Is smoking shisha/pipe haram?

Question

Islam mentions every intoxicant as haram. But I do not feel intoxicated by smoking shisha because the water in the base tends to absorb tobacco.

So is smoking shisha/pipe haram?

Answer 1

You can't say just haram. There is no say or Aya from the Prophet about that, but you can say that smoking hurt your body and hurting ourselves is something ALLAH forbidden us from doing so. So it's better not to do.

Answer 2

Intoxicant eh? Do you get any good effects by Sheesha/Smoking? You don't!

Sheesha

Shisha has tobacco too, so its effects are the same! Anything that includes nicotine has a lot of bad effects on our body and would prevent many organs from doing there own general function. For example: Nicotine has a minor effect on blood pressure and heart beat rate, similar to caffeine and other weak stimulants.

Intoxicant

Anything that is toxic to the human body is counted as intoxicant. Now you might have wondered why Pigs are not allowed to be eaten in Islam. That is because of a large number of parasites in its body. It is not because of its bad living environment. You can learn more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig#Health_issues

Similarly, Islam stops us from using anything that is bad for our health. If you're a smoker, you would never say its a bad thing. Yet you will praise it for being an extraordinary helpful for tension patients. But, it has a large number of side effects and the number of good effects is none!

So everything that is bad, is haram in Islam! I would count this too.

Answer 3

Smoking Shisha/Pipe is haram which is semi-unanimously agreed upon by all modern scholars.

History

Before the 1950s-1960s, humanity didn't know the negative effects of smoking since science hasn't advanced that far yet. So the Islamic ruling on smoking was that it was Makrooh (disliked) because it made the mouth smell bad. And the scholars used evidence from the hadiths such as Sunan Abi Dawud 3827 (Sahih) to support it's makrooh status.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade these two plants (i.e. garlic and onions), and he said: He who eats them should not come near our mosque. If it is necessary to eat them, make them dead by cooking, that is, onions and garlic.

because onion and garlic made the mouth smell bad and Prophet Muhammad (SAW) showed a dislike for that by preventing people who ate Garlic and Onion from coming to the mosque, the scholars pre 1950s-1960s said smoking was makrooh.

Currently

After it was discovered that smoking is extremely harmful to the human being, nearly all scholars made it haram.

Islam forbids the impure, Quran 7:157

“˹They are˺ the ones who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whose description they find in their Torah and the Gospel. He commands them to do good and forbids them from evil, permits for them what is lawful and forbids to them what is impure, and relieves them from their burdens and the shackles that bound them. ˹Only˺ those who believe in him, honour and support him, and follow the light sent down to him will be successful.”

Islam forbids intoxicants, Sunan an-Nasa'i 5599 (sahih)

"Every intoxicant is unlawful."

Medical Evidence (there's a lot)

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.

• Cigarette smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United States. This is nearly one in five deaths.
• Smoking causes more deaths each year than the following causes combined:
  • Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
  • Illegal drug use
  • Alcohol use
  • Motor vehicle injuries
  • Firearm-related incidents
• More than 10 times as many U.S. citizens have died prematurely from cigarette smoking than have died in all the wars fought by the United States.
• Smoking causes about 90% (or 9 out of 10) of all lung cancer deaths. More women die from lung cancer each year than from breast cancer.
• Smoking causes about 80% (or 8 out of 10) of all deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
• Cigarette smoking increases risk for death from all causes in men and women. The risk of dying from cigarette smoking has increased over the last 50 years in the U.S.

Source: Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking

Extra Links to check out regarding why smoking is haram:

• Why Is Smoking Haram?
• Is Smoking Haraam? - Dr Zakir Naik
• For the Love of Smokers - Mufti Menk
• Is Hookah (smooking Sheesha) permissible? - AMJA