[hukkā], ḥuqqah, Hukić —also known as a waterpipe, narghile, arghila, qalyān, shisha, or by other names) is a single or multi-stemmed instrument for vaporizing and smoking flavored tobacco called shisha in which the vapor or smoke is passed through a water basin—often glass-based—before inhalation.ookah smokers inhale nicotine which is an addictive chemical. A typical hookah smoking session delivers 1.7 times the nicotine dose of one cigarette and the nicotine absorption rate in daily waterpipe users is equivalent to smoking 10 cigarettes per day.