KUCHING, June 25 – Many Muslims in this country are still taking lightly the ‘smoking is haram’ fatwa, that was decided by the Muzakarah Committee of the National Fatwa Council for Islamic Religious Affairs in 1995.
Hence, Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Office (Islamic Affairs), Datuk Daud Abdul Rahman urged Muslims, especially in the state, to realise that smoking had been decreed as haram in line with Islamic teachings.
He said the edict (fatwa) issued by the national committee was agreed upon by the Sarawak Fatwa Council.
“We do not want our lives to be plagued by habits that are prohibited by Islam as well as detrimental to our health,” he added when opening the state-level Health Fatwa Education Seminar 2013, here, today.
Daud said such a seminar was a good platform to disseminate information on edicts issued by the religious authorities for public knowledge and understanding.
The seminar focused on three important issues, namely smoking, immunisation and abortion with emphasis on health aspects to educate Muslims on religious views and laws related to these issues. – Bernama
