In A Blue Haze:
Smoking and Baha'i Ethics
by Udo Schaefer
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chapter 2 | start page | single page | chapter 4 |  |
Chapter 3
No Explicit Smoking Prohibition
1. A legal prohibition of smoking is not to be found in the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh. In the Book of Laws, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, we find the prohibition of intoxicating drinks and opium, but nothing is said about smoking. Since Islamic sharí'a has already established the evident principle that what is not explicitly prohibited is allowed[43], from this silence we must infer that smoking is permitted and not prohibited. This assumption is confirmed even more so when we learn that the Báb had explicitly prohibited smoking[44] and that the law of the Bayán, which was in force for only a short period of time[45], was subsequently abrogated by Bahá'u'lláh[46] except for those laws which He specifically incorporated into the Kitáb-i-Aqdas[47]. Because the prohibition of smoking in the Bayán was not included in these laws, this prohibition was abrogated by Bahá'u'lláh.[48] There is no further discussion of this matter. Neither in the appendix to the Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Questions and Answers) nor in the Tablets revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas[49] can any reference to smoking be found.
Bahá'u'lláh confirms this in a Tablet written on His behalf to an individual believer by His amanuensis[50]:
"No ordinance hath been revealed in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas about the hookah[51]. The One True God, exalted be His glory, by reason of His consummate wisdom and for the protection of His servants hath not made mention of this matter, so that the beloved of God may not become victims of tyranny[52]. However, the Blessed Tongue hath been heard to state that children should be brought up from the beginning in such wise as to avoid addiction to it. Beyond this, no other utterance was heard from Him on this subject. The friends, one and all, are in these days enjoined to follow the provisions of the Most Holy Book, and, not to commit acts which cause separation and tumult among the people."[53]
In his Tablet of Purity 'Abdu'l-Bahá elucidated the situation:
"The Báb, at the outset of His mission, explicitly prohibited tobacco, and the friends one and all abandoned its use. But since those were times when dissimulation[54] was permitted, and every individual who abstained from smoking was exposed to harassment, abuse and even death, the friends, in order not to advertise their beliefs, would smoke. Later on, the Book of Aqdas was revealed, and since smoking tobacco was not explicitly forbidden there, the believers did not give it up. The Blessed Beauty, however, always expressed repugnance for it, and although, in the early days, there were reasons why He would smoke a little tobacco, in time He completely renounced it, and those sanctified souls who followed Him in all things also abandoned its use."[55]
The question not infrequently asked is why Bahá'u'lláh prohibited the drinking of alcoholic beverages but did not also prohibit smoking, the health risks of which are not inferior to those of alcohol. We shall return to this question later. At this point we need only note that smoking is prohibited during the fast.[56]
2. That a certain conduct is not explicitly prohibited and thus eo ipso evil, does not mean of course, that it is ethically neutral and consequently unobjectionable. Many kinds of behaviour may not be specifically prohibited, but may nevertheless be incompatible with ethical demands. The only behaviour which is strictly forbidden is that which, according to divine wisdom, is so harmful to the growth of the individual or society that it cannot be accepted under any circumstances. The classical prohibitions such as "thou shalt not kill", "thou shalt not steal", "thou shalt not commit adultery", and "thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour"[57], protect our highest interests, namely life and limb, property, and judicial integrity. Without this ethical minimum, no civilised society can survive.
This view finds confirmation in a passage in the Tablet of Purity which states:
"Some of these prohibitions were absolute, and binding upon all, and whoso transgressed the given law was abhorred of God and anathematised by the believers. Such, for example, were things categorically forbidden, the perpetration of which was accounted a most grievous sin, among them, actions so loathsome that it is shameful even to speak their name. But there are other forbidden things which do not cause immediate harm, and the injurious effects of which are only gradually procured: such acts are also repugnant to the Lord, and blameworthy in His sight, and repellent. The absolute unlawfulness of these, however, hath not been expressly set forth in the Text."[58]
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