Dampfen ohne Nikotin: Ist es Haram?

Islam's ruling on nicotine-free vaping tracks the harm literature rather than the nicotine molecule. The baseline: inhalation of a neutral substance is mubah — no intoxication (the khamr standard), no interest-bearing contract, no clear categorical prohibition. The two governing principles then do the work. First, la darar — 'no harm and no reciprocating harm' (Ibn Majah 2340) and the Quran's 'do not throw yourselves into destruction' (2:195): when health authorities establish material harm — as the mounting evidence on EVALI-era lung injuries, thermal degradation products, and long-term solvent exposure suggests — the ruling moves from mubah toward prohibition, because the duty to preserve the body (hifz al-nafs, one of the five higher objectives of Islamic law) is not optional. Second, the moderation rule (7:31) — even a permitted pleasure, done constantly, becomes excess. Contemporary fatwa bodies therefore counsel: unnecessary inhalation of untested substances is best avoided (caution is required where harm is shown), and the ex-smoker using zero-nicotine vapor as a bridge off nicotine has the stronger case — a harm-reduction argument classical fiqh logic accepts (choosing the lesser harm on the way out of both).