O You who believe! Intoxicants and gambling, (dedication of) stones and (divination by) arrows are an abomination of Satan’s handiwork. Avoid (such abominations) that you may prosper. (5:90)
Today’s youth has been taken on the toll of increased drug-usage, and this includes the young Muslims too. More Muslim youth is caught up in drugs than we wish to know.
Drug use among Muslims is a creeping enemy that involves the abuse of substances ranging from the inhaling of household products (paint, sprays, glue etc.) to shooting heroin. Regardless of their gender, age, economic or social status, or ethnicity, Muslim youth are not immune to the dangerous world of drugs. And the more we deny this problem, the worse it will get. [1]
What is a Drug?
A drug is a substance which may have medicinal, intoxicating, performance enhancing or other effects when taken or put into a human body or the body of another animal and is not considered a food or exclusively a food.[2] In pharmacology, a drug is "a chemical substance used in the treatment, cure, prevention, or diagnosis of disease or used to otherwise enhance physical or mental well-being."[3]
Some of the commonly used drugs are:
Caffeine
Alcohol
Nicotine
Cannabis
Cocaine
Amphetamine
Nitrites, poppers
Cocaine
Ecstasy
LSD
Magic mushrooms
Solvents (aerosols, gases and glues)
Minor tranquillizers (not prescribed)
Heroin
Crack cocaine
Methamphetamine
People use drugs for recreation, as a source of fun. It leads to many harmful symptoms like: hyperactivity, agitation, mood swings, irritability, bloodshot eyes, impaired coordination etc.
Drugs in Islam
Islam prohibits all drugs that are not medically prescribed. [4] Islam’s prohibition of drugs [5] stems from two concerns: their intoxication effects their harm to the human body
Allah SWT has described intoxicants as being appalling, despicable and hateful acts of Satan and he has commanded us to abstain from them, Allah thereafter
References: 1. “Muslim Youth and Drugs: The Reality”. http://www.islam-today.org, n.p. Issue 3 Jan 2013. Web. Retrieved on 23 Nov. 2013. 2. “Drug”. http://en.wikipedia.org, Wikipedia®. n.d. Web. Retrieved on 23 Nov. 2013. 3. "Drug." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1), Random House, Inc., via dictionary.com. Retrieved on 23 Nov. 2013. 4. “Islam: Drugs”. http://www.bbc.co.uk, BBC © 2013. n.d. Web. Retrieved on 23 Nov. 2013. 5. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi. "Islam Prohibits Alcohol and Drugs" 6. Zachariah Matthews, SALAM Magazine, http://www.famsy.com/salam/. Retrieved on 23 Nov. 2013.