Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch
Question Summary
Is it permissible to vape even though the flavoring may contain alcohol?
Question Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
The least one can say regarding smoking is that it is prohibitively disliked. Imam Ibn’ Abidin took it to be strictly prohibited. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar citing Sharh al-Wahbaniyya]
This is due to the clear manifest harms discovered by doctors over the years and the presence of a multitude of carcinogens therein. This ruling applies, as well, to vaping tobacco.
See this link for more details.
Furthermore, such an activity is seen as squandering wealth, which is also highly disliked and can be prohibited if extreme.
The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Indeed, Allah has prohibited for you: the disobeying of mothers, burying of daughters alive, withholding and taking in impermissible ways; and has deemed reprehensible for you idle talk, incessant questioning, and wasting wealth. [Bukhari]
However, if one is vaping a substance that does not contain nicotine or any other substances determined to be harmful to the body, the ruling will indeed be less strict, and the incidental presence of alcohol would not affect its ruling due to the conditions below:
Non-Wine Alcohol
The presence of non-wine alcohol in food, drink, or other products that are ingested is permitted in the Hanafi school if the following four conditions are met:
1) It is not used the way intoxicants are used
2) It is not used with the purpose of intoxication
3) It is not used to the extent that would intoxicate
4) Its presence has a fundamental purpose (i.e., not used in vain) in producing that product (this excludes non-wine alcohols that are merely used for flavoring – such as rum-flavored donuts or beer-battered fish).
The above is the position of Imam Abu Hanifa as declared by Mufti Mahmud Ashraf Usmani and others.
Summary
Regardless of the above rulings, one should seek out more wholesome pleasures and activities. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “From the beauty of a person’s Islam, is there abandoning of that which does not concern them.”
Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani