Introduction: Smoking is prevalent among Muslims in this country despite public knowledge regarding smoking as haram (unlawful). This may be due to ignorance of the consensus of the ' mufti ' on the ' fatwa ' on smoking or a result of poor education and understanding of health-related risks of smoking.
Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey was carried out among the public who attended the IIUM Faculty of Medicine open day in Kuantan, Pahang on June 12th, 2004. Knowledge of smoking-related illnesses and the religious ' fatwa '(edict) on smoking was assessed.
Results: Seventy four muslims participated in the survey. 46(63%) were smokers (including ex-smokers) and 28(37%) were non–smokers. There was no statistically significant difference between the knowledge of smoking-related illnesses and their knowledge of the religious edict which regards smoking as haram between smokers and non-smokers. Only 6.7% of smokers perceive smoking as haram compared to 48% of non-smokers (p<0.001).
Conclusion: The conviction that smoking is haram among smokers is still poor among smokers. This could be one of the main reasons contributing to the high prevalence of smoking in our society. There was no difference between smokers and non-smokers concerning their knowledge on the religious edict on smoking and the health-related hazards of smoking.