Hashish is not forbidden-Part 2

[Sheikh Iesa Ibn]

Bismillaah ir-rahmaan ir-raheem
Al-hamdu lillah
Allahumma salli ala Nabi Muhammad wa ala ali Nabi Muhammad
As-salaamu laykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Islam;
The arguments scholars use to conclude that hashish and other substances such as tobacco, khat, caffeine, such and such run various lines of reasoning. My point is not to make intoxicants lawful nor to state that harming oneself is lawful. The point is to prove that the arguments against some substances have no basis in the evidences or result from interpretations of the evidences that are so broad that any conclusion can be true within these misinterpretations. Let us examine the first kind of bad reasoning.
First example:
“Even if we assume that it is not an intoxicant, it is proven in Abu Dawood that all intoxicants and relaxants are haraam. 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.”

Milk causes relaxation. A good meal will lead to relaxation. A body message will cause muscle relaxation. How many times have you hit your finger or hit your toe on a rock in the street causing numbness. Are these things now forbidden to Muslim because of numbness and relaxation? No, of course not the reasoning is bad. If Imam Abu Dawood (rahimahulla) is of the opinion that hashish is forbidden then why does he include the following hadith in his Sunan:
Book 41, Number 5022:
Narrated Tikhfat al-Ghifari:
Ya'ish ibn Tikhfat al-Ghifari said: My father was one of the people in the Suffah.
The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: Come with us to the house of Aisha. So we went and he said: Give us food, Aisha. She brought hashishah and we ate…

The best answer is that Imam Abu Dawood (rahimahulla) does not consider hashish(ah) an intoxicant nor relaxant. He knows better than any modern scholar because he is Taba' at-Tabi'in. He is one the best of his generation, the best of this nation and of higher ranking in Islam than all Muslims that came after his generation. The evidence for this is the following:
Translation of Sahih Muslim: Book 031, Number 6150: Abdullah reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The best of my Umma would be those of the generation nearest to mine[Sahabah]. Then those nearest to them[Tabi’in], then those nearest to them[Taba' at-Tabi'in], then people would come whose witness would precede the oath and the oath will precede the witness[the rest will be liars, that is, tell lies].

The hashish hadith is authentic and not a mistake. It is shame that some modern scholars are writing opinions saying that Sunan Dawood has weak hadiths, that Imam Abu Dawood (rahimahulla) does not declare as weak, as if Imam Abu Dawood (rahimahulla) lacks judgment. These modern scholars are far from the period of hadith record, compilation and authentification.
The seeking of answers in the Qur’an and Sunnah is more proper than making determinations according to our rational thoughts or desires. Simply determining by human reasoning that a particular illness exists due to a substance and therefore is not desirable does not absolutely make a substance forbidden. Examine the following statement:
“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.”
What seems somewhat sensible, relating hashish to intoxicating drinks, on further examination does not really have a basis. When does giving pleasure and euphoria become a means for forbiddance in Islam? How many things can we think of in the next few minutes that give us pleasure, make us happy and feel good! Such things as enjoying our wives, cold water on a hot day, birth of a child, worship of Allah(soubhanna wa taa’la) all give us pleasure, make us happy and feel good are they now intoxicants because of this. Most of the arguments are of this nature with vague comparisons and analogies with no true basis in the Qur’an or Sunnah. Scholars say that personal opinion (ra’y) is one of the biggest sources of innovation (bid’ah) in Islam. Interestingly, in Ibn al-Salah al-Shahrazuri (rahimahulla) quotes in his An Introduction to the Science of Hadith that Imam Abu Dawood (rahimahulla) including weak hadiths is due to his belief that weak hadiths were stronger that the arbitrary opinions(ra’y) of men.

Another argument runs along the line of reasoning that something which is bad for your health is therefore forbidden. The problem with this is two-fold. Most use medical knowledge from “western” or non-Islamic sources. It is not permissible use evidence outside of Islam to determine the lawful and unlawful of Islam. Two, the arguments analogize the attributes of alcohol to the other substances without any proof of how the substance is an intoxicant.
Example:
There is no disagreement among the physicians and sane people that smoking is harmful for health. It is one of the major causes of lung cancer and other diseases. It is also one of the major causes of death.
From a physical aspect it(hashish) deteriorates the mind, cuts off the means for offspring, brings about leprosy, sickness, feverish shivers, bad breath, loss of eyebrows and teeth, warming of blood, tuberculosis, damages intestines, destroys body organs, punctures the liver, burns the stomach and weakens eyesight amongst other things.

The first point to make is how does he know all of these things about smoking tobacco and Hashish? Where does this knowledge come from?
Sunan Abu-Dawud Book 18, Number 2879:
Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As:
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Knowledge has three categories; anything else is extra; a precise verse, or an established sunnah (practice), or a firm obligatory duty.

Where is the evidence for these conclusions in the Qur’an or sunnah? These people just extend the arguments concerning wine-alcohol to anything they please. I am not a smoker but I see people who smoke who get cancer, some do not and most do not have any of the ailments of mention. Allah (subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa) rewards, punishes, makes sick, guides, and forgives whom Allah (subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa) pleases. If inhaling smoke is forbidden then why do we have the following evidence.
Translation of Sahih Muslim: Book 027, Number 5601:
Nafi' reported that when Ibn Umar wanted fumigation he got it from aloeswood without mixing anything with it, or he put camphor along with aloeswood and then said: This is how Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) fumigated.

Translation of Sahih Bukhari: Volume 3, Book 31, Number 194:
Narrated Humaid:
I asked Anas about the fasting of the Prophet. He said "Whenever I liked to see the Prophet fasting in any month, I could see that, and whenever I liked to see him not fasting, I could see that too, and if I liked to see him praying in any night, I could see that, and if I liked to see him sleeping, I could see that, too." Anas further said, "I never touched silk or velvet softer than the hand of Allah's Apostle and never smelled musk or perfumed smoke more pleasant than the smell of Allah's Apostle."
Translation of Sunan Abu-Dawud: Book 33, Number 4163:
Narrated AbuHurayrah:
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: If a woman fumigates herself with perfume, she must not attend the night prayer with us. Ibn Nufayl said: Isha' means night prayer.
Hazrat Abdullah Bin Jafar narrates that Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) said: “fumigate your houses with Loban and sheesh.” (Baihaqui)
Another narration reveals: “fumigate your houses with Loban and Saatar.” (Baihaqui)
Fumigation is smoking, using of smoke. Loban, saatar and sheesh are incenses from herbs and aromatic plants.
Translation of Sahih Bukhari:
Volume 7, Book 71, Number 596:
Narrated Um Qais bint Mihsan:
I heard the Prophet saying, "Treat with the Indian incense, for it has healing for seven diseases; it is to be sniffed by one having throat trouble, and to be put into one side of the mouth of one suffering from pleurisy." Once I went to Allah's Apostle with a son of mine who would not eat any food, and the boy passed urine on him whereupon he asked for some water and sprinkled it over the place of urine.

Volume 7, Book 71, Number 599:
Narrated Anas:
That he was asked about the wages of the one who cups others. He said, 'Allah's Apostle was cupped by Abd Taiba, to whom he gave two Sa of food and interceded for him with his masters who consequently reduced what they used to charge him daily. Then the Prophet s said, "The best medicines you may treat yourselves with are cupping and sea incense.' He added, "You should not torture your children by treating tonsillitis by pressing the tonsils or the palate with the finger, but use incense."

The strong evidence proves that Prophet Muhammad (salli allahu alayhi wa-salaam) fumigation (smoking) with aromatic plants is Sunnah. Fumigation with aromatic plants has medical uses. Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya says in The Prophetic Medicine that aromatic plants and their sweet scents enliven the body and gladden the heart. And Allah knows best.

Soubhanna Allah wa bihamdihi,
Sheikh Ieesa Ibn Muhammad