Islamic State extremist are now beheading anybody caught smoking. The extremist claims that smoking is a form of slow suicide and that is forbidden in the Koran.
Los Angeles Times reported that a severed head was seen in the Syrian city of Al-Mayadeen with a cigarette still between its lips.
Beside the decapitated body was written a sign saying, "This is not permissible, Sheikh".
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the victim beheaded was a deputy police chief. Smoking is normally allowed under Islam but extreme conservative interpretations of the Quran, like that used by Islamic State, condemn the habit as a type of slow suicide.
Since an estimated half of Syria's male smoke, some with traditional water pipes, there will likely be more beheadings to follow. People struggling to give up smoking are forced to go beyond the boundaries of the Caliphate on the Turkish border.
The LA Times quoted one Syrian resident named Mohammad Khalil as stating that, "I'm enjoying it while I can."
He further said: "Once I go back across I can't smoke in the open."
An Islamic State official obviously said: "Every smoker should know that with every cigarette he smokes in a state of trance and vanity is disobeying God.
"3 days following the issuance of the statement, selling tobacco and shisha will be strictly prohibited and those who remains defiant on selling them will bring injustice upon themselves and upon other people.
"All tobacco quantities will be burnt and the seller will be punished according to Sharia law."
Anyone who violates the smoking ban face a minimum penalty of 40 lashes with a whip. However, the repercussion of a repeated offense can be as huge as prison time or even beheading.
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