The Imamate of One Who Uses Tobacco Tooth Powder

Question

In our mosque there is an imam who affirms tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and is opposed to shirk and bid‘a (innovation in religion). Many bid‘a practices used to take place in the mosque; they have stopped, and no strife or the like has occurred. But now a few people — those of Muharram [observances], of the “Jang-nama” (“The Book of Battles”), and those who perform the “gyarahwin” (a monthly offering on the 11th in memory of ‘Abd al-Qadir Jilani)

Answer

If a person uses tobacco tooth powder on his teeth and then cleans his mouth well with a miswak and the like, then his imamate suffers no harm on account of this powder: [it] is valid without any karaha (dislike).

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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