Answer
Wa `alaykum as-Salamu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
- Smoking and drugs are haram.
- Every Muslim who has fallen in such harmful habits should shun them immediately.
- Smoking does not nullify wudu.
- A smoker should clean his mouth from the bad smell resulting from smoking before coming to the mosque.
In his response to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
A Muslim is not supposed to smoke or use drugs. They are highly deleterious to our health; moreover, it is sheer wastage of resources that could be used for greater priorities.
So, I would urge you to break this habit and save your health and hard-earned money for better things.
Now coming to the issue of washing or doing wudu after smoking; smoking has a foul smell that is offensive to others.
Islam teaches us to spare others from harm. This includes not causing discomfort to them by the foul smell of our mouth, body odor, clothes, etc.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that “whoever eats (raw garlic) should not come to the mosque.” (Al-Bukhari) Smoking is not different.
In conclusion, smoking is haram; however, if anyone did smoke, then he ought to wash his mouth and get rid of the foul smell before coming to the mosque for prayers.
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.