بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
CONCISE RULING FOR THOSE LOOKING FOR A QUICK ANSWER
Without a doubt every type of drug that is taken is prohibited in Islam, including Marijuana, Heroin, Ice, Cocaine etc. Any drug, whether in powder, liquid or plant form that befogs the mind and is taken as a jovial thing to cause a euphoric feeling is forbidden. Abything that makes the mind foggy, and/or relaxes the person to an extent where they lose their senses, is forbidden by the concensus of the Muslim Jurists. This ruling applies to both the addict and the casual user.
As for the one that sells, acquires, makes, grows and or helps in the process of attaining or distributing drugs, then this peson is committing of the greatest sins. There is no difference between selling to Muslims or Non-Muslims. No rukhsa is given to the drug dealer to somehow minimise the sin because parts of the acquired funds are aiding Muslims. This is never allowed. The ill gotten money can not be cleaned via a allowed means, the end does not justify the means, in this case.
Note: It also must be made apparent, that Islam does not prohibit a sickly person to receive treatment for an illness that requires medication which could possibly make the person foggy and place them in a state of senselessness. Islam allows use of the prohibited things, but only when a persons life is at stake.
The Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“Every intoxicant is khamr, and every intoxicant is haraam. Whoever drinks khamr in this world and dies persisting in that and without having repented, will not drink it in the Hereafter.” (Muslim)
Abu Moosa said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sent Mu’aadh ibn Jabal and me to Yemen, and I said: “O Messenger of Allaah, there is a drink that is made in our land and is called al-mizr, which is made from barley, and another drink called al-bit’, which is made from honey.” He said: “Every intoxicant is haraam.” (Bukhari & Muslim)
Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: I heard ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) say from the minbar of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “O people, the prohibition of khamr was revealed when khamr was made from five things: grapes, dates, honey, wheat and barley. Khamr is whatever befogs the mind.” (Bukhari & Muslim)
Further more in depth analysis of the proofs from the Qur’an and Sunnah.
There is no doubt that taking drugs is haraam, including hashish, canabis, heroine, ice, opium, cocaine, morphine, and so on. That is for many reasons, including the following:
1 – It dulls the senses and befogs the mind, and whatever does that is haraam, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Every intoxicant is khamr, and every intoxicant is haraam. Whoever drinks khamr in this world and dies persisting in that and without having repented, will not drink it in the Hereafter.” Narrated by Muslim, 2003.
Al-Bukhaari (4087) and Muslim (1733) narrated that Abu Moosa said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sent Mu’aadh ibn Jabal and me to Yemen, and I said:
“O Messenger of Allaah, there is a drink that is made in our land and is called al-mizr, which is made from barley, and another drink called al-bit’, which is made from honey. He said: “Every intoxicant is haraam.”
Al-Bukhaari (4343) and Muslim (3032) narrated that Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: I heard ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) say from the minbar of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him):
“O people, the prohibition of khamr was revealed when khamr was made from five things: grapes, dates, honey, wheat and barley. Khamr is whatever befogs the mind.”
There is no doubt that drugs also befog the mind and take away reason.
Al-Haafiz ibn Hajar said: The general meaning of the words, “Every intoxicant is haraam,” is taken as evidence that whatever causes intoxication is haraam, even if it is not a drink. So that includes hashish, cocaine, DMT, other Psychedelics, and other things.
Al-Nawawi and others were certain that an intoxicant like Marijuana/Hashish dulls the senses, and it is arrogant to say otherwise, because its visible effects are the same as those of khamr, such as euphoria and addiction.
Even if we assume that it is not an intoxicant, it is proven in Abu Dawood that all intoxicants and relaxants are haraam. And Allaah knows best.
End quote from Fath al-Baari, 10/45.
However, saying all of that, the Mas’ala and the Hukm changes, if a medicine contains parts which are intoxifying when taken, more on that later.
Al-Khattaabi said: Relaxants are those drinks that cause relaxation in the muscles and numbness in the extremities, which is the precursor to intoxication. It is forbidden to drink them lest they be a means that leads to intoxication.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Everything that takes away one’s senses is haraam, even if it does not result in drunkenness or intoxication. If it takes away the senses it is haraam according to the consensus of the Muslims. With regard to using banj (lit. henbane) which does not cause intoxication or take away reason, this is subject to a ta’zeer punishment.
The scholars who studied the issue realized that hashish is an intoxicant, and that it is only consumed by evildoers, because of the pleasure and euphoria it brings. So it is like intoxicating drinks. Khamr makes a person lively and argumentative, whereas hashish makes him relaxed and lethargic, but it still befogs the mind and opens the door to physical desires and heedlessness with regard to one’s honour, which makes it worse than intoxicating drinks. This is something that was introduced by the Tatars.
The one who consumes a little or a lot of it is to be subjected to the punishment for drinking: eighty or forty lashes, if he is a Muslim who believes that intoxicants are haraam. End quote from al-Fataawa al-Kubra, 3/423
It says in al-Siyaasah al-Islamiyyah (p. 92): “Hashish which is made from grape leaves is also haraam and the one who does that should be whipped as the drinker of khamr is whipped. It is worse than khamr in a way, because it corrupts the mind and mood, and robs a man of his masculinity and makes him heedless about his honour, and other evil consequences. But khamr is worse in another way, because it leads to arguments and fights. Both of them keep a person from remembering Allaah and praying. Some of the later fuqaha’ did not issue rulings on the punishment for it, and they thought that the one who consumes it should be given a ta’zeer punishment that is less severe than the hadd punishment, because they thought they thought that it alters the mind without causing euphoria, like banj (henbane). We have not found any comment on it among the earlier scholars, but that is not correct, rather those who consume it become addicted to it like those who drink khamr, if not more so, and it keeps them from remembering Allaah and praying if they consume a great deal of it. It also causes other evil results such as heedlessness about one’s honour and loss of masculinity, corruption of one’s mind and mood, and so on. Because it is something solid and edible, and it is not a drink, the scholars disagreed as to whether it is naajis (impure) and there are three opinions in the madhhab of Ahmad and elsewhere. It was said that it is naajis like khamr that is drunk – this is the correct view; and it was said that it is not naajis because of its solid state, and it was said that a differentiation should be made between its solid and liquid forms. ” End quote.
How about the person who persists in consuming hashish, especially if he believes that it is permissible, as some people do? Such a person should be asked to repent; if he repents, all well and good, otherwise he should be executed, because intoxicants are haraam according to scholarly consensus, and regarding them as permitted is undoubtedly kufr. End quote. Al-Fataawa al-Kubra, 2/309.
2 – They cause a great deal of harm, which may be greater than the harm caused by drinking alcohol. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm.”
Narrated by Ahmad and Ibn Maajah (2341); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah.
The main problem with intoxicants is that they have a wider impact zone then cigarettes (as an example), both dukhan (smoke from cigarettes) and khamr (intoxicants – in this case Alcohol by what ever name they may call it) are legal in the west and in many Muslim countries, even though they both cause great harm to the body of the one taking them, this harm is irrevirsable in Alcoholics and in Addicts, they lead to cancers, liver failures and many other well known and researched medical conditions, yet trying to ban them would cause a riot and an even greater problem as many people have made them a part of their daily life.
Alcohol however, unlike cigarettes which can hurt a bystander with second hand smoke, causes harm to the person himself, to his family and children, and to his society and nation. A person toxified behind a steering wheel driving becomes a disaster and a jail sentence waiting to happen, and the chance of getting in to a collision rises greatly when the person is under the influence of Alcohol and Drugs.
With regard to the personal harm caused, they cause serious harm to both the body and the mind, because intoxicants and drugs destroy the health, nerves, mind, reasoning, the digestive system, and other negative effects which impact the entire body, and it damages his dignity and honour, as his personality becomes fragile, and he becomes a laughing-stock and suffers from numerous diseases.
With regard to the harm that is caused to the family, this is the mistreatment of his wife and children, so the house is turned into an unbearable hell because of tension, anger, arguments, insults, repeated utterance of divorce (talaaq), breaking of things, neglect of the wife, and not spending properly on the home. Intoxicants and drugs may even lead to the birth of children who are deformed or mentally handicapped.
The harm that is caused to society, is evident in the huge destruction of wealth with no positive return, which affects the man’s interests and leads to the failure to fulfil duties and loss of public trusts, whether that has to do with the interests of the state, institutions or individuals. This is in addition to the damage caused by criminal acts against people, property and honour. The harm caused by drugs is worse than that caused by intoxicants, because drugs destroy moral values.
To conclude, no wise person would doubt that drugs are haraam, because of the textual evidence that points to their prohibition, and because of the extensive harm that they cause.
With regard to the punishment for one who takes drugs, it is the same as the hadd punishment for drinking alcohol, as stated above by Shaykh al-Islam ibn Taymiyah with regard to hashish. Drugs come under the heading of khamr and intoxicants that have been forbidden by Allaah and His Messenger.
The scholars and daa’iyahs have to explain to the people that these drugs are haraam and point out the great harm that is caused by them.
Drugs are regarded as being among the most dangerous things that those who follow haraam desires can consume, because of the various diseases that may result from them, in addition to what they lead to of promiscuity, moral corruption, spread of immorality and crimes in society. Moreover, the spread of drugs in non-Muslim societies leads to drugs of various types being spread by bad and corrupt people to Muslim countries, which leads to chronic problems, whether in the form of spiritual or physical diseases. So this evil must be prevented and fought by all means.
Claims of necessity in such cases should be paid no heed. Rather if a Muslim has no other choice, it is permissible for him to eat dead meat, but it is not permissible for him to sell drugs. There is no real case of necessity that makes it permissible for a Muslim to sell drugs.
If he plants drug-producing plants in the ground to sell them and deal in them, he could just as well plant permissible plants, and eat from them and sell the surplus harvest.
Granting concessions in such cases opens the door to a great deal of evil and promotes the spread of this corruption.
Abu Dawood (3488) narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“When Allaah forbids the consumption of a thing to some people He also forbids its price to them.”
Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’ (5107).
Muslim (1579) narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“The One Who has forbidden drinking it has also forbidden selling it.”
And it was narrated from Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allaah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that he heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say, during the year of the Conquest when he was in Makkah:
“Allaah and His Messenger have forbidden the sale of alcohol, dead meat, pork and idols.”
Agreed upon.
Al-Haafiz Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
Whatever Allaah has forbidden the use of, He also forbids selling it and consuming its price, as is clearly stated in the report quoted above: “When Allaah forbids a thing he also forbids its price.” These words are general in meaning and comprehensive, and apply to everything the use of which is haraam. End quote. Jaami’ al-‘Uloom wa’l-Hukam (415).
And Ibn Hazm (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
It is not permissible to sell alcohol, whether to a believer or a disbeliever. End quote. Al-Muhalla (7/356).
Ibn al-Qayyim said in Zaad al-Ma’aad (5/763):
If it is asked: Will you deem it permissible for a Muslim to sell alcohol and pork to a dhimmi because the dhimmi believes them to be permissible? The answer is: That is not permissible, and its price is haraam. End quote.
Ibn Jizzi said:
It is not permissible for a Muslim to sell alcohol to a Muslim or to a kaafir. End quote. Al-Qawaaneen al-Fiqhiyyah (p. 117)
Al-Nawawi said:
Selling alcohol is invalid whether it is sold to a Muslim or to a dhimmi, or one dhimmi sells it to another, or the Muslim delegates a dhimmi to sell it for him. All of that is indubitably invalid, in our view. End quote. Al-Majmoo’ (9/271).
It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (13/49):
It is not permissible to deal in that which Allaah has forbidden of food and other things, such as alcohol and pork, even with the kaafirs, because it is proven that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“When Allaah forbids a thing, He forbids its price. And because he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed alcohol and the one who drinks it, the one who sells it, the one who buys it, the one who carries it, the one to whom it is carried, the one who consumes its price, the one who presses it and the one for whom it is pressed.
End quote.
These are comments of the Muslim scholars, (concerning the prohibition on selling Khamr in General, even if it is sold to non-Muslims) based on the evidence of the proven ahaadeeth from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) concerning that.
WHAT ABOUT MEDICINE THAT MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF HARAM DRUGS AND OR THAT CONTAIN TOXIFYING EFFECTS
Things such as Codeine Tablets or Syrups that help people who have major respiratory problems and take the edge of the illness, are permitted by the majority of the scholars. In the same line heavy hospital drugs that help cancer patients and people who may be in paliative care are also permissable. The difference here being the Dr who is diagnosing an illness and precribing a cure that by the permission of Allah will help the sick person.
The same applies with anybody that has chronic pain that surgery or procedures are unable to fix, and they are destined to use medicine for long periods of time, as long as the Dr’s Instructions are followed and the person is not self medicating, where the risk becomes that a person may form a habit.
Oxycontin and Xanax which is used as a downer for people with Panic Disorders are very dangerous if not controlled properly.
AS FOR THE VERY POPULAR AND TRENDING CONCENTRATED CANNABIS OIL (Not to be confused with Hemp Oil): There is very limited data available on the use of Canabis Oil that proponents claim treats seizures, cancers and many other uncurable diseases. This is in its early stages and if benefit is found in them then the Scholars and the Fuqaha of Islam will amend rulings based on Marijuana derivatives, as of when this article is written it is still being investigated, and though many claim miraculous recoveries many also claim it has done nothing for them. TBC.
As for chocolates that claim to have rum in them, they are permissIble to be eaten, as the general rule is that if you were to eat 100 of those chocolates you would never reach the stage on intoxification, as they really do not actually contain alcohol and even children are able to buy them freely at every supermarket.
Finally my peronal advice is, that a Muslim should weigh up their options and try a natural cure that may help with the illness, there are many natural remedies out there and many books that have genuine medicine that was used by our beloved Messenger Muhammad SAWS, his Sahaba and those who followed in their footsteps.
I ask Allah to cure everyone that reads this in the way that Only He Azza Wa Jal can, leaving no traces of illness behind. Please understand that this subject if of high importance and educating the next generation of Muslims on this subject is a high priority especially in an age where tablets are prescribed for anything and everything, and with the rise of mental illness, panic disorders and anxiety attack more and more people are being fed drugs like prozac that actually in the long run make a person like a zombie.
And Allah’s Refuge is sought.
والله تعالى أعلم
وصلى اللهم وسلم وبارك على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه والتابعين
Zinaid Abu Naser 