High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! A Tobacco fatwa is a fatwa (Islamic legal pronouncement) that prohibits the usage of tobacco by Muslims. The smoking of tobacco became an issue in Islamic law as soon as the habit was introduced to Muslim populations in the 16th century. Scholars in the Ottoman Empire, especially Ibrahim Efendi, hosted large public debates on whether smoking should be permitted or not. The Ottoman Sultan Murad IV ultimately forbade the smoking of tobacco and attempted to prevent it by shutting down coffee houses in Istanbul. During the Sultan's military campaigns the soldiers were forbidden to smoke under punishment of death. Katib Chelebi wrote that none of these measures managed to slow the spread of the habit. According to Muhammad al-Jibaly's recent writings on the issue, European countries were able to effectively control smoking once its ill effects became clear while the use of tobacco reached high levels in Muslim countries.