Islam is a universal religion. Islam
is submission to the Will of God. This implies doing right, being an example to
others to do right, and having the power to see that the right prevails. One
should set an example to others to eschew wrong and have the power to see that
wrong and injustice are defeated.
Islam disciplines the human being so
that a Muslim can do good and ward off evil. Islam brings out the best in a
human being, exalts him/her to the highest position on earth. Therefore by
following the word and spirit of Islam one can strive to become a perfect human
being. This statement is supported by the fact that our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
was the most perfect human being ever lived on earth (See Dr. Ahmad Deedat's
Video Tapes).
One should have the knowledge to
distinguish between what is good and what is bad or evil. Anything that
produces harm, injury or death is bad, by definition. Also anything that
deviates or distracts a Muslim from performing his Islamic obligations or duties
is also bad or harmful. Halal means lawful, permissible. The acts of Halal are
made by Allah (SWT) and revealed to man through Al-Qur'an. If one examines Halal
in detail one sees that Halal is designed for the benefit and welfare of
mankind. It is designed to be for the "good" of mankind. Therefore Halal can be
construed as good and could be synonymous with "good". Similarly Haram could be
interpreted to mean bad or evil. Whenever the word Halal is mentioned we
invariably understand that it applied to meat and other foods.
In this paper the personal habits
of Muslims are examined and analyzed to find whether they conform to Halal or
Haram. Some of the personal habits of the Muslims are: Caffeine consumption,
bottle-feeding the babies, tobacco consumption.
Some Items such as Alcohol and
Gambling are forbidden by the Qur'anic Commands; hence they will not be
discussed here.
Let there arise out of you
A band of people inviting to all
That is good, enjoining what is right
And forbidding what is wrong:
They are the ones to attain felicity.
—
Al- Qur'an, 3: 104
Commenting on this verse Allama Yusuf
Ali says " the root idea is attainment of desires, happiness, in this world and
the next; success; freedom from anxiety, care or disturbed state of mind;.....
The ideal Muslims community is happy, untroubled by conflicts or doubts, sure of
itself, strong, united, and prosperous: because it invites to all that is good;
enjoins the right; and forbids the wrong. "
Al Qur'an is guidance for all of
mankind and for all times, present and future. The concept of Halal to the
personal habits of Muslims is extended based on the arguments given initially
and on the following verses taken from the Noble Qur'an:
Enjoin ye righteousness upon mankind.
…… Surah, Baqara,
2: 44
Eat and drink of that which Allah
hath provided, and do not act corruptly, making mischief in the earth.
…………… Surah, Baqara, 2: 60
Those who believe and do good works:
such are rightful owners of the Garden (Jannah). Surah Baqara, 2: 82
0 mankind! Eat of that which is
lawful and wholesome in the earth, and follow not the footsteps of the devil.
Lo! he is an open enemy for you. ……..Surah, Baqara 2: 168
0 ye who believe! Eat of the good
things wherewith We have provided you.... . 2: 172
The righteous man is he who wardeth
off (evil). Surah, Baqara, 2: 189.
The best provision is to ward off
evil. .. Surah, Baqara, 2: 197
Allah loveth those who have a care
for cleanness… Surah Baqara, 2: 222.
0 Ye who believe! Strong drink
(intoxicants) and games of chance (gambling) and idols and divining arrows
(superstition) are only an infamy of Satan's handiwork. Leave it aside in order
that ye may succeed (prosper). …Surah, Al-Ma'ida, 5: 90
Satan seeks only to cast among you
enmity and hatred by means of strong drink (intoxicants) and games of chance
(gambling) and to turn you from remembrance of Allah and from (His) worship.
Will ye then not abstain?
………Surah,
Al-Ma'ida,. 5: 91
... So be mindful of your duty (to
Allah) and do good works, and again: be mindful of your duty, and believe; and
once again: be mindful of your duty, and do right. Allah loveth those who do
good………Surah, Al-Ma'ida……5: 93
CAFFEINE INTAKE
Caffeine is a habit-forming
drug. One develops addiction and dependence on this drug. A look at Table I
shows that some of the sources of caffeine are the ones everyone consumes
everyday such as beverages, prescription drugs, non-prescription drugs. Let us
see the benefits and disadvantages of caffeine.
Benefits:
Caffeine is a powerful stimulant of the Central Nervous System at all levels.
Cortex stimulation results in more rapid and clear flow of thought and to allay
fatigue and drowsiness. Caffeine stimulates medullary, respiratory, vasomotor
and vagal centers. This action is therapeutically utilized for treating
medullary depression caused by morphine and other drugs. Caffeine gives a false
feeling of well being and good aroma.
Disadvantages:
Caffeine is a habit-forming drug.
Just as cigarette smokers are addicted to nicotine, caffeine consumers are
addicted to caffeine. Overindulgence leads to chronic poisoning. Caffeine
intake results in irritability, inability to work effectively, nervousness,
restlessness, disturbed sleep, lethargy, and headache on missing coffee in the
morning. Children are more susceptible than adults to excitation by caffeine and
these result in hyperactivity. Consumption of caffeine results in prolonged
augmentation of gastric secretion; therefore it should be avoided by the peptic
ulcer patients. It should also be avoided by patients with hypertension because
of the action on the cardiovascular and nervous systems. Myocardial stimulation
is reflected in cardiac irregularities, especially premature systoles,
palpitation and tachy cardia.
Table 1: SOME
SOURCES OF CAFFEINE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRODUCT
Beverages
Caffeine (mg)
Brewed coffee (5 oz)
100 - 150
Instant coffee (5
oz) 86-99
Decaffeinated (5 oz)
2 - 4
Cola drinks (12 oz
can) 33 - 60
Tea (5
oz) 33 - 75
Cocoa and chocolate (6
oz) 10 - 35
Prescription Drugs
Cafergot
100 mg per
tablet
Darvon
compound 32 mg per tablet
Fiorinal
40 mg per tablet
Migral 50
mg per tablet
Tri-Aqua 99
mg per tablet
Non-Prescription Drugs
Stimulants (Standard dose)
Caffedrine
Capsules 200
NoDoz
tablets 200
Vivarin tablets
200
Pain relievers (Standard dose)
Anacin 64
Excedrin
130
Midol 65
Plain aspirin (any
brand) 100
Diuretics:
Aqua-Ban, Permathene
200
Cold remedies
30 mg per tablet
Weight Control aids
(daily dose)
Dexatrim, Dietac, Prolamine
200 - 280
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is an association between
coffee drinking and cancer of the lower urinary tract and cancer of the
pancreas. Several deaths have occurred after the ingestion of caffeine. The
lethal dose of caffeine is 10 grams (100 cups of coffee).
BOTTLE FEEDING VS. BREAST FEEDING
"Mothers shall suckle their children
for two whole years; (that is) for those who wish to complete the
suckling………………." …………Al Qur'an, Surah,
Baqara, 2: 233
There is a dramatic decline in
breast-feeding in the United States Canada, Europe, and even in the third world
countries, including Muslim countries. Bottle-feeding has many disadvantages
for the child, mother, society, and the nation. The liberated women think
bottle-feeding is natural and normal, and that breast-feeding is old-fashioned,
animal like, primitive, and obsolete. They treat breast-feeding as a sign of
backwardness, low social status, ignorance and poverty. On the contrary, none
of these is true. They are being exploited by self-interested, profit making
commercial enterprises, which manufacture bottles, nipples, baby foods, milk
powder, formulas, pacifiers, etc.
Breast-feeding is a very natural and
normal way designed by God. The only disadvantage of breast-feeding in a
developed country is one needs privacy and cannot be done in public, as is the
case in a developing country. However, if all mothers start breast-feeding then
it becomes a natural thing.
Benefits to the Child:
Breast-fed babies grow healthy
with mental and physical development and also survive longer than bottle fed
babies. Human milk is the best food for the human infants. It contains more
than 100 separate constituents of which few of them are available to the bottle
fed infant. A mother can breast feed her baby even under unhygienic conditions
without fear of infection due to the presence of lysozomes. Fewer infections,
absence of food allergy, and many immunological benefits are derived from breast
milk.
The first milk secreted by the
breast (colostrum), which no formula can duplicate, contains natural antibodies
against measles, polio, mumps, and a host of other diseases. Breast milk
protects a child from obesity, staph, and other infections. Breast fed babies
have less diaper rash and require less care.
God has designed baby's facial
structures, such as flat nose, sucking pads in the cheeks, in such a way, as is
best fit for breast-feeding. The ridged edge of the gums helps the baby to
grasp and to hold on to the nipple while sucking. In Western countries, a
dentist will point out the frequent problems of bottle fed babies, such as lip
and finger sucking, tongue thrusting, tooth decay, bite deformities, incorrect
swallowing and mouth breathing. The tongue and jaw muscles of a breast fed baby
show better muscular development, as he has to suck harder with his lips,
tongue, and jaw muscles. The breast is nature's pacifier for the baby. It
calms the infant. The baby finds security and warmth at the mother's breast.
Benefits to the Mother:
The American Cancer Society and
the National Cancer Institute of United States, report that cancer of the breast
is more apt to develop in those breasts that do not give milk (among Nuns,
unmarried women, married women with no children, mothers who bottle-feed) and
scientific studies confirm the fact that long-term breast-feeding lowers the
breast cancer risk.
If the infant is allowed to suck
immediately after birth, the sucking causes a strong uterine contraction, which
helps to expel the placenta, and also prevents post-partum (after birth)
hemorrhage. With continued ' nursing, the uterus involutes rapidly without shots
and pills. Many times a third-degree prolapse of the uterus after the birth of
a child virtually disappears without surgical correction in cases of
breast-feeding mothers. It has been well established that breast-feeding has a
contraceptive effect by delaying the return of ovulation. As a result of this,
the return of menstruation is delayed anywhere from eight to eighteen months.
This is good for the mother as her
body's iron is conserved. A lengthy absence from menstrual periods following
childbirth is called lactation amenorrhea. Lactation amenorrhea is a health
asset to the mother in her childbearing years. Breast-feeding eliminates the
need for drugs and prevents breast cancer.
Nursing provides brief rests
during the day and gives relaxation for a mother who tends to be tense and
nervous or gives a break for a busy mother. Bottle feeding mothers don't have
prolactin, a "mothering" (Manila in Urdu) hormone, whereas prolactin in a
nursing mother produces the mood and a feeling of a good mother. The personal
satisfaction that a woman can experience only through breast feeding, the total
giving of herself to her baby, and a deep feeling of pride in her motherly
accomplishments cannot be found in bottle feeding mothers. A nursing mother
learns that true fulfillment comes in the giving and not the taking.
Breast feeding not only helps
satisfy the baby's nutritional and emotional needs, but satisfies the emotional
needs of the mother— not only in that it is restful for her, but she derives
satisfaction in doing what is best for her baby and from having a contented and
quiet baby as a result. Baby and mother thrive on each other. Physical contact
generates warm feelings of being loved and appreciated. The baby feels secure
in the mother's arms or bosom.
For a traveling mother, nothing
can match the conveniences of breast feeding without the problems of baby stops,
warming the bottle, or running short of formula.
Benefits to the Family, Society and
Nation:
Breast-feeding saves money for the
family. Money not spent on bottles, nipples, brushes, sterilizer, formula,
juice, foods, food and bottle warmers, and the gas, electricity or fuel wood
required in the preparation, is money saved for the family. In the years to
come, less money will be spent on doctor's fees, hospital fees, and probably
fewer drugs and fewer dental bills. Except the tender loving care,
breast-feeding costs nothing. In case of bottle fed babies, the artificial foods
and juices stain baby's and mother's clothes and require frequent washing and
dry-cleaning.
When all infants are breast fed,
then the society will have mentally and physically healthy and active children.
When these children grow the nation will be proud of its great leaders and
admirable citizens. Such a nation will be strong in character and a model
nation to emulate.
Breast-feeding never pollutes a
country's air or water, nor does it detract from the environment. It was
mentioned earlier that prolonged lactation protects against pregnancy mainly by
delaying the return of ovulation. In a country where the practice of birth
control is not widespread, breast-feeding can check population growth to some
extent.
TOBACCO
Tobacco can be used in the form of
cigarette smoking, snuffing and chew. The latter two come under smokeless
tobacco.
Cigarette smoking is the most
widespread example of drug dependence in the United States and it is America's
worst drug addiction problem. It involves addiction to the drug nicotine found
only in tobacco. Cigarette smoking is the largest preventable cause of death in
America. As important a cause of death as were the great epidemic diseases that
affected previous generations. A major and certainly removable cause of ill
health and premature death.
The moment cigarette smoke
touches the lips, it begins to attack living tissues and continues to do so
wherever it goes; mouth, tongue, throat esophagus, air passages, lungs, stomach,
and its breakdown products eventually reach the bladder, pancreas, and kidneys.
Cigarette smoking is a major cause of cancers of the lung, larynx, oral cavity
and esophagus, and is a contributory factor for the development of cancers of
the bladder, pancreas. Kidney and uterine cervix in women.
Nicotine, an alkaloid poison
found in nature only in tobacco, is a powerful stimulant to the brain and
central nervous system; later doses have a depressant effect. Nicotine causes
blood pressure to rise and increases heart rate by as many as 33 beats a
minute. The first daily dose of nicotine stimulates the large bowel, while
curbing appetite and slowing digestion. It also lowers skin temperature and
reduces blood circulation in the lees and arms. Sixty milligrams of nicotine
taken at one time will kill the average adult human being by paralyzing
breathing. It is about as lethal as cyanide. The reason it doesn't kill smokers
quickly is that they take it in tiny doses, which are quickly metabolized and
excreted by the body.
Cigarette smoke 'tar' (smoke
condensate) is made of more than four thousand solid chemicals. Among the
chemicals in cigarette smoke are acids, alcohols, volatile hydrocarbons,
phenols, and such corrosive gases as hydrogen cyanide, and nitrogen oxide, as
well as a heavy dose of poisonous carbon monoxide (CO). Heart and circulatory
disease, lung and other cancers, emphysema and chronic bronchitis have been
experimentally linked with certain of these substances. All these conditions
are disabling and potentially lethal. While nicotine causes the heart to work
harder, CO deprives it of the extra oxygen this demands. CO also promotes
cholesterol deposits in arteries, reduces the normal flow of blood and can
easily trap blood clots, resulting in stroke and heart attacks. CO impairs
vision, and judgment, and reduces attentiveness to sounds. Thus, CO Is
dangerous to drivers, reduces athletic performance, and poses particular hazards
to flight crews.
Dental diseases particularly
inflammation of the gums, destruction of the supporting bony tissue and loss of
teeth, are much frequent among smokers than among non-smokers. Smoking causes
vitamin C and B deficiency besides destroying minerals like zinc in the body.
Smoking damages sexual ability of
both male and female.
Smoking During Pregnancy
Cigarette smoke contains 2000 components. Some of the most harmful for pregnant
women and their babies is thought to be nicotine, carbon monoxide and cyanide.
These substances have been found to cross the placenta and reach the baby. One
of the most concerning effects of smoking during pregnancy is that the baby’s
growth is restricted. A baby of a woman who smokes weighs on average 170 to 200
grams lighter. The more a woman smokes the greater the weight reduction. Having
a smaller baby is not a positive thing. The reason babies are smaller is that
cigarette smoking restricts blood vessels, therefore reducing the amount of
nutrients and oxygen reaching the baby. This leads to a lower birth weight and a
baby more prone to becoming ill after birth. Pregnant woman who smoke not only
have babies with reduced birth weights but also have greater risks of
stillbirths or death during labor and in the first week after birth. They
deliver babies prematurely or have spontaneous abortions. Children of parents
who smoke risk developing bronchitis or pneumonia in the first year of life.
Potential effects of smoking during pregnancy include an increased chance of
genetic abnormalities. There has been associations made between pregnant women
smoking and increased chance of cleft lip, cleft palate, problems with bowel,
eyes, ears and spinal cord. There have been links made between women smoking
during pregnancy and their children developing respiratory problems, such
as asthma, later in childhood.
In
the West, around 20 per cent of pregnant women smoke. Of these women, over half
smoke more than 10 cigarettes per day. Only about four per cent of women who
smoke manage to stop smoking in the second half of their pregnancy. It is known
that if a pregnant woman stops smoking in the first half of her pregnancy that
by the time of birth the baby will be close to normal size. However there is no
safe level of smoking. If a pregnant woman is unable to stop smoking completely
- it is important to remember ‘the less she smokes, the less effects on her
baby’.
Smoking can affect pregnancy. Smoking increases heart rate increases blood
pressure and depresses the nervous system. This not only affects the baby but
also causes increased complications for the mother. The increased rate of chest
infections and blood clotting disorders is of particular concern.
Smoking during pregnancy also increases the risk of ectopic (outside uterus)
pregnancy, miscarriage, stillbirth, problems with the placenta, vomiting
requiring hospitalization, bleeding during pregnancy, polyhydramnios (too much
amniotic fluid), thrush, urinary tract infections and premature birth.
Again the more the woman smokes, the higher the risk of complications.
It
is very difficult to stop smoking, however the family physician or Obstetrician
can help.
The
risk Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is increased if the mother smokes
during her pregnancy. There is also evidence to show that if the father smokes
while the mother is pregnant, SIDS also is increased. Ideally both parents would
stop smoking during pregnancy, but the less one smokes the less the risk of
SIDS.
After birth it is important to keep babies in a smoke free environment. Stop
people from smoking in the house, car or anywhere near the baby. By following
these simple steps it helps to reduce the incidence of SIDS.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(1)
I. B. Syed.: THE EFFECTS OF CAFFEINE, the Journal of the American
Pharmaceutical Association, Vol. 16 (No .10) : 568-572, October 1976.
(2) I. B. Syed.:
BREAST FED IS THE BEST FED. Published by the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council
of America. 1986.
(3) I. B. Syed.:
SMOKING IS UNLAWFUL IN ISLAM, the Journal of Islamic Medical Association of
North America. Vol. 15: 110-112, October 1983.
(4) I. B. Syed.:
SMOKING AFFECTS SEX. Caravan Magazine, pp.31-32, August (Second) 1975.
(5) J. H. Jaffee.:
DRUG ADDICTION AND DRUG ABUSE (Ch.l6). In: The Pharmacological Basis of
Therapeutics. Goodman LS and Gilman A (Editors), Macmillan Pub. Co. Inc., New
York, 1975
(6)
J. Palmer.:
Smoking During Pregnancy
www.prgnancy.com.au/
27th
November 2000
(7)
Ceida.: Smoking during pregnancy. Handout. Australia, 1997
(8)
National SIDS Council. Reducing the risk of sudden infant death Syndrome
(SIDS). : Melbourne, Australia, 1997.
(9)
J. Palmer.: Maternal cigarette smoking: The effects. Midwifery Matters,
9 (2), 18-21, 1995
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