Text your say: Smoking is haram?

Big ol’ jay: Farmers and pro-tobacco activists hold up a giant cigarette during a rally in front of the parliament building in Jakarta to protest a plan to issue a regulation that would include tobacco into a list of addictive substances recently. JP/Wendra Ajistiyatama

It is not about haram or not haram. Just think about it from the perspective of your body and your health. If you think that smoking is damaging your health, then stop. Smokers do not need such a law; there must be a consciousness inside them, telling them it is a damaging habit.
It is useless to enact new laws, or fatwa, as they won’t do it, considering the mindset of the Indonesian nowadays. Don’t waste you time, do something useful in a way that can change people lives.
Vonny Halim
Jakarta

To decide not to smoke or to smoke should be a matter of freewill. Rather than issuing a haram fatwa, I think it would be better to run a counter campaign on the negative effects of smoking in response to the many cigarette advertisements.
Arya
Yogyakarta

To those who criticize the fatwa because it will create unemployment. Be honest — have the tobacco industry really helped the workers and people in general? Most workers in this industry earn very low wages.
In fact, poor people in Indonesia tend to spend more of their money on kretek cigarette than the upper middle class, which makes them even poorer and sicker. When they’re sick, they’ll spend even more money on health and so become poorer and poorer.
This is another reason for the fatwa. These workers are better off finding other work.
Joko S.
Jakarta

Smoking is haram. If there are other issues, it doesn’t mean that the fatwa is wrong or should be delayed. Those Muslim who don’t want to follow it, knowing that they are wrong, are better off than those who are challenging its correctness just to safeguard their interests, or just because they want to continue to smoke.
There are thousands of Muslims who know that adultery and drinking alcoholic drinks are haram, but it doesn’t stop them from committing the sin. Believers should not play with their religion, if they do not want to follow its teachings. Let us pray that Allah guides us all to whatever is best for humanity.
Mohamed
Jakarta

Smoking harms us. End of story. Such a fatwa should be coming from the government too, as smoking is obviously as dangerous as drugs.
People have been addicted to smoking cigarettes for a long time now, which is why we consider it not to be harmful to our lives. It’s time for smokers to cut cigarettes out of their lives. Regardless of what religion you embrace, this kind of fatwa should be for everyone, for all our sakes.
Benjamin Manullang
Medan

There are many people that earn a living from tobacco and cigarettes. If it is made haram, these people will feel guilty earning their living from this sector and it will spark more unemployment. Unemployment will create more probable or potential criminals.
The government should be wise in facing the issue. To solve this problem, they would be more effective providing a special side room
in public places for smokers to enjoy their needed cigarette, rather than just issue an edict that smoking is haram.
Aditya Purwantoko
Semarang

This fatwa isn’t new. It was issued by Al-Azhar in Cairo in 1995! What a pity most Indonesian Muslims, even Ustadh who I met, prefer their temptations rather than obey the sunnah or fatwa! I even saw Muslims praying while holding a cigarette in their right hand.
I did hear comments like: “I burn the syaitan (devil) with every cigarette I smoke” and “the cigarette industry offers a lot of employment and strengthens infrastructure”. All these are excuses of weak people who put their temptations higher than the sunnah!
May Allah forgive them! I hope that this fatwa will be effective and successful.
Mohamad Ali Hein
Jakarta

Let’s look on the bright side of this fatwa. I think it is intended to focus on shaping people’s health. This country needs healthy people with healthy minds to govern and develop the country.
However, this fatwa will only be effective if the government has the same idea. What is happening now is really contradictory; even the religious affairs minister considers this fatwa unwise.   
Amru
Bogor, West Java