Question:

What is the ruling concerning smoking of marijuana (also known as cannabis or weed) in Islam? Is it haraam, makrooh or mubah?

People have argued it is different from alcohol because it is unprocessed and taken directly from the plant it is grown in as well as having many medicinal benefits.

Answer:

Smoking Marijuana is definitely haram (forbidden).

The criteria for whether a substance is haram to consume or not, is not whether it is processed or unprocessed and also not whether it has any medicinal benefits or not.

The criteria is whether the substance is intoxicating or not. The Holy Qur’an says to avoid ‘khamr’, and the literal meaning of ‘khamr’ is anything which places a veil over the mind. Marijuana defintely does this, and so it falls under the title of ‘khamr’ and is thus haram.

Furthermore, from a medical point of view, marijuana causes great harm (acute psychosis, predisposition to schizophrenia, cyclical vomiting syndrome) and does not have any proven medical benefit.

Answered by: Dr Ali Alsamail
Certified by: Sheikh Mansour Leghaei