Seadet-i Ebediyye - Endless Bliss Sixth Fascicle

hand, non-mujtahids’ saying that it is halâl or harâm is of no
importance. Then, smoking tobacco is mubâh and halâl
essentially.” Those who have warned against its danger have taken
the aforesaid arguments into consideration. Perhaps those who
maintain that it is something dangerous have more plausible
reason to believe so. For, granting a few of the aforesaid
arguments are wrong, the matter will still not be free from doubt.
In the aggregate will they reinforce the conviction. On the other
hand, that “there are no longer athorized mujtahids” is an
ambiguous statement. Fully authorized mujtahids no longer exist
today; yet there still may be some semi-authorized scholars, (i.e.
infra-matter mujtahids,) who are capable of making an analogy
between ijtihâds. Although the early mujtahids made no
statements concerning tobacco, it is possible to try and associate
tobacco with one of the conclusive and clearly stated judgments
that they made. Non-mujtahid scholars may be able to do this job.
Tobacco smoking remains a doubtful issue, at the most. And
doubtful things, in their turn, are harâm. It is stated in a hadîth-isherîf:
“A person who does what is doubtful would just as soon
commit harâm as well.” Behaviour that one avoids should
incorporate also making a habit of doing acts that are mubâh or
risky. It would be reasonable to say that tobacco is risky. And it
would be sinful, venial as it may be, to dive too deeply into
enjoying the mubâhs. Even if we should say that tobacco is halâl,
then it is something addictive. Acts that are mubâh will have to be
accounted for on the Day of Judgment. Tobacco is enjoyed mostly
by fâsiq people. And they set an example for others who watch
them. Moderate behaviour is commendable in all situations.
It is stated in the thirteen hundred and forty-seventh (1347)
page: A hadîth-i-sherîf reads as follows: “Let a person who has
eaten onions or garlic not come to our mesjîd.” For, a bad smell
will hurt angels. So is the case with people who have (newly) eaten
things with a bad smell, such as leeks, people suffering from a
disease causing a bad smell, such as leprosy, people with a stinking
wound, and people wearing clothes smelling of fish or meat. These
people are not allowed into a mosque. It is makrûh tanzîhî to eat
raw onions or garlic when going to a mosque. It is not makrûh to
eat them cooked. It is permissible to eat them as medicaments.
That it is for this reason that smoking tobacco is makrûh, is written
in Yahyâ Efendî’s Fatwâ. A pious Muslim will not smoke tobacco
for fear of (disobeying) this hadîth-i-sherîf. Here we end our
translation from the book entitled Berîqa.
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