06:11 --> 00:06:13

a hotel and he is working for example

00:06:13 --> 00:06:15

as a receptionist and the main source of

00:06:15 --> 00:06:17

income of this hotel, it is not haram.

00:06:17 --> 00:06:20

So he can work in this hotel and

00:06:20 --> 00:06:22

this hotel, it serves alcohol.

00:06:22 --> 00:06:25

But the alcohol, it is only served for

00:06:25 --> 00:06:27

example in the restaurant or when there is

00:06:27 --> 00:06:28

room service etc.

00:06:28 --> 00:06:30

But the main source of income of this

00:06:30 --> 00:06:31

hotel, it is not haram.

00:06:31 --> 00:06:33

So as long as he does not serve

00:06:33 --> 00:06:34

alcohol, he does not work as a waiter

00:06:34 --> 00:06:36

and he does not serve alcohol, there is

00:06:36 --> 00:06:39

no problem in him working in this hotel.

00:06:39 --> 00:06:41

For example, if he works as a receptionist

00:06:41 --> 00:06:43

or for example as a security guard etc.,

00:06:43 --> 00:06:46

there is no problem in working in such

00:06:46 --> 00:06:50

a hotel because a minor portion of the

00:06:50 --> 00:06:53

income, it is through the sale of alcohol

00:06:53 --> 00:06:55

and he is not involved directly.

00:06:55 --> 00:06:57

For example, he is not serving or he

00:06:57 --> 00:06:58

is not working as a waiter.

00:06:58 --> 00:06:59

I hope that answers your question.

Share Page