An increasing number of young Muslim women Nairobi take up Shisha smoking as a pas-time. The flavoured tobacco makes it easier to disguise thus making it difficult for spouses or parents to detect its usage.

NASEEM ALI

As plumes of white smoke bellow from a poorly lit terrace, a first timer to this dingy place might be mistaken to think it’s on fire. From the look of things, the place is doing good business as young people freely walk in and out.

Perched at a secluded corner is Aisha Ibrahim and friends who have gathered to catch up on the latest gossip in town. As each of her female friends’ confidently puff at intervals from a shisha pipe, their laugh and animated talk suggests that whatever they are smoking is having an effect on them.

Welcome to the latest craze of shisha smoking sweeping through the lives of young and old Muslim women and in its wake leaving a smoky footprint of health complications, bankruptcy and in extreme cases, divorce.

Following an invitation by Aisha Ibrahim, 22, a university student and former shisha smoker, Marhaba Life and Style was taken through a guided tour to different shisha ‘bars’ scattered across Nairobi city to get first-hand information on the going on’s.

The first stop was at Nairobi’s Pumwani and Eastleigh areas where shisha smoking is partaken inside cars or vibandas/kiosks. As expected, Muslim youth make a majority.

According to Aisha, the upward trend of shisha smoking being witnessed among Muslim women and girls can be attributed to peer pressure under the name of ‘having fun’. “Many come here to socialise only to be tauted by friends to have a puff. During their next visit, they order for a system (a shisha smoking session) either on their own or for friends,” says Aisha.

Unlike cigarette smoking that leaves a ‘suspicious smell’, shisha smoking is slowly overtaking cigarette smoking since it can be disguised through different flavours. “Fancy flavours such as apple, strawberry and cappuccino among others has made it difficult for parents and guardians to detect,” says Amina Ali, 16, a form three student found at a shisha parlour. Amina has been secretly smoking shisha for the past six months without raising the suspicion of her parents.

However her persistent coughs in the middle of the night are giving her away.

The cheapest shisha smoking system depending on area goes for KSh250 while the expensive one ranges from KSh1,500-on the upmarket side of town in Hurlingham.

How do young girls finance their shisha smoking? According Aisha Ibrahim who has since quit the habit, those who cannot buy are usually ‘enabled’ by friends while others use pocket money to get the puff. For the likes of Amina, money given by parents for cell phone air-time ends up buying a round of shisha smoke.

What Marhaba Life and Style has established is that ‘working class’ women who wish to partake in shisha smoking in the comfort of their homes easily purchase an entire shisha set up. For a modest amount KSh3,000 one can buy the cheapest while the most expensive one goes up to KSh20,000. When asked to comment onthe shisha smoking craze, Sheikh Mohammed Abdalla from Nairobi, he falls short of calling shisha drug. “It is what is being smoked/ingredients that is the issue. However, Muslims know that whatever substance that is consumed and influences a person’s mind or behaviour is deemed as haram.”

But are there any effects of shisha smoking in Muslim communities? According Athman Abdirahman a resident from Pangani, Nairobi, shisha smoking has brought fitna (corruption). “In some shisha parlours the mixing of sexes under the guise of socialising has brought a lot of suspicion among married couples and eventual divorce. “How would you feel when you see your spouse seated, chatting and laughing with strangers?” poses Athman.

Furthermore, some shisha parlours encourage the use of miraa (khat) in their premises. “Together with miraa, shisha smoking may soon deplete kitchen budgets as more women and girls dedicate financial resources towards quenching their addictions at the expense of meals,” adds Athman.

Health wise, according to findings from the Department of Health and the Tobacco Control Collaborating Centre in Britain, shisha smoking is as bad for people as smoking tobacco.

People who smoke shisha, or herbal tobacco, can suffer from high carbon monoxide levels, the research revealed.

Further, it found that one session of smoking shisha resulted in carbon monoxide levels at least four to five times higher than the amount produced by one cigarette.

High levels of carbon monoxide can lead to brain damage and unconsciousness.

In yet another research by the World Health Organization has shown that an average pipe smoking session of around an hour is equivalent to smoking up to 200 cigarettes.

Another research carried out in Britain also reveals how sharing a shisha pipe poses a high risk and could pass around infections such as TB and herpes among others.

Source: The New Dawn