“.... And make not your own hands contribute to (your) destruction.” (Qur'an, 2:195) SMOKE is pollution and smoking as part of your lifestyle amounts to causing environmental pollution. We all know that pollution kills - so what makes people smoke themselves to death or disability? Every year on a routine basis - the world celebrates an international no-smoking day but to what avail! Smoking causes lung cancer, heart attacks, diseases of the respiratory system, chest infections, male impotence, premature birth, low birth weight and damages to the sperms and eggs: almost every organ in the body is damaged by smoking. The British medical journal, Lancet (March 16, 2004) confirms that smoking causes blindness. Some 54,000 suffer visual impairment as a result of smoking while around 18,000 go blind in Britain alone. The journal also states that smoking during pregnancy affects the brain of the child and accounts for the low intelligence of children. Against the backdrop of such scary statistics the Marlboro man and his horse have found greener pastures in Asia and unfortunately in many Muslim countries. Out of the back covers of magazines, the man is now bound for exotic destinations in Asia: Seoul, Bangkok, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Dubai. His smoke signal: Come to where the flavor is, Come to Marlboro Country, however, continues to attract new addicts. Tobacco industry projects the Asian market to grow by more than a third this decade with much of the revenue going to the multinationals. Some 60 percent of the world lives in Asia and Marlboro sells more on the continent than anywhere else. Beyond Asia, smoking is a catching habit in Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and the former USSR states. China with a huge population is yet another coveted market. There are some 400 million smokers who buy nearly two trillion cigarettes a year. For a trade wholly built on smoke, cigarette brands, since the early 1950s have been introduced in bewildering numbers, each aiming at a particular class and type of consumers. Marlboro was first a luxury cigarette, then a women's cigarette. Power, status, and confidence appeared to be the appeal of other brands. The culture of cigarette consumption, however, is not simply that of the advertisement: rather it is a blend of advertised images and metaphors together with prevailing customs. Whatever goes up in smoke is unlikely to bring any benefit. However, there are thousands who live by smoke and millions who die by smoke every year, generating billions of dollars in income for the manufacturers and taxes to various governments. Islam as a religion of peace, safety and tranquility considers such addictions as harmful for the smoker and the society at large. Life is a trust granted to us by the Creator. It's our duty to make the best use of this trust and not create fasaad on this earth for ourselves, the environment and other peace-loving creatures. – The article is reproduced from the MWL Journal, Makkah and is published in public interest. The writer can be reached at: [email protected]. __
