Muiz Bukhary – The Dangers of Vaping, Smoking, and Shisha
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AI: Transcript ©
We begin by praising Allah
the lord of all worlds, the exalted, the
majestic.
We ask him to send his choices to
blessings and salutations
upon the final messenger, beloved prophet Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi
wa sallam,
his family members, his companions,
and every single individual who embraces the prophetic
path,
the prophetic teachings with the class with sincerity
until the end of time.
We praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala at the
outset.
He who has created us in the best
of forms
and has provided us
with the means
to lead
healthy,
productive,
active,
and fulfilling lives.
Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam,
the final messenger,
he guided us
towards that which is good.
He guided us towards that which is beneficial,
and he
fulfilled his responsibility
by warning us
against all that is harmful
and all that is destructive.
I begin by reminding myself and then all
of you all gathered here for salaatuljumma'ah
in this house of Allah
to adopt a life of taqwa and that
is to instill within yourselves, in your lives,
during every single second of your lives, the
consciousness of your maker.
And you must do this, my dear brother,
my dear sister,
oh, my dear congregation,
if you wish to attain victory and success
in this world as well as the hereafter,
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us all
from the people of Taqwa and may he
make us from the victorious and successful ones.
Ameen.
Dear brothers and sisters,
today
I want to address
a growing concern within our community.
Unfortunately,
we're seeing many people
falling prey
and falling into this abyss
this
abyss, this dark hole,
never ending dark hole.
We're seeing many youngsters,
many of the youth
falling prey. And it is not just the
youth,
it is even
the older generation.
The topic for my sermon,
the dangers
of vaping,
smoking,
and shisha.
Now, these practices
they often perceived as
modern trends, especially vaping
modern trends.
They considered
harmless
pastimes,
but in reality,
they're serious threats to our health and our
well-being.
And today's
youngsters,
the clever,
they try to portray it to the older
generation or their parents saying, hey. You know
what?
Vaping is not as harmful as smoking.
Vaping
is not as harmful as smoking.
Look when someone smokes,
smokes like a chimney,
smells, there's a bad smell,
And obviously, the
harms have been documented
across
time now where a of people are aware,
very well aware of the harms with regards
to smoking.
But vaping,
it's this
fruit flavor.
The smell is fruity.
And even parents in the crowd at times,
fathers think, oh, you know what? It's it's
okay.
It's fine. It's this liquid thing that they,
you know, inhale,
But I beg to differ,
and I want to use this platform to
establish it because so many youngsters
are falling prey to it. May Allah protect
us or may Allah protect our community. May
Allah protect this generation, I mean.
So let us begin by understanding
what these habits involve
because there may be people in the crowd
who don't know what I'm talking about.
Youngsters in the crowd, weeping. No, Sheikh.
What are you talking about? I don't know.
So what is weeping?
Vaping involves
the use of electronic cigarettes,
e cigarettes.
So these e cigarettes, these gadgets like USB
devices,
they heat a liquid
to create a
a gas or an aerosol
that is then inhaled into the lungs.
And this liquid
typically contains nicotine.
It contains flavorings that's where you get the
fruity, strawberry, this flavor, that flavor,
and many other chemicals.
Allah knows best what these chemicals are.
Now on the other hand, smoking,
traditional smoking, smoking cigarettes, involves burning tobacco
and inhaling the smoke. And again,
smoking,
it is, again, like I said, documented. It
contains a plethora,
a truckload of harmful chemicals, including tar
and many other chemicals that, you know, you
ingest into your lungs.
Shisha, on the other hand, involves again smoking
tobacco,
but this time through a water pipe. So
the smoke passes through water
before being inhaled. You have this humid smoke
that you inhale.
So despite the water filtration, some people think
that the water
filters the harmful elements.
Despite the the the water filtration,
shisha smoke still contains
many, many harmful toxins.
Now, to give you health risks and scientific
evidence, let us go to the experts.
Let's go to bodies,
organizations,
think tanks, research institutes that have been studying
this day in and day out. And they're
putting out the research, they're putting out the
the the information out there, but unfortunately we
tend to put on blinders
and still go on with what we are
doing. And we're going to talk about the
Islamic perspective to all of this towards the
end of the sermon, inshallah,
and then I think you will have more
clarity
with regards to these harmful habits. Let's look
at some of the health risks.
You can read up on this online, but
I'm going to summarize it for all of
you inshallah.
You have a lot of
cardiovascular
issues
that crop up due to vaping, smoking, and
shisha.
Vaping,
oh, youngsters,
I know you might be feeling, oh, why
is the sheikh talking about this topic? You
might be having one of those devices in
your pockets right now, or you might have
just wait before coming into the Masjid. You
may be planning
to wait
later on during the day. Fear Allah.
Fear Allah
with regards to the health that Allah has
given you,
with regards to the body
that Allah has given you. Who are you
to abuse this blessing that Allah has given
you?
Who are
you? Oh, slave of Allah
to put the lives
of your loved ones
in danger?
Your your elderly
parents, your children,
your spouses,
Who are you to put all of their
lives at stake
with the secondhand
smoke that comes out from you?
And it's not only the secondhand smoke.
Oh, youngster,
if you are indulging in this, do you
know that it is going to harm the
pregnancy
of, maybe if you are not married, your
future wife?
Do you know that this bad habit of
yours
is going to
have a bad effect
on the unborn
fetus.
SubhanAllah.
SubhanAllah.
So do you not fear Allah in this
regard? Why are you so arrogant?
Have you become like?
Have you become like?
Have you become like?
Where we think that, you know, this is
my body. I can do whatever I want
to do with it.
Subhanallah.
Subhanallah.
So it's linked to cardiovascular
diseases.
Okay?
Vaping
exposes users
to harmful substances.
Recent studies have shown that people who use
e cigarettes
are more likely to fall prey to heart
failure.
They are they are literally 20, 25%
more likely
to face heart failure compared to those who
have never touched an e cigarette, compared to
those who never wake.
Then you have all kinds
of respiratory problems.
There is this term called popcorn lung
for those who wait.
You're you're you're killing your lungs.
You see each breath
that you can take in my dear brother,
my dear sister, is a blessing.
If you are able to
inhale and exhale, this is a blessing of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So who are you
to now abuse those lungs that Allah has
given you?
There are people now in the hospital, people
strapped to machines,
people who can't take a satisfying
deep breath. Why? Because of these bad habits.
Because of smoking. Speak to the older generation.
They'll tell you
why they're suffering now. Oh, you know, I
used to smoke before.
I used to smoke before. How I regret
it now. How I wish I never touched
a cigarette.
You need to understand the science behind the
addiction. You see, you go to the supermarkets,
look at the look at the appalling images
put on those boxes
of of people with mouth sicknesses, lung sicknesses,
gum diseases,
erectile
dysfunction.
My dear youngster,
tomorrow you get married,
and if you're not able to maintain your
erection, what kind of a man are you?
May Allah protect you.
See,
if it is a sickness
that Allah has put on you, then you
accept it.
Obviously, there are cures to it, but you
accept it as it being from Allah. But
if it is because of what your own
hands have earned, smoking leads to erectile dysfunction.
Vaping
leads to ed, erectile dysfunction.
You're not going to be able to have
a good marital
intimate life. Why? Because of this bad habit.
Is it really worth it? Now ask yourself,
weiping, I'm going to lose this. Is it
worth it?
Is it worth it?
No. Subhanahu wa. Now we think, oh, you
know, it's cool. It's cool to do it.
I'm a man when I do it. Before,
it used to be the same thing. You
know, when I take a puff like like
in the
movies. Now they literally won left, right, and
center. Why? Because the harms are so well
documented.
Smoking causes this, smoking causes that. You have
disclaimers, disclaimers, disclaimers. And if you look at
it, most of these individuals from Hollywood and
all these other woods have moved away
from these habits.
You think it looks cool, but look at
what it's resulting in. Then is it really
worth it? Is it really cool?
What is
cool is to have the willpower to stay
away from it.
What is cool to is to say that
I never smoked a cigarette in my life.
I've never touched one of these vaping gadgets.
I live a healthy life.
I clock in this many kilometers of a
walk. I run this much. I swim this
much. I I I hit the gym this
many times.
That's cool. But instead,
look at us.
Look at us. I've done sermons on fitness.
If you look at the sahabah,
if you look at the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam, the description of the prophet and
the sahabah,
personally, I have never come across a single
description
of
the prophet never,
but even of the prominent Sahaba
having a pot belly.
It's never like this.
It's never like this. Well trimmed.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi sallam chest and stomach
was
in line.
Khaled ibn alwaleed warrior,
he could literally run
after
a horse and jump on the horse whilst
it was galloping.
Today, you and I,
we will need one big ladder
to climb on top of a horse. And
we even with that ladder, we might end
up getting a backache or something after we
get on top of the horse. And one
tiny,
not a not a run, one tiny strut
maybe around, you know, the new really a
race course. And by the time we get
down, our back is aching, and our thighs,
our glutes are hurting and this is hurting
and that is hurting.
You know, Sahaba like them, they would
they would they would ride horses.
Let it settle in. You know what that
means?
Without the saddle and the stirrup and all
of that, you know, we need so many
gadgets to ride horses.
We need to put our feet into the
stirrup and then get onto the saddle and
hold on to the saddle for dear life.
And then, yes, we are able to manage
a a a a round on a horse.
And most of the time, it's the ponies
that we pride ourselves riding.
Ponies are tiny animals. Horses, proper especially you're
talking about Arabian stallions, tall, massive animals.
Bare back. So just imagine to do that,
the the the the amount of core strength
you need to balance yourself on the animal.
Core strength.
To balance yourself on the animal whilst it's
galloping.
I say this often.
Once a man was spotted with a big
belly, Ammar radiallahu anhu was there, he asked
the man, You're Ojul Mahadah, what is this
what is this belly of yours?
The man quickly, you know, to diffuse the
situation because he knows how serious Umar he
says,
this is from Allah. This is Allah's blessings.
That's why, you know, it's evident here in
my stomach. Blessings of Allah.
Muhammad radiAllahu looses. He says, Baraka.
This is punishment from Allah. This is not
Baraka from Allah. It's vain you
down. This is a punishment from Allah.
This is how active they were.
They didn't indulge in bad habits.
They didn't overeat.
They led very active, healthy and productive
lives.
They were archers. They were swordsmen.
They were wrestlers. All these sports, my dear
brothers and sisters, take a lot of stamina.
You think archery is easy?
You think archery is easy?
You need so much of strength and discipline
to pull.
You know, today, we've got gadgets that pull
the thing for us. We're talking about crude
bow and arrows. The tension of the bow
to pull
and release the arrow
without quivering, without trembling, without shivering, the amount
of forearm strength, the amount of focus,
the amount of discipline to hit the target.
Rasulullah
alaihi sallam was a wrestler. Umar radiAllahu anhu
was a wrestler. SubhanAllah.
But we have become lethargic
as a community. We're lazy.
Easily falling prey to every bad habit out
there. Today you talk, unfortunately
every bad habit that is out there is
linked to our community. May Allah protect us
all.
And the list of harms keep on going,
subhanAllah. I can go on and on and
all these things in a one Google search,
and you'll have the whole list of harms,
my dear youngsters. Is it too complicated?
I can read it out for you, but
there are so many. You know, you have
you have, like I said, respiratory diseases, cardio
vascular diseases, sexual diseases. You take shisha. There
are chances for diseases to transmit. You have
mouth related diseases, gum gum diseases, tooth diseases,
diseases left, right and center.
SubhanAllah,
So if so much of harm is linked
to it, what is good? What is what
is the good that you're deriving out of
it? Nothing. Other than the fact that we
have all fallen prey
to being addicted to it. It is an
addiction.
Again, a misconception
is that vaping
is harmful. Yes, Sheikh, I acknowledge it is
harmful, but it is safer than cigarettes.
No. You are wrong again.
You're just replacing
one set of dangers with another set of
dangers. That's it.
Cigarettes have one set of dangers,
vaping, another set of dangers. You're just replacing
one with the other.
And if you look at it, at times,
1 cigarette lasts x amount of time. But
when you tend to wave, you tend to
wave a lot more than you would smoke
a cigarette. Why it's so easy? It's easily
accessible. So the harms multiply themselves.
One session of shisha, it's not a 5
minute session, generally. Youngsters, they go, they hang
out. Hours on end, SubhanAllah.
Hours on end, puffing away, puffing away.
It's not like 1 cigarette. In comparison,
I'm not saying this with conviction,
but
it may be the other way around. The
set of dangers that come from cigarettes
may be different
and may be less multiplied than vaping and
shisha. Not that I'm saying cigarettes is good.
No way. It's just that you have to
understand. You're just replacing. It's just like semantics.
You're playing around. You're just replacing one set
of dangers with another. All of these things
are bad.
They're not productive.
They're not befitting a Muslim. They're not appropriate
for a Muslim. Just imagine. If any of
these things were befitting or appropriate, would you
do it in front of your father?
You wouldn't. Would you do it in front
of your mother?
You wouldn't. Would you pull out your vaping
device in front of your dad, take one
drag, and blow it in front of him?
Would you do it? You wouldn't do it.
Would you do it in front of your
mother? You wouldn't do it. Would you do
it in the masjid?
You wouldn't do it. So then you know
it's a bad habit. You hide it. Would
you do it in front of me?
A scholar? You wouldn't. When you see, oh,
put it away. Oh, sheikh's coming. Sheikh's coming.
I've seen many youngsters. SubhanAllah.
They're doing it
when I come into their presence.
Why? Because they're guilty. It's bad.
So you know it's bad.
So why are you doing it?
Stay away from it, oh, youngster. Stay away
from it. I know. I know. It takes
will power. It takes a lot of strength
if you're addicted to it. Get help.
You don't have to do it alone.
If you are able to, then well and
good. But, otherwise, there's no harm in getting
help.
Get help.
Seek the help of Allah. Seek the help
of experts in this field
because it's just like any other addiction. It
it it it it involves your brain.
And this is where I have to link
a little bit of Islam here now.
You see the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
he tells us that shaytan.
Shaytan runs in our blood.
Shaytan runs in our blood.
So he runs in our blood. This can
be interpreted
as him being able to understand us psychologically
as well. He studies us very well.
So these addictions, these harmful addictions are very
powerful traps of shaitan
and the evil jinn.
You see, it's almost like a possession. Right?
It's almost like you're being possessed by the
jinn,
where you can't. You know the harm. You've
just been admitted into the hospital and you're
out, but you can't. You know, you're finding
it difficult. You want to reach out and
grab that packet. You want to reach out
and grab that machine. You want to do
it despite knowing that you were just admitted
into the hospital, despite knowing that you're having
an excruciating
pain in your lungs,
despite knowing all the harms listed out there.
And at times, despite even after being
present at a sermon like this, you go
back and you you you just don't have
the strength. Why? Because
Sha'an
and the jinn, the evil jinn
are overpowering you.
You see, when you are in a state
of impurity and this is why it is
sunnah to be in the state of ablution
all the time. You are susceptible to the
attacks of shaitan. You are susceptible to the
attacks of the evil jinn.
You understand?
This is why you must be in a
state of purity. When you are in a
place where in individuals are indulging in all
these kinds of behavior,
your spiritual armor
is weakened
weakened. You know? For some of you who
play video games, you have this armor. When
you have an armor on, even if they
shoot at you, nothing happens to you or
rather, it reduces the the the the harms.
Why? Because the armor is on. But
when you are in these states, for example,
when you are wiping, when you're smoking, when
you are in a she's she's whatever whatever
you call it, hookah session, you know, you
tend to weaken your spiritual armor,
making yourself an easy
target
for shaitan and the evil jinn.
You don't want to make yourself a target,
my dear brother, my dear sister.
For shaitan and the evil jinn to come
and cause chaos in your life.
Subhanallah.
And then now you're trying to figure out
what's going on. Everything is downhill.
Whatever I try to do is downhill. And
then you start blaming black magic, and you
start blaming this and blaming that and you
start going on a whole wild goose chase.
Whilst
all the while
as Allah says in the Quran,
It is what your own hands have earned.
Allah says in the Quran, don't kill yourselves.
Allah says in the Quran,
do not throw yourself into destruction.
But with this gadget, with smoking, with all
these habits, you're throwing yourself into destruction, oh
youngsters. You're throwing yourself into destruction. You're throwing
yourself into harm.
Aspire.
Aspire.
Have lofty ambitions.
Let us not just become mediocre.
Look at the sahaba.
Look at them as role models. Look at
Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Look at the
righteous people around you. Look at the imams.
Look at the scholars.
Take them as role models
to be productive muslims where
you will rule and reign this dunya
as well as akhirah.
You will live a good life in this
world
as well as akhirah.
Subhanallah. Isn't that the the the summary of
the dua?
Or Allah give us
the best in this world.
So strive, be productive to reach and achieve
the best in this world. Don't settle for
less. Don't settle for mediocre. This ummah
was not created for mediocre
for less. It was created for greatness,
for high lofty
goals.
But indulging in these habits, they're going to
to cripple you. You're not going to be
able to reach those high and lofty goals.
And then in al akhirah hasanah, the best
in al akhirah as well, which is obviously
the pleasure of Allah in Jannah.
And Allah protect us from the fire of
*. So my dear
brothers and sisters in Islam, I conclude
by reminding myself and then all of you
all
to embrace the teachings of the prophet which
are wholesome,
which are beneficial. His lifestyle subhanAllah study
is so fruitful,
so productive,
so healthy,
so beneficial.
Rid yourself and stay away from these habits
of shaitan,
habits of the devil, traps of the devil.
Stay away from them.
May Allah give us the will power. Strengthen
us to stay away from all these bad
habits. May Allah help us to preserve our
health, I mean. May Allah help us to
preserve.
May Allah give us the strength and wisdom
to make the right choices to protect us
from harm and to guide us towards all
that is beneficial and good. I mean,
you Allah.
Help those who are struggling with addictions to
find the strength to overcome it, you Allah.
You Allah, guide our youth, guide our youngsters,
you Allah. Guide them on the straight path,
you Allah.
Protect them from the dangers of vaping, from
the dangers of smoking, from the dangers of
shisha, you Allah.
Unite our community. Unite us in promoting good
health and well-being, you Allah.
You Allah, grant us the strength, grant us
the wisdom, and grant us the knowledge to
recognize
and avoid harmful habits that endanger our health
and our well-being, you Allah.
Guide us towards making choices that preserve our
physical,
our mental, our emotional, and spiritual health, you
Allah.
You Allah help all those who are struggling
with addiction to vaping, you Allah, to smoking,
you Allah, and shisha. Grant them the strength
and resolve to overcome these harmful habits. Yeah,
Allah, protect them. Protect us from the temptations
of harmful substances,
from all these harmful substances, from all these
addictive substances, you Allah. Fill our hearts with
the desire to seek healthy, active, and productive
lives, you Allah. You Allah, there are many
of us who are trying hard to quit
these harmful habits. You Allah, surround them with
help. Surround Surround them with a supportive community.
Surround them with good friends, good family, and
resources that will help them succeed. Yeah Allah.
You Allah, grant healing to those who suffer
from illnesses caused by smoking,
caused by vaping, caused by shisha, you Allah.
Ease their pain and restore their health, you
Allah. There are those of us who have
lung sicknesses, you Allah. Ease their affairs and
protect their health, you Allah. There are those
of us who are suffering from so many
other sicknesses you Allah. You are the healer
you Allah. Heal them you Allah.
Substances, you Allah.
You Allah help us to create an environment
that that fosters good and helps us to
stay away from all these traps of shaitan,
the traps of the devil, yeah, Allah. And
you Allah, just as how you united us
and dismissed it, unite us in the beautiful
gardens of Jannah in the companionship of our
beloved prophet Muhammad.