[Malaysia] ABIM's Comment on "Harm-REduction" Programme

Malaysia's Islamic Groups Cautiously Accept Anti-HIV Plan

KUALA LUMPUR, July 19, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) -Islamic organizations in Malaysia are only cautiously accepting a government plan to distribute free syringes and condoms as part of a pioneering plan to battle the country's HIV/AIDS crisis.

"We are for the program, but the authorities must realize that before implementing it they must consult with the various quarters involved," Azizuddin Ahmad, secretary-general of the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM), told IslamOnline.net.

"They need to consult with Muslim scholars,non-governmental organizations, academics, and a host of other people before this program is implemented.

"The problem has to be looked at holistically," he stressed.

Facing a threat of a possible epidemic, Malaysia is mulling the implementation of a pioneer program to give needles, condoms and methadone substitution drugs to addicts to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS.

The government has decided to consult the National Fatwa Council on the program compatibility with Islamic Shari`ah after it was disputed by some religious leaders fearing it could "legitimize" illicit sex and drug abuse.

The World Health Organization has recently warned that Malaysia is at the initial stage of an HIV outbreak.

Deputy Premier Najib Tun Razak has put at 64,000 the number of Malaysians infected with HIV.

He warned that "if this trend continues in the next two or three years, between 200,000 and 300,000 people may be infected".

Concerns

Despite the guarded response, ABIM still has concerns about the pilot program, including the message and implications of the plan which the government says will target about 1,200 drug addicts.

"By distributing syringes and condoms freely to drug addicts, what message are we inadvertently sending across to our youth?" Azizuddin asked.

"Inevitably, that message is that it is okay to use drugs and have sex as long as it is safe.

"That program must not carry that message." Azizuddin's statements echoed those of other groups that met recently for a round table discussion on the implications of the program.

Among their primary concerns was the failure of HIV/AIDS advocacy groups and the government authorities to address the social roots of the epidemic, and declining social morality in general, in formulating its plan.

Dr Rayney Azmi Ali, a leader of the Islamic opposition PAS party, said that though they welcome efforts to combat the disease, the government was not doing enough to prevent wrong behavior from occurring in the
first place.

"As a representative of PAS, I would say that we welcome any moves or calls that lead to righteous behavior, and the government seems to be calling to something that is good," he told participants.

"However, we must stress here that merely amr bil ma'ruf (enjoin the good) is not enough. Nahy 'anil munkar (forbidding the evil) must also be done," said Dr Rayney, who heads the party's Islamic medical center.

Action Needed

Dr Kamarul Azhar Mohd Razali, a doctor at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital's Institute of Pediatrics, urged Islamic and Muslim interest groups to take an active part in engaging and treating HIV/AIDS patients.

"We cannot deny that the HIV/AIDS problem is at its root a social problem which cannot be tackled merely physically but also socially and spiritual," he said.

"It is a social problem that stems from failure to prevent certain human activities," said the doctor, who treats two to three children infected with HIV every month at his clinic.

"However, we Muslims have been very adept at sitting around and judging, saying this is haram (prohibited), that is haram, while we ourselves haven't done anything about (the spread of the disease)" Kamarul regretted.

He recalled that some Muslim women, who have been infected with HIV through no fault of their own but as a result of their husbands' extra-marital affairs or drug-addiction, had been shunned by the Muslim community.

"One woman I know of (who was infected through her husband) had gone to a mosque to pray with the congregation. What did they do? They chased her out!" he said angrily.

"We Muslims have been so deceitful and have no sense of compassion anymore," he charged.

Future Risks

Dr Kamarul pointed out that at the rate in which HIV/AIDS was spreading in Malaysia, especially among its youth, drastic steps were indeed to prevent the destruction of a large segment of the country's future population.

"From the first few reported cases in 1986, the numbers had soured to more than 65,000 identified HIV/AIDS patients in 2005," he said, adding that one in every 400 Malaysians are currently infected.

He argued that the solution of the HIV/AIDS problem lays in tackling it multilaterally."The spread of HIV/AIDS is a result of the failure of every layer of society, a failure from the heads of the government and spiritual leaders down to us who are the ordinary members of society," said Dr Kamarul.

He urged all parties and interest groups to be pro-active in educating members of their community about HIV/AIDS.

Uganda Model

Dr Ishak Mas'ud, former president of the Malaysian Islamic Medical Association, asked the authorities to study the experience of the Muslim community in the East African country of Uganda.

In tackling the HIV/AIDS crisis, Uganda's Islamic Medical Association (IMA) developed a distinctly Islamic approach to the problem by enlisting the community's Islamic administrative structure and
personnel to educate and spread awareness.

More than 1,000 imams and 7,000 volunteers were instrumental in conveying not merely information about the epidemic, but injecting Islamic teachings into the information sessions, Dr Ishak said.

In such a manner, he added, the Muslim leaders would also be able to speak on the Islamic concept of Jihad An-Nafs, the struggle of the soul against obeying its lusts and desires, as well as the societal jihad to care for those infected or affected by HIV/AIDS.

Dr Ishak said the IMA's approach had resulted in a tangible decline of HIV/AIDS incidence among members of Uganda's Muslim community by 18% to the current rate of 6%.

Dr Faisal Ibrahim, who heads the health ministry's HIV/AIDS program, has promised to study the Ugandan experiment.

"By all means, we will consider the model. In our plans, we have already proposed enlisting the help of and training the imams of our mosques," he said.

The government plans on implementing its pilot methadone program in October and has tentatively set January as the start of its free syringe and condom program.