ABOUT ALLOWING SMOKING DURING RAMADAN FASTING

Gamal el bana (died 2013) the famous Egyptian Islamic intellectual & scholar previously issued a verdict -that caused a lot of hot & lengthy debate- allowing cigarette/cigar smoking during fasting Ramadan. He based his verdict on three reasons ;

1)      FASTING is defined as refraining from eating & drinking Quran 2;187

وَكُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمُ الْخَيْطُ الْأَبْيَضُ مِنَ الْخَيْطِ الْأَسْوَدِ مِنَ الْفَجْرِ ۖ ثُمَّ أَتِمُّوا الصِّيَامَ إِلَى اللَّيْلِ

translation is “   And eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread [of night]. Then complete the fast until the sunset”——–Physically smoking is merely an inhaling of smoke & not eating or drinking. Smoking is breathing of polluted air .Health wise, the Cairo & other pollute cities inhabitants smoke what is equivalent to more than 20 cigarettes a day due to air pollution & any worker in a cement factory or any air polluting industry is also inhaling the industry smoke , so if smoke inhalation breaks the fasting , then all city inhabitants are fast breaking in the day of Ramadan due to air smoke inhalation , moreover all the ladies standing cooking in the kitchens will be breakfasting because they are inhaling the cooking food vapor smoke , thus practically no one will be fasting if smoke vapor was regarded as a fasting breaker

2) THERE are some smoking addicts who may choose not to fast Ramadan because they cannot quit the cigarette for the whole day & as long as smoking is not a drinking or eating act then it does not break fasting , thus the smoke addict can observe Ramadan while smoking rather than quitting fasting

3) WATER pipe smoking has been allowed by some Islamic scholars in the Islamic history & both water pipe or cigarette is a mere smoke inhalation neither eating or drinking

N.B. The page editor is not pro or anti this verdict but  think it is worth discussion