Issue No: 160
10th May 2013
29th Jamaadi al Thaani 1434 A.H.
Salamun alaykum,
Going cold turkey?
The previous week as I was undertaking my regular Chaplaincy visit to the Queen Alexandra hospital I found a person at the entrance foyer dressed up in a costume resembling a turkey. This turkey model was flapping its wings to draw my attention to a banner at a stall that read: Don't go cold turkey!
Cold turkey in a hospital!
Turkey: this time of the year? It's well past the Christmas season when traditionally turkey is enjoyed on the menu. What has this cold turkey to do with a hospital? The attendant at the stall explained that,"In British culture, the statement 'going cold turkey' is meant to describe one who completely gives up a habit or withdraws completely from something on which one has become dependent at a single moment using just will power. It is something like a turkey carcass, gone cold!"
Now that's a new expression to add to my speech vocabulary!
Promoting help:
This stall was part of the campaign to promote help to quit smoking. The common approach people take to quitting smoking is going cold turkey i.e. using just willpower. According to research going cold turkey is not an effective method. The majority who try to quit smoking using this method fail within just eight days and only 3% will be smoke free after. Statistics reveal that smokers who seek help from a healthcare professional are up to four times more likely to quit than those who go 'cold turkey'. Thus this campaign: to quit smoking with help.
Danger to health:
The harmful effects of cigarette smoking, both to the active smoker and the passive smoker are universally known. Cigarette smoking causes a number of health problems that often ultimately result in death. Over 3 million people worldwide die from smoking-related causes each year.
Divine Guidance:
There are many instances where the Qur'an gives us guidelines to protect ourselves from harm. ..."and cast not yourselves to perdition with your own hands..." Sura Al Baqara 2:195....nor kill (destroy)yourselves..." Sura An Nisa 4:29In response to question on ruling on smoking concerning (a) the beginner, (b) the compulsive smoker, and (c) the passive smoker, the Marja Taqleed Ayatullah Al Udhama Seyyid Ali As-Seestani has stated that:
(a)Smoking becomes harãm for the beginner if it entails serious harm, even at the future, regardless of whether that serious harm is certain, most probable, or just probable so much so that sensible people would demand caution. However, with the protection from serious harm (for example, by smoking less frequently), there is no problem in it.
(b)If continuing to smoke will cause serious harm to the compulsive smoker —as explained above— it is necessary for him to refrain from it unless the harm in quitting is similar, greater than to the harm in continuing, or the great difficulty that he will face in quitting is such that it cannot be normally tolerated.
(c)The same rule as explained in (a) for the beginner, applies in this case also.
(Ref: A Code of Practice For Muslims in the West : Medical issues » Question and Answers)
Is it not now time to take a leap to quit smoking? Don't go cold turkey.
Beseech in earnest for Divine help to quit this harmful habit and seek specialist support available from the NHS Stop Smoking Service.
Fazle Abbas Datoo
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Resident Alim
Wessex Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaat