On Tue, 18 Jul 2000 14:32:33 EDT Yusupha Jow
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi Dr. Mansour:
>
> I have followed Hamjatta's interesting posts regarding the HIV epidemic in
> Africa. I also read the NYTimes special on the conference in South Africa
> that was published in last Sunday's paper. Nevertheless, I am a bit
> disappointed by your attempt to explain the rapid spread of this pandemic
> through Islam. You proceed further to state that lashing human beings a
> hundred times and stoning adulterers to death is a justified solution towards
> solving this problem. I could hardly disagree more. First, most countries
> cannot introduce these draconian methods into their current law system.
> Sharia is not culturally inherent to most countries, particularly African
> ones. If Islam is the end all solution to this problem, then tell me how
> polygamy is a positive practice in the ongoing efforts to reduce the growing
> HIV positive population in Africa?
Thanks Mr Jow. I am afraid I was not writing to impress.
but to say what I believe to be the truth. I deliberately
refused to use the word Sharia because I know it creates a
kink of phobia in many even though few know what Sharia is
all about. The gist of my posting was not about prescribed
punishment but the fact that the HIV/AIDS is the result of
behavioral deviation which should be seen as such. I am
sure you will agree with me that sexual deviance is a
serious crime because it underlies the very basis of the
propagation of the human species. As to the appropriateness
of the prescribed punishment I think that will be a
different debate. Suffice it to say I believe in whatever
the author of human kind, Allah (SWT) decrees.
The role of polygamy is an interesting one. Let us
consider the basis of polygamy. The biology of males and
females are very different. Females do have a cyclical
variation monthly, in pregnancy, and in menopause. Men on
the other hand have none of these. As a result there is a
non syncronicity between the sexes. Some men are able to
'match' by social considerations. On the other hand some
are not so successful perhaps due to their genetically
determined high androgen levels. Secondly, there is a
variation in the proportion of sexes in most places
especially in places prone to wars which takes away men
leaving women behind. In fact it is interesting that the
Ayat allowing for polygamy came just after the Battle of
Uhud when a large number of men died. The condition though
is that one treats them fairly. This is where I have
problem with polygamy in our society where people tend to
see it as a status symbol and not caring about the proviso.
So you see that there is both a biological and social
justification of the religious ruling. It can be positive
in preventing HIV/AIDS in the sense that a properly
constituted marriage mops up the excess women and prevents
'supermen' from straying. The bottom line is there is no
justification for Zinah.
> But, back to the pressing issue, I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Mandela and
> Thabo Mbeki that we should focus more on education and the spread of
> knowledge about this terrible epidemic as opposed to spending tons of money
> on expensive anti-aids drugs. This, because without proper education about
> the disease, the introduction of these drugs will be a short term solution
> and not a long term one. In fact, our next door neighbors, were cited at the
> conference as one of the countries that has been particularly successful with
> the educational alternative. Senegal, through the aggressive dispersal of
> information, has seen her HIV rate drop drastically.
I fully agree with you on this.
> On a final note, your proposed solutions to the problem are positive. But
> you also claimed that we should stop wasting millions on conferences etc. To
> the contrary, Aids conferences are extremely important. It allows countries
> to adopt successful strategies that others have used to combat the spread of
> this disease. I believe that we have made some giant steps towards finding
> ways to solve this pandemic.
More needs to be done though. The number of cases are
going up by the minute. The point I was trying to make was
that we have got our priorities wrong. Some money for
conferences, research, etc. yes. However the main focus
should be the behavioral modification. Prevention rather
than focussing too much on the wild goose chase of this
fast mutating virus.
Asalamu alaikum
MMC
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Dr M Mansour Ceesay
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