Dought & clear, - Ruling on using so-called “shisha pens” (also known as “hookahpens”)

I want to know whether shisha pens specifically are haram. They have
no tobacco just water vapour. My friends are starting to smoke it very
commonly.
Praise be to Allah.
Recently what is known as "electronic shisha" or "electronic
cigarettes" or "shisha pens", or other names, have become widespread.
Those who use them say that they are alternatives to the traditional
narghile (hookah or shisha) and to cigarettes. They claim that they
are healthy, based on the process by which the vapour is produced,
instead of tobacco smoke that is produced by the traditional narghile;
it turns the liquid inside the tube into vapour. The liquid that is
used is free of tobacco and tar, and similar harmful substances, and
the flavours given to this liquid are natural; mint, apple, orange and
other fruit flavours are added to it.
But medical evidence proves the opposite of that and shows that all of
these things have a harmful effect on the lungs and brain.
The idea of the electronic cigarette began several years ago in China,
after major international organisations, such as the World Health
Organisation, launched many campaigns against traditional smoking
practices, and restrictions on smoking were imposed in workplaces,
airports and other public places. The major tobacco companies in China
looked for a new way to market their products, via so-called
electronic cigarettes. Then this idea spread to other countries in the
world.
The electronic cigarette uses a lithium battery in the form of a
cigarette which can be recharged like a cellphone battery. A capsule
is placed inside it that contains a certain amount of nicotine, that
varies in amount from one capsule to another, in addition to other
substances and various flavourings such as coffee, mint, vanilla, and
strawberry.
In fact electronic cigarettes are not a healthy alternative to
cigarettes. They have been opposed by the World Health Organisation
and the US Food and Drug Administration.
Moreover, they are very expensive, with prices similar to those of
regular cigarettes, so this is not a remedy that everyone can use to
help give up smoking gradually, as the marketing companies claim.
The US Food and Drug Administration has stated that even in the case
of electronic cigarettes that are claimed to be free of nicotine,
laboratory tests have proven that nicotine is present in them, as well
asnitrosamines, substances which are medically known to be
carcinogenic. They also contain glycol, which is a toxic substance
that is used in antifreeze for cars.
A recent study carried out at St Michael's Hospital in Toronto stated
that cigarettes flavoured with mint may be more dangerous with regard
to causing strokes, in comparison to other kinds of cigarettes,
especially in women and fair-skinned people. Researchers found that
the risk of stroke in those who smoked mint flavoured cigarettes was
two times greater than in those who smoked ordinary cigarettes.
http://www.bab.com /node/149992
Hence some states have banned the sale, marketing and importing of
electronic cigarettes, such as Australia, Canada and Brazil.
To sum up:
Electronic cigarettes should be treated in the same manner as
traditional cigarettes at all levels. They are not a means of giving
up smoking, as some companies suggest. The risk of harm is much
greater than the alleged benefits.
http://www.alriyadh.co m/2010/09 /01/article556382.html
A representative of the World Health Organisation's Tobacco Free
Initiative said, addressing journalists: It is 100% wrong to issue
claims that electronic cigarettes offer a safe remedy that helps
smokers give up the habit. He further added: These cigarettes contain
a mixture of chemical substances that are very toxic.
http://fatwa.islamweb.n et /fatwa?page=showfatw a&Option=FatwaId& Id=129680
Once it is proven that these new kinds of cigarettes contain harmful
substances and that the harm they cause is like or similar to or
greater than that of ordinary cigarettes, then there is no difference
between the two with regard to the rulings that they are forbidden.
After establishing this, no one should be deceived by so called
"electronic shisha" or "electronic cigarettes" or "shisha pens" and
the like, because the reason for which smoking by traditional means is
haraam is also applicable in all these cases.
But if there are types that are proven, by means of examinations and
laboratory tests carried out by trustworthy scientists, to contain
natural flavourings only, and they do not contain any haraam
substances and are not harmful to the users or others, then in that
case it is not haraam to use these safe kinds. The ruling depends on
whether the reason for it is present or not.
What is required of the Muslim in such cases is to leave that which
makes him doubt for that which does not make him doubt, and to avoid
dubious matters, so as to protect his religious commitment and his
honour. In that which Allah has permitted to him of good and halaal
things there is sufficient so that he has no need of that which is
haraam or that concerning which people are uncertain about the ruling.
And Allah knows best.