The Drugs Epidemic in Muslim Communities – Shaykh Ahsan Hanif

One of the main goals and objectives of the Shariah is the preservation of our intellect because it enables us to: understand the Quran and the Sunnah, comprehend the speech of Allah ﷻ, and worship Allah ﷻ and become closer to him. Therefore, anything which attacks our ability to understand, or diminishes our capacity for contemplation of the Quran, Shariah and Sunnah – is something which has been made haraam in our religion.

The issue of drug use, whether this be its selling, buying or consumption, is something which is rife within our communities. It is something which has become so common and is a danger for our families and our children. However, what is even more worrying is that people who are apparently practicing Muslims and claim a love of Islam; people who dress and look like Muslims are also buying and selling and taking drugs. There appears to be a disconnect here because nobody would contest that alcohol is from the major sins. On the other hand, when it comes to drugs such as marijuana they are deemed as ‘less serious’ and something which is okay for Muslims to partake in. This is a major misunderstanding of the texts of the Quran and the Sunnah because when they speak about the word ‘khamr’- its wider meaning is anything which intoxicates the mind.

Drugs are a major sin like alcohol because they don’t allow you to connect with Allah ﷻ and they take your mind away from the Salah and Dhikr of Allah ﷻ. That is why the Prophet ﷺ told us in the Hadith of Ibn ‘Umar that:

“Every intoxicant is khamr and every intoxicant is forbidden.”  (Sahih Muslim 2003a, Book 23, Hadith 4963)

The Prophet ﷺ would have people coming to him from various parts of Arabia and they didn’t all have the same types of intoxicants that the people of Makkah and Madinah were familiar with. As is mentioned in the Hadith of Jabir in Sahih Muslim, a man came from an area called Jaishan in Yemen and said, “O Messenger of Allah where I come from, we have a drink that is made out of maize, is it haraam?”. The Prophet ﷺ was not familiar with the drink, so he asked if it was something that intoxicates the mind and the man said yes. He (ﷺ) said:

“Every intoxicant is forbidden. Verily Allah the Exalted and Majestic, made a covenant to those who drank intoxicants to make their drink Tinat al-Khabal. They said: Allah’s Messenger, what is Tinat a]-Khabal? He said: It is the sweat of the denizens of Hell or the discharge of the denizens of Hell.” (Sahih Muslim 2002, Book 23, Hadith 4962)

Allah ﷻ tells us in the Quran that intoxicants are haraam and this doesn’t just mean alcohol; it means even the smallest amount of a drug that you consume without a valid reason. Most of the time, there is no valid reason.

“O people of faith, indeed intoxicants, gambling, any idolatrous practices, and the divination of arrows – all of them are from the handiwork of shaytaan, so avoid them in order to attain success. (Quran 5:90)

The Prophet ﷺ told us that intoxicants are the mother of evil and that they are the “key to very evil”. (Sunan Ibn Majah 4034)

If a person who continuously takes intoxicants dies without having made tawbah and seeking repentance from Allah ﷻ, they will meet Allah in the same manner as a person who worshipped idols.

The Messenger of Allah ﷻ said’ “If a habitual drunkard dies, he will meet Allah like the one who worships idols.” (Sunan Ibn Majah 3375)

Some people are under the impression that if you aren’t an addict and you only take something every once in a while, then that makes it okay. However, the Prophet ﷺ tells us that both types of people are under the severe threat of the punishment of Allah ﷻ.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

Narrated ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar:

That the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Whoever drinks Khamr, Salat is not accepted from him for forty days. If he repents, then Allah will accept his repentance. It he returns to it, then Allah will not accept his Salat for forty days. If he repents, then Allah will accept his repentance. If he returns to it, then Allah will not accept his Salat for forty days. If he repents, then Allah will accept his repentance. If he returns to it a fourth time, Allah will not accept his Salat for forty days, and if he were to repent, Allah would not accept his repentance, and he will be given to drink from the river of Al-Khabal.” They said: “O Aby ‘Abdur-Rahman! What is the river of Al-Khabal?” He said: “A river of the pus from the inhabitants of the Fire.” (Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1862)

This illustrates the severity of the issue- that it is unlikely that a person in that state has the capacity to make sincere tawbah from something which is clearly becoming a problem for them. Some people even claim that drugs are their livelihood and business, but the whole supply chain is cursed by Allah ﷻ. The Prophet ﷺ told us:

Truly Allah ﷻ has cursed [intoxicants] and has cursed the one who produces it, the one for whom it is produced, the one who consumes it, the one who serves it, the one who carries it, the one for whom it is carried, the one who sells it, the one who earns from the sale of it, the one who buys it, and the one for whom it is bought. (Sunan Ibn Majah 3380)

That is why it is an extremely serious issue, and from the major sins in our religion to take part in those intoxicants. It is something that we need to be aware of and educate ourselves and our families about, because it is something which has become so common in our communities. When something becomes so open and people become accustomed to it, they lose the ability to understand that it is something which is from the major sins.

Ask Allah ﷻ that he protects us and our communities- and that he helps those who are addicted to these substances and makes their affairs easy for them. Ameen