Does This Seem Like Propaganda To You?

[ryno]

http://muslimmatters.org/2008/03/17/hookah...han-cigarettes/

It seems like they scapgoat it as a Muslim problem infesting the Western youth...

[MechAnt]

I liked how they took statements about hookah from ACS however, I don't like how they had this incredible bias against Muslims and Hookah. I think it would have been an effective article if they stayed away from the bias.

[Majid]

Well, reading the article i don't see him saying it's a muslim problem infecting the youth. More like something that Islam would forbid, while it's (re)gaining popularity among muslims, youth in this case, wich i agree with. There are more apropriate verses of the Qu'ran he could quote for this but i still agree with the statement In the distant past there was no consensus among scholars because the dangers of smoking weren't well documented yet, now they are though, and harming your body unneededly is clearly outside the bounds of Islam.
He goes on to claim that the dangers of hookah smoking are understated by enthousiasts, wich i also agree with. But neither he nor i have conclusive evidence or clarity on the health risks. Edited July 27, 2008 by Majid

[mattathayde]

i think it is kind of propaganda, and frankly the whole pointing out how cigs are haram for the muslims but hookah isnt but thats just a double standard thing, well yes probably but there are so many of these double standards everywhere so ya, what ever

again it all comes down to, smoking anything is not "good" for you probably (excluding some herbal things that are used for medical benefits like the native americans did, not talking about NHT).

if you want to be as healthy as you can dont smoke any thing, in fact wear a respirator 24/7, i live in a city and i enjoy hookah, and im an art student going into metals and will be doing glass and wood as well, theres no way my lungs wont be hurt in some way by 30

-matt

[Johnny_D]

different day, same old shit.

Always referring back to that terrible report of the WHO suggesting 100-200 cigarettes of nicotine in shisha.

JD

[ilikemyusername]

would have been a half decent article if now written by a right wing square.
and hadn't mentioned that WHO? report.

and it would have been okay if it didn't suck

[Anxiety]

that was so terribly written, to me it seems to be 100% propganda...the opening paragraph says that muslims are pushing it to seem "cool" which is not true at all, and how the hell is it a recent fad when we have had hookah bars around for years? writer needs to get their facts traight...

[momatik]

I mean, I don't see it as propoganda.

The site is targeted towards Muslims, so the articles will be about Muslims rather than the entire community. I mean the site is called muslimmatters.org

And yeah hookah bars have been around for years, but you cannot argue that smoking hookah in the west has ever been as popular as it is now. I mean we have evidence on this board. Just look at all the "I'm a noob" posts and the "would you buy this hookah?" posts.

I have heard the 100x cigarette report, but I find it hard to believe. Do you guys have any information on it?

But the fact of the matter is, there is no way that smoking hookah is good for you. That's for sure. And I think that's what they are getting at more than anything. If it's not good for you, then according to Islam you shouldn't do it. We do not know to what extent it is bad for you, but we do know that it is to some extent.

It doesn't seem like propaganda to me because they have good reason to try and influence our opinions. It's bad for you. What other reason would they have?

[Apoc Genesis]

Nobody smokes hookah for your health. We do it because its a great way to relax with friends in todays ADD-fueled world.

These groups can put out as much facts as they please. We know theyr biased and we know ourselves that hookah isnt great for you. I love my hookah so leave me alone =)

[hookah hippie]

I smoke my hookah everyday because I want to grow big and strong

[NUBBS]

I think as hookah smokers we should spread our own facts around:
>Hookahs smoke tobacco not drugs.
>You smoke more tabacco at one time then you do a cigarette at one time, so DUH its more harmful; nicotine-wise. (See Below)
>Shisha has like 3-5 ingredients, whereas cigarettes have about 400 chemicals in them to actaually try and MAKE people addicted to them.
>The shisha is wet so it does not burn, it cooks. Therefore there is way less tar. [Eventhough the container says 0%, when the shisha is heated it produces it.]

BOTTOM-LINE: ANY TYPE OF SMOKE IS BAD FOR YOU!! NO SHIT!! WHAT SMOKE IS GOOD!!!

[Rani]

different day, same old shit.

Always referring back to that terrible report of the WHO suggesting 100-200 cigarettes of nicotine in shisha.

JD

I trust my body and it's reactions...... If I were inhaling a much nicotine as suggested by the "scientific" propaganda, then surely I would have nicotine cravings throughout the day similar to cigarette smokers? Yet almost none of us report those cravings. In fact most hookah smokers seem to smoke fewer and fewer cigarettes until we stop altogether, assuming we smoked cigarettes to begin with. I will not say that hookah tobacco is safer than cigarette tobacco in it's purest form. But shisha does not add all the chemicals added to cigarettes therefore I would contend that hookah smoking is substantially safer than cigarette smoking. You might still be inhaling one chemical, but you aren't inhaling 47 toxic chemicals that I hear (more propaganda) includes cyanide in minute amounts.

'Rani

[Snoopy1966]

I have nicotine cravings because all I smoke is Tangiers. I know it is not as much nicotine as cigs, but I do crave it. I do not know if it is just the taste and blowing out huge clouds of smoke I am addicted to or the nicotine

[darkone253]

I have nicotine cravings because all I smoke is Tangiers. I know it is not as much nicotine as cigs, but I do crave it. I do not know if it is just the taste and blowing out huge clouds of smoke I am addicted to or the nicotine

Haha, I agree with the latter part more. So relaxing and nice to just exhale a delicious cloud of tobacco smoke.

All in all, a shitty article. Looks shitty, the info is shitty, etc.    ...    shitty. All it's saying is shit we already know or things are are so blown out of proportion that it's obvious.

NUBBS pretty much sums it up well enough.