KUALA LUMPUR, June 15 — The use of electronic cigarettes and vaping is "haram” or forbidden for Muslims just like smoking, Islamic affairs minister Datuk Na’im Mokhtar said in a written parliamentary reply yesterday.

He said this has been unchanged since the "fatwa" or religious decree issued by the Malaysian National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs in 2015, which states that Muslims are forbidden from using these devices.

"From a Shariah perspective, the law prohibits eating or drinking or taking substances that are harmful is mentioned by scholars from all four schools of jurisprudence namely Hanafi, Maliki, Syafie and Hambali in their books.

"They have stated that substances that are harmful to the body are forbidden to eat, drunk or taken even if it is pure like poison, soil, glass and the likes,” the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said.

He was responding to Opposition MP for Hulu Selangor Datuk Mohd Hasnizan Harun who asked the ministry to state the stand of the council, also known as the national fatwa council, on the usage of vape devices that is detrimental to health.

The Health Ministry said yesterday that it has received 17 lung injury cases related to the use of electronic cigarettes or vaping to date.

The Health Ministry added that the contents found in the liquid used for electronic cigarettes, when heated up, produce a form of chemical substance that could cause inflammation to the lungs and injure them.

The Control of Tobacco Product and Smoking Bill has been sent to a parliamentary special select committee (PSSC) for further review shortly after its first tabling in the Dewan Rakyat earlier this week.

Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said the decision was made as there were several recommendations proposed at the engagement sessions held last week with government and non-governmental stakeholders that needed further consideration.

She added that the Health Ministry is committed to see the Bill through and ensure that it is approved in the nearest time frame.