Answer
(Fatwa: 1702/1340/B=1431)
There is no intoxication in the tobacco that is eaten and smoked i.e. the tobacco is not muskir (intoxicating). Had it been intoxicating it too would have been unlawful under the rule: كل مسكر حرام (every intoxicating is unlawful). It carries pungency i.e. it is anesthetizing or narcotizing i.e. it narcotizes the nerve, but does not paralyse the mind. Hence the scholars did not term it as haram, rather as makrooh tanzihi. Bidi and hookah too carry the same ruling.
Allah (Subhana Wa Ta’ala) knows Best
Darul Ifta,
Darul Uloom Deoband