Smoking History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Smoking History - Essay Example This essay provides a brief summary of the author’s position (James Grehan) on the topic of smoking history, that helps to reveal his primary argument in which he states that tobacco changed the cultural pulse of the Islamic nations and brought them into the modern age. James Grehan gives particular attention to the way in which it has affected the culture and society of the people who live here, how they responded to the new product and how it has managed to open up the society to new ideas and developments. Traditionally suspicious of anything new, tobacco could be said to have caused a tidal wave in the natural flow of Islamic life. Because it was a substance not directly addressed within the Qur’an, it could not easily be accepted by those with the power to interpret the laws, neither was it easily rejected when it proved to be a lucrative cash crop in many areas of the Middle East and almost instantly accessible to the rich and poor. The researcher then concluds hi s study that article ends up being very informative regarding the growth and development of the tobacco industry in the Middle East in terms of the use of the product among the people and the evolving stance of the leaders. It does not sufficiently prove that tobacco was the causal element that brought about change within the Islamic cultural group to enable them to step into the modern age with the rest of the world. As a result, the article fails to convincingly prove its point, but remains interesting through its examination of one potentiality.