Fatwa Council: Sisha is forbidden

The national fatwa council special deliberation on Islamic affairs today declared that smoking shisha is forbidden.

Its chairperson Abdul Shukor Husin, according to Utusan Online, said the decision was made after hearing the statements and explanations from Health Ministry experts. 

The council also took into account the medical findings with regard to ill effects of smoking shisha.

In view of this, Abdul Shukor said Muslims are now forbidden from smoking shisha or setting up stalls that provide the smoking apparatuses.

Previously the Star reported that an American Lung Association study in 2007 showed a worldwide increase in shisha use in recent years, mostly among youths and university students.

The report also quoted Dr S Dhesi Baha Raja, former assistant state health director of the Maternal and Child Health division at the Sabah State health department, as saying that the habit is dangerous.

"Teenagers think shisha is a herbal product. That when they smoke it, no tobacco is inhaled. This is wrong, because the herbal packaging has tobacco," he had said.

Deshi revealed that even the manner in which shisha is prepared is hazardous.

"At the very top of a hookah, the bowl containing shisha is covered by aluminium foil, upon which burning charcoal is placed to roast the tobacco. Toxic fumes are produced by the reaction between the burning charcoal and aluminium foil," he added.

He said that the hookah's glass base,  which acts as a chamber for the shisha smoke, is also filled with water.

"This water mixes with the toxic gases and increases the smoke's humidity, which causes the carcinogenic fumes to stay in the lungs longer," he said.

"A study showed that the nozzle can play host to huge amounts of microbacteria and viral hepatitis such as tuberculosis and even Hepatitis A, which increases a shisha smoker’s risk of contracting diseases," he added.

The report also cited a World Health Organisation (WHO) report that a 60-minute shisha session produces about 100 to 200 times more smoke than a regular cigarette, which translates into a heavier output of toxic fumes for both the smoker and the people around them.