It is indeed heartening to know that people are joining together to make the holy city of Makkah a smoke-free zone. It is also good to learn that the mechanisms and tools for carrying out the idea have already been put into place with many shops and public places now refusing to sell cigarettes or tobacco. Literature is being distributed all over the city, urging people to work together to rid Makkah of this menace which does not go well with a city that contains Islam’s holiest sites, the holy Kaaba and the Grand Mosque. Despite many commendable efforts, however, there are some who have not only failed to contribute to this campaign but are seeking to thwart it either intentionally or not.
Just recently at a shopping center in Makkah I came across a small pamphlet telling shoppers to buy one product and win one or more of several prizes. When I unfolded the pamphlet I was appalled to find that the product being promoted was a certain brand of cigarettes. The pamphlet reminded shoppers that this particular product had for more than 100 years been the leading product in the market. Of course it promised smokers full satisfaction and enjoyment. I think the company promoting the product is making a mockery of the anti-smoking campaign, its promoters and all those who are trying to rid Makkah of cigarettes and tobacco. What is more painful to realize is that the company giving prizes to promote sales of its product is in clear defiance of both the official and religious positions that call for combating what is a very unhealthy habit. The question is who allowed such companies and factories to promote these products in the holiest place on earth? Printing publicity material, allocating prizes and using shopping centers and public places to do this? Isn’t this an invitation for people to start smoking in order to win a prize at a time when a national effort is being made to fight the menace?
World Health Organization figures show that some four million people worldwide die every year because of smoking. About 30,000 of them are from the Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia. Those subjected to passive smoking have been found to be in contact with more than 40 harmful substances that may cause cancer. Don’t smokers know that apart from harming themselves when inhaling this poisonous material, they are harming fellow Muslims, not to mention damage done to the national economy? The authorities must intervene by introducing strict measures to put an end to such unacceptable practices and rein in the irresponsible companies. It is an effort that requires all of us to work together and rid our Muslim society of harmful habits.
