Marijuana

I am a new Muslim, I have said my shahada in the presense of our fellow brother Omar Alumari, a true friend of mine.

The following is and should just be taken as my opinion.

As long as you don't let yourself be subject to addiction or even let it alter your perception of life then it is ok to only cook with Marijuana.
Smoking anything is prohibited, for it causes harm to our bodies, which should be regarded as our own personal temples that Allah gave us compassionately in trust.
One should never think of weed as something to make life fun!
One should not have to induce intoxicants in one's body to be able to feel contempt in life!

The reason to induce yourself with THC should be something productive. Potheads that sit around TV and let their minds rot and let munchies get to them mentally are weak in will and ambition. Not only because they are 1. Potheads (Addicted) but also 2. Mindless. Instead why not write an essay of such high standards that it will make people recognize your work? Paint a Masterpiece? Write a symphony? Use the talents Allah gave us to strive to be exponentially productive each passing day in life whilst praising Allah.
Everyday should be more productive then the last.

Speaking of Potheads, those who when tasting food, enjoy it selfishly without praise to Allah for giving Humanity His Bounties disgust me. I am a 16 year old Mexican from Houston who last spring break of 2005 was invited to volunteer in a Medical Brigade with a Christian organization called the Poor Hand Maids of Jesus Christ to Mexico in the Valle of Uxpanapa. Beautiful scenery, Allahu akbar, in which made me realize how American society is a slave to their Capitolistic Free Enterprise Market. I sweat and will continue to sweat for my people for ever, just to see the smile it brings them to have served them under Allah.

If I had a choice, and because I'm still 16 I don't, I would much rather have lived and died all my life in my country without all these materialistic temptations in the concrete jungle I am forced to reside in of Houston, Texas. But because I do accept and submit to Allah's Will I try to make the best out of my situation, for I know my people suffer in my country. I cried so many nights in appreciation, when I
was simply allowed to witness all the stars without city lights to block them. I cried when I saw the animals and how they were treated over there, the dogs were emaciated and had flees and ticks around theyre eyes. And I think of American dogs that get spoiled with food.

'm in school (Kerr High School) currently and my most recent report card was:
I aspire to be a Medical Doctor.
English A
Symphonic Band A
Algebra II A
United States History B-

I dont want to use numerical grades because I don't want to guess what I got since I turned in my progress report already. I'm not trying to lie here, for Allah sees all.

With my life set on a path to pure righteousness and virtue whilst confirming my faith, giving everyday 5 times a day praise to Allah, my salat, my zakat (the majority percantage of my earned money will go to charitable organizations, also I'm limited to only do Medical Brigades in spring Break because I can't personally decide that for myself in America by law because my parents still own me and Its hard with school and education), Fast during our holy month of Ramadan, and lastly my ultimate goal in life to raise funds for pilgramage to Mecca (when I can personally can afford to do so).

So this is my ultimate question to all those wiser than me on this forum, with this said... am I still going to hell?

I know this is a late reply but i really want to hear back from you inhale on your views about this and we can discuss this further if you care for it.
inhale your my dawg man walla people this guy knows the subject. and khadija good job too. I think both sides are right this is one of the gray areas in islam. Cannabis has been around for awhile especially in the middle-east and as Islam spread this was a big issue that scholars had to deal with in the end they unanimously agreed it was forbidden. But this is a discussion so lets discuss. Inhale your argument is one I made back in the day. Muslims introduced canabis to the United States i forget the date but back in the day at a world fair the ottoman emir at the time introduced cannabis to American culuture. I believe this was after WWI american service men went to the mid-east and couldnt get drunk so they smoked weed they perferred this to alcohol because there wasnt a hang over. So the Turk new this and at the world fair set up a cafe where people could smoke hashish. The use of hasish spread across the US and was ultimately made illegal not for moral reasons but as an attack on the influx of mexican immigrants. In the US this is the reason behind all there drug laws they outlawed heroin because they thought it was suceptable to black people and that black would rape white women when using it. Then Nixon passed an all inclusive antidrug bill mainly aimed to stop LSD because people on it he thought were suceptable to protest and he wanted that to end. But the same trends have happened in the Muslim world cannabis has been banned and accepted over and over again over there. Like in 1378 Ottoman Emir soudoun scheikhouni made one of the first laws in the area against eating hashish. And dont think the refinement of cannibus is a new thing either arabs have been refining it for centuries they made hash that was something like 60% thc and for anyone who hasnt smoked weed thats alot. There was a whole moveement back in the day where this guy Hasan ibn-sabah would give his cult followers strong hash and beautiful women as an indication of what was to follow in heaven if they followed him. Then he would send them out on missions to kill muslim governers and leaders against his ways. Bascially his use of hash and murder formed the english word Assasin. This was in the 11th century so a safe bet would be that it was illegal at the time. So it wasnt in response to the west that hash and cannibus was illegal it was always at issue in the Muslim world when it would have a resurgence of popularity.

Now on a personal level back in the day I used to smoke a lot of weed I mean a lot. I was in school at the time and I remember I did very well at math i always stunk at math. My parents and friends became concerned with my habits and helped me in stopping. I wasnt physically addicted it was just i missed the euphoria i felt when me and my girl mary jane were together right. So anyways i quit and guess what happened boom math was out with me needless to say i set out to prove that marijuana is not haram and should be used to heighten ones awareness. I found the cultural use of marijuana, i found that khamr in its direct translation does not mean intoxicants but rather fermented plants fruit and what have you, and besides that who gets real intoxicated on weed right? i mean its not like alcohol where you shut down or shrooms where you go to a different level or really any other drug instead of taking you somewhere weed presents your world 500x cleared. So how could that be bad? But without proof I had nothing. So I studied more and i found the most profound bit of information available to me.

I always thought weed was majic weed is nothing but the relization of what you already are. Your body is perfect allah made it that way, but some people have and imbalance of endorphins and by using drug they balance themselves out and you feel normal to as when you are off of drugs your abnormal. Sounds wierd huh? Well for me that became a challenge like wait up you mean all i have to do is find a way to release endorphins through my mind and i can get high any time I want to and on top of that i dont have to spend and money on drugs! Alright lets see if anyone has studied that..yes they have runing releases endorphins its called a runners high. Forget that im not running thats too much work. Chocolate releases endorphins nah not for me. Then i came to my own realization find what makes you happy and boom youll get high. Doesnt make sense huh? Ok im an artist pretty much from day one just havent relized it. So i expressed my self through art and im not talking about drawing flowers but like abstract this is who i am on my canvas and people look and say neat but dont know the inspiration personal art. Then i stare at it and ooo boy its not a chemical high its like this organic euphoria that fills my body and stays with me the whole day. Basically what im saying is weed, cannabis, hash are a short term solution to a long term problem within yourself. If you need a chemical to make you feel complete that aint living thats just getting by. Whether its haram or not the question is why use weed graduate to a stronger solution.

inhale, And who made you the one and only interpreter of marijuana ??!

inhale wrote:   I was just commenting on what Angel pasted from a site. I didn't want the thread to end with misinformation.

commenting??

You know I don't mind being corrected but you to come here with your seemingly arrogant attitude and balantly discredit everything I have pointed out about the use of marijuana when I have done research and know something of it. You can't tell me that the information I brought forth is completely wrong.

How can I tell if you are completely right, because you say it is ?? I do have some intelligence to do my own research  I don't agree with all that the governments of the world do either, but I do see why they make some things illegal. 

I just don't like seeing people base their conclusions on topics they researched at *.gov websites, or they learned from one side of the story.

lol! shows what you know, what makes you think I based my conclusions on a gov't site ?? You don't even know what I have researched or not, SO DON"T jump to conclusion, ok! just because I use one or two sites in support of my information, does not make me or the infor balantly wrong (because you say so!) 

I want people to see both sides and then come up with their own opinion on something. I feel like the previous posts only showed Mankind BS answers that were either made up on the spot or pasted from an anti-Marijuana website. He needs to see both sides first.

Go and get your facts right will you!

You know, I have no problems with having both sides shown but you.........arrhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......................forget!

You know something, the original issue here is about marijuana and wether if its haram or halah in "Islam" and where it is stated. What all of us have said is that its is haram and showed why. This is what mankind wanted with regards to Islam and he got that, nothing more nothing less. I as a non muslim, also pointed out why it would be considered as haram in islam. So I have not done nothing or pointed out wrong. I have had talks with Mankind privately and come to the conclusion he is intelligent enough to do his or more reasearch and I have also come to the conclusion he was trying to justify his use of marijuana in islam when it is haram. 

So you stated earlier you are muslim, so tell me and the others is it haram or halal and also for the information I got, from my research, this would be why marijuana is haram in islam ??

Another question, since you are muslim (and perhaps hopeful not by name) why are you using and why do you think its ok for you to use in islam? Are you overriding Allah's laws, don't you believe in the quran?

I believe this info would be more helpful to Mankind more so than the other info you gave, if he comes back.

Edited by Angel

Inhale, are you a Muslim?  If so, I would like to refer to you are �brother.�   Thank you for the thoughtful response to my post.  I have a few responses.  One of the things I would like to say to you is that during my years of working in the field of addiction, I would with a lot of �young adults� (ages 16 to 24) and in doing so, I felt it was much more important to be honest about chemical substances than to lie and then have them later distrust me if they needed my help.  I truly believe that is a big problem in our society and I don�t want to perpetuate that problem. 

Inhale: "People have died from mixing drugs, or driving while intoxicated. No healthy human being has ever smoked pot and died. At least we have no such record of this. What I mean by this is just LD50 (Amount needed to kill a lab rat 50% of the time) wise, like LSD (Acid), If you plan on ODing on THC, you would get to a state where you would be too messed up to consume a lethal amount of the stuff."

You did not make it clear in your first post that you were speaking of over dosing when you said no one had ever died from smoking marijuana.  I guess I don�t just consider cases of over dosing since death is death regardless if it�s fast or slow in the making.   I was speaking of deaths due to accidents causes by the slowed reaction one experiences while under the influence of marijuana, also of cases of lung cancer due to smoking marijuana.  As you know marijuana has a significantly higher level of tar than cigarettes.  In fact, one joint has the equivalent of a whole pack of cigarettes (20).  The bottom line is although it might not be the drug the propagandist tried to make it appear in �Reefer Maddness� back in 1936; however, it is not the benign substance that many pro-marijuana users claim it is either.

Inhale: "Evil is a bad word here, maybe stupid would of worked better? Prohibition is stupid. I'm not saying I want to see OTC Heroin, but there are ways of dealing with drug issues that might actually work. Are we benefiting from the War on Drugs? "

If something is prohibited by Allah than I feel I have the right to call it �evil� and if I or someone else is choosing between two things which are both prohibited (haraam), I think it is far to use the phrase �the lesser of two evils� in reference to it.   How can you call �prohibition� stupid?  Allah prohibited us from using alcohol a long, long time before the US government made such a law regarding the use of alcohol.  Do you consider Allah�s laws �stupid�?  Once again, I will ask if you are a Muslim because if you are, there should not be any �ways of dealing with drug issues that might actually work� that allow for the actually ingestion of substances which Allah has prohibited us from using.  As I pointed out in my post to Jenni above, even in cases of medical necessity Muslims scholars state that the situation must be life threatening and there cannot be any other medication available for that illness which does not have haraam ingredients.  If there is, the person has to use the one without the haraam ingredients.

You question regarding the �war on drugs� is not really relevant to this thread because it is a tactic use by a secular government.  If you want to start a thread about the �war on drugs� and the differences between how a secular government and an Islamic government would handle the problems, then go for it.  It could be a very interesting thread.  

Inhale:  "I read this in a magazine while waiting for someone in the doctor's lobby. I don't remember the mag though..
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Study_finds_marijuana_use_leads_ to_brain_development_in_rats"

So, you couldn�t find the magazine so you used this other article that you found on-line.  And it was nice that you pasted some parts of the article for use to read, but you left out the following:

"Our results were obtained from rats, and there's a big difference between rats and humans," added Zhang, "So, I really don't know yet if our findings apply to humans.�

The reason I asked you to go back and read the article again regarding memory and marijuana use is that as with all other addictive drugs, a persons ability to function well (normal) over time becomes dependant upon the presence of the chemical in their system.  That is, a person who becomes accustomed to smoking marijuana will begin to actually function better while under the influence of marijuana as opposed to when they are �sober� simply because their brain has becomes accustomed to functioning that way.  It is not something about marijuana itself which enhances the memory.  Studies conducted by educational psychologists show that the same thing happens naturally as well.  That is, if a person studies in an environment which is noisy (there bedroom with boom box blaring) and then takes an exam in a quiet environment (classroom), their grades will not be as good as they would have been if both environments were the same.   The problem for the marijuana smoker, once he/she becomes accustomed to the THC in their system, they do not function as well without it.  Even if marijuana were able to increase the number of brain cells in humans as it supposedly does in rats, this does not imply that they would be smarter or have better memory.  Even the article you cited doesn�t make the conclusion that the rats became smarter.  And furthermore, when you quoted the following:

""Chronic use of marijuana may actually improve learning memory when the new neurons in the hippocampus can mature in two or three months," he added."

It was misleading.  The article is states as such:

""This is quite a surprise, chronic use of marijuana may actually improve learning memory when the new neurons in the hippocampus can mature in two or three months," said Xia Zhang, with the Neuropsychiatry Research Unit of the University of Saskatchewan."

You and others should keep in mind that the research was referring to the lab rats and not to humans.  Even if �chronic use of marijuana� could somehow �actually improve learning memory� in humans (which by the way I seriously doubt), have you thought about the negative affects of becoming a chronic marijuana user?  That�s kind of like the wine drinker who uses the studies on wine�s affect on the heart.  What is the use of helping your heart if you are killing you liver?  And what is the use of any of it if it is killing your spiritual relationship with Allah?

Inhale: "I want people to see both sides and then come up with their own opinion on something. I feel like the previous posts only showed Mankind BS answers that were either made up on the spot or pasted from an anti-Marijuana website. He needs to see both sides first."

Inhale, I will be the first person to argue for the importance of education, knowledge, wisdom and how important it is to learn as much as we can in life.  And to became educated�to take it upon oneself to know what is in the Qur�an and to use science and not just �touchy-feeling� sentiments about things to educate ourselves�is a very Islamic notion.  However, anyone who desires to be a Muslim needs to make a decision as to from where all of their arguments start.  When we do our Shahadah we accept that Allah is the one and only god and that He is the author of not only the Qur�an, but of all things.  He is the ultimate authority.  We don�t go out in the world and try to find things to disprove Him.  We go out into the world to learn as a means to enhance our lives within the context of Islam.  I�m sorry but the way you are talking is the way non-Muslims look at the world and although that may be in okay for non-Muslims, it is not okay for someone who has a honest desire to be a Muslim.  I�m a revert.  I�ve lived a secular life in my past.  In fact, I still live in a secular community so I see how people in a secular world decide what is right or wrong for them.  But we cannot compare the decisions of a government with the authority of Allah.  You take you position on marijuana despite the governments banning of it because you find reasons to say the government is wrong; however, Allah�s authority is not to be questioned.  That is, we can�t desire that which Allah forbids and then go about trying to find some way to justify violating His authority.  Well, actually we can do that but it is not right.  If you violate the government�s authority the punishment will be a ticket or some jail time.  Can you compare that to what might happen if you violate Allah�s authority? 

"It's true that Marijuana in the past contained less THC than it does today, but so what? That just means that back then, it took more eating or smoking to get you as high as you would need to be today. The reason today's Marijuana is more potent is NOT because chemicals are added to the crop, but because humans evolve. We learned new ways of growing plants (Hydroponics, Aeroponics, etc.) We have better equipment now, artifical lighting, etc.."

Inhale, I will try to say this as plainly as I can because you missed my point before.  The point is, if humans are manipulating the cultivation of marijuana in order to increase the THC content, even if they do not use other chemicals, it still results in marijuana not being the same plant that Allah placed upon the earth when He created it.  So, it still may be a natural substance, but it is not what Allah created when He put it here.  If Allah wanted us to have a marijuana plant with a THC content of 18%, don�t you think it would have been so easy for Him to have created it that way?  And please don�t come back at me with the �well, but He gave us the knowledge and technology to do it� because that is not the point.  And this conversation could get truly absurd if we go there; so, I hope you don�t go there.

Inhale: "Now about addiction, let's get something out of the way: Marijuana is NOT physically addicting. I think we both agree on this. Now about being habit forming, or psychologically addicting, I think that this depends on the person

As I said, people who have problems, especially depression, should not smoke Marijuana. Why? Because it's fun. It makes life fun and when you are sitting around and have nothing to do, you will smoke it again to pass time. And again and again just because you find it FUN, not because if you stop using it, you'll have withdrawal symptoms. Most people I know smoke maybe once a week, IF that. The dirty teen who steals to get his drug fix and lives in the slums is only about 1% of all drug users."

I for one am not ignorant enough to make any hasty generalization about addiction or even those who become addicted.  In my 15 years of working in the chemical addiction field I have work with all socio-economic classes.  I�m very aware of what goes on out there in the drug scene.  Like I said, I�ve not always been a Muslim.  And if there is one thing I know, there is no magic formula for calculating who will and who will not become chemically addicted if they use an intoxicant.  No matter what you think, it�s always a gamble.  One doesn�t have to have problems in life to become chemically dependent.  The part of our brain that becomes chemically dependant is the pleasure center which we have in common with all other mammals.  It is the habitual part of our brain.  It is clear to me when I read the Qur�an that Allah, because He created us and is very aware of every aspect of our existence, was completely clear on why we should not use intoxicant.   Allah is not some mean government authority trying to bully us around.  He is loving and merciful.  He doesn�t want us to bring harm to ourselves.  He said: 

��make not your own hands contribute to (your) destruction�� (Al-Baqarah: 195);

And He gave us the Qur�an as a guide and the Prophet (pbuh) as a beautiful example of how we should live our life.  Sometimes we think Allah makes life hard for us but what we don�t realize is that He actually makes it easy.  We are the ones the make it hard. 

Inhale: "Dealers usually do NOT add any additive to the Marijuana they sell. The main reason is because it's too expensive to do so. I would *love* if I pay $20 a gram for Marijuana and recieve Opium with it, but it won't happen! This is just to scare people. If it really worries you, then just grow your own or find a dealer you can trust, or take a trip to Amsterdam : )"

By what you say, I guess you consider yourself an authority on what dealers usually do.  I never said the dealer put �opium� in THC.  It is usually a cheaper stimulant drug that is easy to become addicted to and relative cheap to buy.  If you think I�m saying this to scare you or Brother Mankind, I�m sorry you feel that way.  The point I was trying to make is that when you buy marijuana or any other drug for that matter there is no guarantee what you will get because illicit drugs are not regulated.  There is no one telling the dealers what to cut drugs with or that they can�t put a little PCP or crack cocaine in the marijuana mix to help them drum up some extra business.  And if you don�t think that some dealers do so �wicked� things to what they are selling, you are the one that is sadly mistaken.  And I didn�t look up my information about this on a government web site.  I personally have worked with users and dealer for years.  And as for your comment about growing your own, well, I guess if you want to put yourself into a position to get arrested and have some serious drug charges, then that�s your choice; however, once again, a good Muslim would not do anything to violate the law unless the law keeps him/her from obeying Allah.  If Brother Mankind wants to be a good Muslim, he will not take you advice about growing his own stash. 

Inhale: "Marijuan does stay in your system for a long time, but after a day or two, you feel normal again, as if you've not taken anything. Now if the inxoticant is not altering your brain (And at that point -- It's not.) Why doesn't your prayer count?"

Inhale, I can tell you lots of things about marijuana and other drugs.  I can tell you their half-life and such, but I don�t have the answers to all things.  What I do know is this.  THC builds up in the brain and, unlike other intoxicants, it takes days, even weeks or months (the longest case I have personally witness for complete detoxification of marijuana from the system was 65 days�yes 2 months and 5 days), to exit the body.  If I have something in my body that Allah has forbidden me to have in it, does He have to accept my prayers even if �I� don�t feel that I�m being affected by it anymore?  Maybe you want to play Russian roulette with chemical substances and with Allah, but I�m sorry, I�m not willing to do that.

Inhale: "And what about the issue of prescription drugs? Benzos, SSRIs, MAOIs, they all alter your conciousness and some are even fatal if taken in large doses or if you don't follow a very strict diet. They are legal however, so what about them and Islam?"

You are talking about two very different classes of drugs here.  SSRIs are not intoxicants.  SSRIs and other medications like them do not alter your �consciousness.�  What they do is to correction and imbalance of certain neurotransmitters in the brain.  Since they do not affect the neurotransmitters that cause euphoria, there should be no reason why a Muslim cannot take them unless they violate some other Islamic law such as being harmful to the body or containing other things that are not allowed to be consumed such as the byproducts of swine.  People can�t and don�t use them to get high with.  Benzodiazepines on the other hand are intoxicants and fall into the class of drugs known as depressants along with alcohol, opiates and barbiturates.  Islam has rules on the use of these medications.  I have already posted a fatwa I found regarding medications that contained haraam ingredients.

I am sorry that my post was so lengthy but inshallah it was helpful. 

Allah Hafiz

PAZ,
Kahdija

 

Edited by Khadija1021