Life is a precious gift from Almighty Allah. It is not just like other gifts because you get it only once unlike other gifts. It depends only upon us how we take it? Some people know its value while others throw it away in many ways not knowing their importance in their families and societies.
One of the deadly forms of throwing this precious gift of almighty God is SMOKING. Smoking may give pleasure for sometime but in real; it is not pleasure it is seizure of life. When a smoker is asked, “Why do you smoke?” The Smoker replies, “It releases me from tension and depression”. I must tell them that there are much better ways of releasing tension and depression without spending a single penny, best among which is worshiping your creator with your full zeal and zest. I assure you it will lead you to a happier smoke free life.
Coming to the effect of smoking….
Tobacco is the single greatest cause of preventable death globally. Tobacco use leads most commonly to diseases affecting the heart and lungs, with smoking being a major risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (including emphysema and chronic bronchitis), and cancer (particularly lung cancer, cancers of the larynx and mouth, and pancreatic cancer). It also causes peripheral vascular disease and hypertension. The effects depend on the number of years that a person smokes and on how much the person smokes. Starting smoking earlier in life and smoking cigarettes higher in tar increases the risk of these diseases. Also, environmental tobacco smoke, or secondhand smoke, has been shown to cause adverse health effects in people of all ages. Cigarettes sold in underdeveloped countries tend to have higher tar content, and are less likely to be filtered, potentially increasing vulnerability to tobacco-related disease in these regions. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that tobacco caused 5.4 million deaths in 2004 and 100 million deaths over the course of the 20th century. Similarly, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes tobacco use as "the single most important preventable risk to human health in developed countries and an important cause of premature death worldwide.”
Smoke contains several carcinogenic pyrolytic products that bind to DNA and cause many genetic mutations. There are over 19 known chemical carcinogens in cigarette smoke. Tobacco also contains nicotine, which is a highly addictive psychoactive chemical. When tobacco is smoked, nicotine causes physical and psychological dependency. Tobacco use is a significant factor in miscarriages among pregnant smokers; it contributes to a number of other threats to the health of the fetus such as premature births and low birth weight and increases by 1.4 to 3 times the chance for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The result of scientific studies done in neonatal rats seems to indicate that exposure to cigarette smoke in the womb may reduce the fetal brain's ability to recognize hypoxic conditions, thus increasing the chance of accidental asphyxiation. Incidence of impotence is approximately 85 percent higher in male smokers compared to non-smokers, and is a key factor causing erectile dysfunction (ED).
Some other important facts about Smoking are enumerated here-under:
Harmful Health Effects of Smoking
• Every year hundreds of thousands of people around the world die from diseases caused by smoking cigarettes - Smoking KILLS.
• One in two lifetime smokers will die from their habit. Half of these deaths will occur in middle age.
• Tobacco smoke also contributes to a number of cancers.
• The mixture of nicotine and carbon monoxide in each cigarette you smoke temporarily increases your heart rate and blood pressure, straining your heart and blood vessels.
• This can cause heart attacks and stroke. It slows your blood flow, cutting off oxygen to your feet and hands. Some smokers end up having their limbs amputated.
• Tar coats your lungs like soot in a chimney and causes cancer. A 20-a-day smoker breathes in up to a full cup (210 g) of tar in a year.
• Changing to low-tar cigarettes does not help because smokers usually take deeper puffs and hold the smoke in for longer, dragging the tar deeper into their lungs.
• Carbon monoxide robs your muscles, brain and body tissue of oxygen, making your whole body and especially your heart work harder. Over time, your airways swell up and let less air into your lungs.
• Smoking causes disease and is a slow way to die. The strain of smoking effects on the body often causes years of suffering.
• Emphysema for example is an illness that slowly rots your lungs. People with emphysema often get bronchitis again and again, and suffer lung and heart failure.
• Lung cancer from smoking is caused by the tar in tobacco smoke.
• Men who smoke are ten times more likely to die from lung cancer than non-smokers.
• Heart disease and strokes are also more common among smokers than non-smokers.
• Smoking causes fat deposits to narrow and block blood vessels which lead to heart attack.
• Smoking causes around one in five deaths from heart disease.
• In younger people, three out of four deaths from heart disease are due to smoking
• Cigarette smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of low birth weight, prematurity, spontaneous abortion, and prenatal mortality in humans, which has been referred to as the fetal tobacco syndrome.
In a Political State, the life of its subject (people) is above all but it is quite unfortunate that government is also playing with the lives of its subjects. In quest of generating revenue, government allows anything which is harmful for common masses. By writing, “Smoking is injurious to health” or “Smoking Causes Cancer” or placing a cancerous lungs on the packing on this poison, no one will quit smoking. If you really love your subjects, just ban it and other harmful tobacco products.
Although J&K government had issued an order to stop smoking at public places but nothing special is done on practical grounds. We can still see smokers smoking everywhere at public places without any hesitation. No doubt, people are also responsible for this mess on a larger scale but it is ultimately the government which makes and enforces the laws. I am a resident of Srinagar but unfortunately have never seen any person being fined by authorities. Action is needed on a practical and a larger scale.
Few months back, it was quite nice and encouraging to see that authorities were removing the advertisement boards of these Cigarette manufacturing companies. But now it seems that these officials have filled their pockets and don’t bother about this issue anymore.
Concluding, if we keep all these effects of Smoking and other thinks aside and think in terms of religion, Smoking is prohibited in all major religions of the world. In Islam, Smoking is highly prohibited and is “Haram”. In Islam cleanliness and hygiene are emphasized to the extent that it has been considered a part of Iman (faith). It is very well known that a smoker's mouth is unclean and foul smelling "like a cigarette ash-tray."
In the Quran, God says:
"And forbid them what is bad." - Surah Al-'Araf, 7:157
"0 ye who believe! Intoxicants and gambling are an abomination of Satan's handiwork. Eschew such abominations that ye may prosper." - Surah Al Ma'idah, 5:93
The word intoxicant has three meanings:
(1) To induce, especially the effect of ingested alcohol.
(2) To stimulate or excite.
(3) To poison.
The latter two meanings are very valid and applicable to nicotine.
Smoking is nothing but a form of slow suicide. The Qur'an says:
"And slay not the life which God hath forbidden..." - Surah, Al-Isra, 17:33
"And make not your own hands contribute to your destruction." - Surah, Al-Baqara, 2:195
"Nor kill or destroy yourselves for verily God hath been to you most Merciful." - Surah, An-Nisa, 4:29
Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) has said:
"Nor be hurt or injure others." It is scientifically proven that the exhaled smoke of the smoker is hazardous to non-smokers around him.
All smokers should give up this unhealthy activity. The best way to give it up is to stop all smoking completely. Tapering off on the amount one smokes does not work for most people. It is not easy to quit suddenly, but it is presently the most successful way. There are many ways and techniques available for a serious minded person to give up smoking. For the Muslims who sincerely practice Islam and who submit themselves to the Will of God, this should not be a difficult task.
Article By: Mehraj Ur Rehman
Reach him at coolmehraj@gmail.com
Author is the Editor-In-Chief of Kashmir Headlines – An online News Portal of Kashmir.
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