The National Fatwa Council's special deliberation on Islamic affairs today declared that smoking shisha is forbidden.

Its chairperson Abdul Shukor Husin is quoted by Utusan Online as saying the decision was made after hearing statements and explanations from Health Ministry experts.

The council also took into account medical findings on the ill effects of smoking shisha.

NONE In view of this, Abdul Shukor said, Muslims are now forbidden from smoking shisha or setting up stalls that provide the smoking apparatuses.

The Star had reported an American Lung Association study, done in 2007, that showed a worldwide increase in shisha smoking in recent years, mostly among youths and university students.

The report also quoted Dr S Dhesi Baha Raja, a former assistant state health director of the Maternal and Child Health Division of the Sabah Health Department, as saying that the habit is dangerous.

"Teenagers think shisha is a herbal product. That when they smoke it, no tobacco is inhaled. This is wrong, because the herbal packaging has tobacco," Dhesi had said.

He revealed that even the manner in which shisha is prepared is hazardous.

Toxic fumes are produced

"At the very top of a hookah, the bowl containing shisha is covered with aluminium foil, upon which burning charcoal is placed to roast the tobacco. Toxic fumes are produced by the reaction between the burning charcoal and aluminium foil," he added.

Deshi said the hookah's glass base, which acts as a chamber for the shisha smoke, is also filled with water.

"This water mixes with the toxic gases and increases the humidity of the smoke, which causes the carcinogenic fumes to stay in the lungs longer," he said.

"A study showed that the nozzle can play host to huge amounts of microbacteria and viral hepatitis, such as tuberculosis and even Hepatitis A, which increase a shisha smoker’s risk of contracting diseases," Deshi added.

The report also cited a World Health Organisation (WHO) study that a 60-minute shisha session produces about 100 to 200 times more smoke than a regular cigarette, which translates into a heavier output of toxic fumes for both the smoker and the people around them.