Vape is ‘Haram’ for Muslims, declares Fatwa Council

Using electronic cigarettes, also known as Vape, is now haram for Muslims, the National Fatwa Council has decreed, Utusan Malaysia reported.

The council's chairman Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Abd Shukor Husin said the decision was based on laws that were used against shisha, also known as water pipes or hookahs.

"We have discussed the issue of cigarettes and shisha and we can equate it with the Vape. Firstly, it is dangerous, second, it is wasteful and third, it is detrimental to health. So when the effects are the same, we have declared it as haram," he was quoted as saying.

"We have decided and there is no problem (with the fatwa). In fact, the Health Ministry has informed that they are waiting for (findings) from experts but we have gone ahead because fundamentally, if it is detrimental and wasteful, then we cannot agree to something like that."

On July 17, 2013, the Fatwa Committee of the National Council for Islamic Affairs said that shisha or water-pipe smoking was haram for Muslims.

It had said then that shisha smoking would have a detrimental effect in the health of the individual, national economic growth and shaping of future generations.

The committee found that all scientific findings from comprehensive studies in the country and internationally proved that shisha smoking was bad for health, and its widespread practice, particularly among youths and women, was worrying.

The Vape, or electronic cigarette (e-cig or e-cigarette), personal vaporizer (PV) or electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) are battery-powered vaporisers that simulates the feeling of smoking, but without the tobacco combustion.

Last week, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam was reported as saying that smoking using shisha, electronic cigarettes or Vaping devices should be temporarily stopped until findings on the risks are announced in two months’ time.

He said the ministry was in discussions with various agencies and related parties to get their views on the effects these methods of smoking have on health.

"From the ministry's viewpoint, we deem these to be also smoking but just using different methods. The smokers will experience the usual effects of smoking except that the tar content might be lower while the nicotine effect remains the same.

"Don't make it (shisha or electronic cigarette smoking) a habit or think it is fashionable," he had warned.