Is it permissible to open a coffee shop project for smoking the hookah, or at least to rent one of my shops to be opened for the same purpose?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

It is impermissible to open a shop or a café project for smoking the hookah and its like, and it is also impermissible to rent the shop to be used for the same purpose, due to the religious and financial damage and harm of the hookah. It is an evil thing. Allaah The Almighty Says, clarifying the wisdom that lies behind sending His Messenger, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa salam (what means): {and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil.} [Quran 7:157] It also corrupts the human body and causes numerous diseases as confirmed by physicians. Allaah The Almighty forbade killing or causing the soul to be killed, or even harmed, since the body is a trust, for which the slave is responsible.

As such, the money that is spent in this way is not spent in the right way, and it is counted among blameworthy extravagance. By making such a project, you would become an aide and cause of that evil, which means that you would bear a portion of the sins of those who smoke it in your shop. In confirmation of this, the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa salam, said in an authentic Hadeeth (narration): "…and whoever lays the foundation of an evil tradition in Islam, shall bear its sin and the sin of those who act upon it to the Day of Judgment, without reducing anything of theirs." [Muslim] Indeed, what Allaah The Almighty has made lawful is satisfactory and sufficient, and whoever fears Allaah The Almighty, He will make for him a way out, and provide for him from where he does not expect.

Allaah Knows best.