Can I Sell Cigarettes in My Shop?

03 April, 2018

Q As-salamu `alaykum. I own a grocery shop where we sell cigarettes. I understood that income from selling cigarettes is haram. But, if I stop it, it will affect my business. So, what if I calculate the percentage of profit which I get from cigarettes and use that percentage of money from my income/profit which I individually make to be spent in charity? Can I do it? I know I can't expect to have any reward from that charity but, I can make sure that I am not consuming haram. Is it possible? If not, tell me that too.

Answer

Wa `alaykum as-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

In this fatwa:

1- Smoking is forbidden and dealing in it is also forbidden.

2- You have to avoid selling cigarettes at your shop.

Responding to your question, Prof. Dr. Monzer Kahf, Professor of Islamic Finance and Economics at Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies, states:

What you proposed in your question is not right and not appropriate. Smoking is forbidden (haram) because of the great harm it causes. Dealing in cigarettes is also forbidden.

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said: “There should be no causing harm or reciprocating harm.” Once you own such a harmful item, you are required to destroy it.

This means that the action of selling it is itself haram. Please, abstain from selling cigarettes and Allah Almighty will not let you down. Whatever provision is assigned to you by Allah Almighty will reach you wherever you are.

Allah Almighty knows best.

Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.