Assalamu'alaikum,

Tackling AIDS through Islam

AIDS is a real and very serious issue affecting the world... and I can't but imagine how things will be a few years down the road. I stick to my stand that ABSTINENCE is the best form of prevention. The key word here is prevention...and no one can guarantee that a condom won't tear..or its effectiveness reduced by oil based lubricants etc. Stick by what is taught to us in the Qur'an and Sunnah and help those effected through mercy and compassion.

Imagine if no sexual relations outside of marriage are commited on a daily basis...that itself would greatly cut the number of high-risk chances of getting infected with AIDS. Some may say that's unrealistic.. I say it is realistic as there have been and still are communities that maintain abstinence and protect themselves from at least 1 factor that spreads AIDS.

If adult men & women think maturely and respect their bodies they will not put themselves at unnesecary risk merely for the satisfaction of sexual intercourse. Indeed, tossing away a lifetime for 30 minutes of pleasure is a shame indeed. Sex is a blessing, not a curse. In Islam, it is not a taboo and it is a blessing meant to be safeguarded between two people who love and commit their lives to one another with responsibility and compassion.

Once the adults sort it out, the children will automatically be protected from AIDS. The number of men who carry the HIV virus and jump from one woman to another for sex and thereby affecting the women who in turn pass the virus to the child they carry would decrease significantly if the men would NOT engage in pre/extra marital sexual relationships in the first place.

I know it's difficult especially in this time and age where sexual pleasure is prime entertainment in all areas of life... kids growing up nowadays are bombarded with sexual imagery from a very young age. I was photographing a wedding one day and a little boy of no more than 7 asked me " Abang pernah rogol tak?"

" Abang pernah rogol tak?" translated: "Have you ever raped a girl?"

I was shocked.... and i told that boy that rogol is the worst things a person can do and that the Prophet cursed the one who rapes. He understood and got the message that i wansn't happy. When asked whether he would like to be raped and be beaten up.. he said no with wide open eyes...

What's happening to us? Where are the adults to prevent this things coming to our children? Why are our adults running off with their genitals taking over their brains?

May God protects us all.. and God doesn't help those who do not help themselves first of all.