Millions of Muslims are unfortunately addicted to tobacco. But things are now different in Haydarbeyli, a village in Anatolia, Turkey, where none of its 180 residents smoke, and the handful that used to, have quit, it is said.One of the residents, Muhsin Varol, said he smoked for more than 13 years before deciding to quit the habit. “I quit smoking, just like all the residents here. We also organize group walks day and night to keep healthy.”The head of the village, Rifat Eraslan, said “every resident of the village supported each other to get rid of this harmful habit.”At Haydarbeyli, however, we choose not to smoke. Right now, everybody is happy. Our houses, cars and streets don’t smell of cigarettes. We don’t want anyone who comes here from other places to smoke in our village. When we have visitors, the smokers don’t smoke because they feel ashamed. You can’t find a single cigarette butt in our village,” UÄurlu added.
In an official recognition and appreciation for these local efforts, the provincial president of YeÅilay, Halil Ä°brahim CoÅkun, visited the village. “It’s fantastic that Haydarbeyli heard our call. I personally want to thank them for their decision. I hope many other people will follow the example they have set and we will get rid of the habit of smoking altogether,” the official said.
According to a 2006 article published by the British Medical Journal, smoking rates are generally high in Muslim countries. The highest recorded rates among men were found to be in Yemen (77%) and in Indonesia (69%). Yemen also had the highest prevalence of smoking among women, where almost one third were found to smoke.The study reported that other Muslim countries with high smoking rates were Tunisia (62% of men), Guinea (59% of men) and Turkey (51% of men).
(Extracted from mvslim.com)
COMMENTS