Question Summary:
1. How is smoking Makruh? 2. Can you keep Lotto with the intention of donating the money earned?

Question Detail:

1.      How can smoking be Makruh when in the Qurān Allah Ta῾āla says that whatever damages your body is Harām for you?
2.      I am buying a business; I notice that the Lotto facility attracts many customers. My intention for adding this facility is that all money earned by the Lotto will be given away to charity. Will this be permissible?

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh. 
1.      A Harām act is impermissible. Similarly, a Makruh act is also impermissible.
The difference between Harām and Makruh is in relation to its source and degree of prohibition.
 
The Fuqahā have exercised extreme precaution in categorizing prohibited acts and declaring something as Harām or Makruh.
Harām is established through a Qat῾iyyu thubūt (expressly proven) and Qat῾iyyau dalālah (expressly indicative).[1]
Smoking itself is not expressly mentioned in the Qurān. Therefore, it does not qualify and cannot be declared as Harām. This does not mean that smoking is not prohibited. There are other dimensions for the prohibition of smoking and hence, it is categorized in the prohibited degree of Makruh.[2]  
The technical differences in terminologies are intricate and of academic nature, the understanding of which is generally beyond the general public.
 
2.      It is impermissible to earn money through Harām means with the intention of dispensing it in charity.[3]
 
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Zaid M Shelia,
Student Darul Iftaa
Chicago, Illinois (USA)
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
www.daruliftaa.net