Mu‘assel (Arabic: معسل which means "honeyed", also spelled "maasel", "ma'asel", "maassel", "maassell" and "mahsell"), or "Shisha", is a syrupy tobacco mix with molasses and vegetable glycerin which is smoked in a Hookah.
Shisha (شيشة), from the Persian word shīshe (شیشه), meaning glass, is the common term for the hookah in Egypt, Sudan and the Arab countries the Persian Gulf (including Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, UAE, and Saudi Arabia), and in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Somalia and Yemen. Initial traces of hookah smoking have been found in the North Western provinces of India in the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Typical flavors of mu‘assel include apple, grape, guava, lemon, mint, as well as many other fruit based mixes. Unusual flavors, including white gummy bear, blueberry muffin, and Powerbull flavor (similar to the flavor of a Red Bull energy drink), have been introduced in recent years.
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In the Arab world, people smoke it as part of their culture and traditions. Social smoking is done with a single or double hose, and sometimes even more numerous such as a triple or quadruple hose in the forms of parties or small get-togethers. When the smoker is finished, either the hose is placed back on the table signifying that it is available, or it is handed from one user to the next, folded back on itself so that the mouthpiece is not pointing at the recipient.
Most cafés (Arabic: مقهىً, transliteration: maqha, translation: coffeeshop) in the Middle East offer shishas. Cafés are widespread and are amongst the chief social gathering places in the Arab world (akin to public houses in Britain). Some expatriate Britons arriving in the Middle East adopt shisha cafés to make up for the lack of pubs in the region, especially where prohibition is in place.
In Syria, shisha is widely used, called argila, it is available in almost every corner. It has become part of Syria's everyday culture. People are often seen smoking on the side of the streets, parks, bus stops even sheesha cafes are seen fully occupied in the late hours of the night. It is normal to see a female smoking sheesha in Syria. It is a very sociable activity, often mixing well with a game of Tawla (Backgammon) or cards and tea.
In Iran, the hookah is known as a ḡalyān (Persian: قليان, قالیون, غلیون, also spelled ghalyan, ghalyaan or ghelyoon). It is similar in many ways to the Arabic hookah but has its own unique attributes. An example is the top part of the ghalyoun called 'sar' (Persian: سر=head), where the tobacco is placed, is bigger than the ones seen in Turkey. Also the major part of the hose is flexible and covered with soft silk or cloth while the Turkish make the wooden part as big as the flexible part.
Each person has his own personal mouthpiece (called an Amjid) (امجید), Amjid is usually made of wood or metal and decorated with valuable or other stones. Amjids are only used for their fancy look. However, all the Hookah Bars have plastic mouth-pieces.
The exact date of the first use of ḡalyān in Persia is not known. According to Cyril Elgood (pp. 41, 110), who does not mention his source, it wasAbu’l-Fatḥ Gīlānī (d. 1588), a Persian physician at the court of the Mughal emperor Akbar I, who “first passed the smoke of tobacco through a small bowl of water to purify and cool the smoke and thus invented the hubble-bubble or hookah.” However, a quatrain of Ahlī Šīrāzī (d. 1535) refers to the use of the ḡalyān (Falsafī, II, p. 277; Semsār, 1963, p. 15), thus dating its use at least as early as the time of Ṭahmāsp I (1524–76). It seems, therefore, that Abu’l-Fatḥ Gīlānī should be credited with the introduction of the ḡalyān, already in use in Persia, to India.
Although the Safavid Shah ʿAbbās I strongly condemned tobacco use, towards the end of his reign smoking ḡalyān and čopoq (q.v.) had become common on every level of the society, women included. In schools and learned circles, both teachers and students had ḡalyāns while lessons continued (Falsafī, II, pp. 278–80). Shah Ṣafī (r. 1629-42) declared a complete ban on tobacco, but the income received from its use persuaded him to revoke the ban. The use of ḡalyāns became so widespread that a group of poor people became professional tinkers of crystal water pipes. During the time of Shah ʿAbbās II (r. 1642-1666), use of the water pipe had become a national addiction (Chardin, tr., II, p. 899). The shah had his own private ḡalyān servant. Evidently the position of water pipe tender (ḡalyāndār) dates from this time. Also at this time, reservoirs were made of glass, pottery, or a type of gourd. Because of the unsatisfactory quality of indigenous glass, glass reservoirs were sometimes imported from Venice (Chardin, tr., II, p. 892). In the time of Shah Solaymān (r. 1694-1722), ḡalyāns became more elaborately embellished as their use increased. The wealthy owned gold and silver pipes. The masses spent more on ḡalyāns than they did on the necessities of life (Tavernier apud Semsār, 1963, p. 16). An emissary of Shah Sultan Husayn (r.1722-32) to the court of Louis XV, on his way to the royal audience at Versailles, had in his retinue an officer holding his ḡalyān, which he used while his carriage was in motion (Herbette, tr. p. 7; Kasrawī, pp. 211–12; Semsār, 1963, pp. 18–19). We have no record indicating the use of ḡalyān at the court of Nāder Shah Afšār, although its use seems to have continued uninterrupted. There are portraits of Karīm Khan Zand and Fatḥ-ʿAlī Shah Qājār which depict them smoking the ḡalyān.[1] Iranians had a special tobacco called Khansar (خانسار, presumably name of the origin city). The charcoals would be put on the Khansar without foil. Khansar has less smoke than the normal tobacco.
Although it is traditionally prevalent in rural areas for generations,[2] hookahs have become very popular in the cosmopolitan cities.
The concept of hookah is thought to have originated In India,[3] once the province of the wealthy, it was tremendously popular especially during Mughal rule. The hookah has since become less popular; however, it is once again garnering the attention of the masses, and cafés and restaurants that offer it as a consumable are popular. The use of hookahs from ancient times in India was not only a custom, but a matter of prestige. Rich and landed classes would smoke hookahs.
Tobacco is smoked in hookahs in many villages as per traditional customs. Smoking a tobacco-molasses shisha is now becoming popular amongst the youth in India. There are several chain clubs, bars and coffee shops in India offering a wider variety of mu‘assels, including non-tobacco versions.Hookah was recently banned in Bangalore. However it can be bought or rented for personal usage or organised parties only.[4]
Koyilandy, a small fishing town on the west coast of India, once made and exported hookahs extensively. These are known as Malabar Hookhas or Koyilandy Hookahs. Today these intricate hookahs are difficult to find outside of Koyilandy and not much easier to find in Koyilandy itself.
As hookah makes a resurgence in India, there have been numerous raids and bans recently on hookah smoking, especially in Gujarat[5]
Hookah (हुक़्क़ा), specially wooden ones are popular in Nepal. Use of hookah is considered to symbolize elite family throughout history. These days hookahs are also getting popular among younger people and tourists [6]
Hookah was a traditional smoking machine in Bangladesh same as India. But the flavored shisha has been introduced in the early 2000. Shisha lounges spread quite fast in the year 2008-2011 and became very popular among the young people as well as the mid aged people as a relaxation method as there is very few entertainment you can find in Bangladesh. But government alleged that the shisha lounges are doing drug business and started crack down their businesses. Some personal grudge from some very powerful person has also linked with this crackdown against shisha. Even media has gone against shisha and they wrote all the negative and false statement about shisha and connect shisha with the dangerous drug YABA (methamphetamine) which make the situation even worse. Police continuously raiding all the lounges but they don't go for 5 star hotels. As a result lounges lost all their crowd as none of them want to be harassed. Police even continuously violating the court stay order and at this moment they are not allowing any shisha place to run their shisha business except the 5 star category hotels. So, basically it is unofficially banned in Bangladesh. A writ petition has been filed in the high court which has given the final hearing date on 10th of January'2012. A recent study has shown that if shisha get banned from the court then 80% lounge business will be shut down which worth at least 30 crore BDT and also about 5000 people will be unemployed along with their families.
In the Philippines, the Hookah or Shisha was particularly used within the minority Arab Filipino communities and Indian Filipino, although particularly among indigenous Muslim Filipinos, a historical following of social and cultural trends set in the Middle East led to the Hookah being a rare albeit prestige social-habit of noblemen in important trade cities such as Cotabato or Jolo.
Hookah was virtually unknown by Christian Filipinos before the latter 20th century, yet the popularity among contemporary younger Christians is now vastly growing. In the capital's most cosmopolitan city, Makati; various high-end bars and clubs offer hookahs to patrons.
Although hookah use has been common for hundreds of years and enjoyed by people of all ages, it has just begun to become a youth-oriented pastime in Asia in recent times. Hookahs are most popular with college students and young adults, who may be underage and thus unable to purchase cigarettes.[7]
In South Africa, hookah, colloquially known as a hubbly bubbly or an okka pipe, is popular amongst the Cape Malay and Indian populations, wherein it is smoked as a social pastime.[8] However, hookah is seeing increasing popularity with white South Africans, especially the youth. Bars that additionally provide hookahs are becoming more prominent, although smoking is normally done at home or in public spaces such as beaches and picnic sites.
In South Africa, the terminology of the various hookah components also differ from other countries. The clay "head/bowl" is known as a "clay pot". The hoses are called "pipes" and the air release valve is known, strangely, as a "clutch".
Some scientists point to the dagga pipe as an African origin of hookah.[9]
During the 1960s and 1970s, hookahs were a popular tool for the consumption of various derivations of tobacco, among other things.[10] At parties or small gatherings the hookah hose was passed around with users partaking as they saw fit.
Recently, certain cities, counties, and states have implemented indoor smoking bans. In some jurisdictions, hookah businesses can be exempted from the policies through special permits. Some permits, however, have requirements such as the business earning a certain minimum percentage of their revenue from alcohol or tobacco.
In cities with indoor smoking bans, hookah bars have been forced to close or switch to tobacco-free mu‘assel. In many cities though, hookah lounges have been growing in popularity. From the year 2000 to 2004, over 200 new hookah cafés opened for business, most of them targeted at young adults [11] and located near college campuses or cities with large Middle-Eastern communities. This activity continues to gain popularity within the post-secondary student demographic.[12] According to a 2011 study, 40.3 percent of college and university students surveyed had smoked tobacco from a hookah. [13]
According to Richard Hurt or the Mayo Clinic, smoking a tobacco-based Hookah is as dangerous as smoking cigarettes. [14]
Each hookah session typically lasts more than 40 minutes, and consists of 50 to 200 inhalations that each range from 0.15 to 0.50 liters of smoke.[15][16] In an hour-long smoking session of hookah, users consume about 100 to 200 times the smoke of a single cigarette;[15] in a 45-minute smoking session a typical smoker would inhale 1.7 times the nicotine[17] of a single cigarette.
Tobacco-free Hookah products, such as shisha based on herbs, tea leaves and either sugar cane or sugar beets, have been developed so as to minimise the harm to the user from the nicotine, tar and other chemicals present in tobacco smoke.
A 2008 study on hookah smoking and cancer in Pakistan[18] found that serum CEA levels in ever/exclusive hookah smokers were higher than in non-smokers and lower than in cigarette smokers. The study also concluded that heavy hookah smoking (2–4 daily preparations; 3–8 sessions a day; 2 to 6 hours net daily smoking time) substantially raises CEA levels.[18]