What will your New Year’s Resolution be?

As we end one year and enter a new one, we should one moment to reflect – to reflect on our responsibilities. We have responsibilities to our family and friends, and our colleagues at work or at school. We should also remember our responsibility to our fellow human beings who may not as better off as we are.

Many of us will be setting New Year’s resolutions to lose weight or try something new every day for the next year. With so much suffering in the world, surely one of the new things must be to help people who maybe suffering from illness and are in poverty. It is our duty not just as Muslims, but as simple human beings to help our fellow man. We shouldn’t stand aside and let suffering affect people who aren’t so different from us.

Most of us have so much to be thankful and grateful for. While we are in our warms homes, there is someone out there in the cold; while we are eating our hot dinner, there is someone out there starving; and while we are fit and healthy, there is someone suffering from illnesses such as malaria or HIV/AIDS.

Are you doing enough to help those suffering? Why not make it your New Year’s resolution to start something new and actively help someone who needs that something small to make a difference.

Islamic Dawah at a Critical Crossroad (By Dr Hany El Banna)

Islamic dawah (Islamic education) has reached a critical crossroad. At one side of the crossroad is the dire need of the community for knowledge to be used as action and to be carried by religious and community leaders. On the other side of the crossroad there is a plethora of religions and community leaders who are airing their views through magnanimous road show events.

The people in the middle are desperate, confused, and bewildered.

The glamour of the road show does not solve their personal or community problems. Family issues such as marriage and divorce, violence, denial of rights, as well as general bad habits such as the chewing of qat, paan, and supari, stop some of these community leaders and Imams from fulfilling their duties.

This reminds us of the teaching of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) when he reminded the community that the curse of God will affect the people of knowledge and power before affecting the general people since these leaders did not execute their knowledge to help and serve the community.

The first three people that Allah (SWT) will throw into hellfire are as follows: the martyr, the hafiz, and the scholar who became what they were so that they could be called a martyr, hafiz, and scholar. They did not act sincerely upon the knowledge they had.

I hope that we act upon the little knowledge we have to save the greater community that we belong to.

The Running Clock

I’m sure we’ve all seen the totally fab 80s film, ‘The Running Man’. Here we see Arnold Schwarzenegger battling against time to save his and others lives. The year is 20something, society is in a mess, the economy has completely collapsed, and the government, in an attempt to placate its people, resorts to investing in a TV game show where people get to watch convicted criminals literally run for their lives from a group of gladiators. If they manage to escape then an amazing holiday and other perks is up for grabs.  However if the gladiators manage to catch up, then that’s it, they die.

So what do we learn from The Running Man?
Apart from the fact that spandex is a horror no one can get away with, we learn that time is of the essence in everything we do.  In the case of the Running Man, one wrong move could have changed the entire context of the game for both the hunter and hunted.  The time spent thinking about how to seize the right moment was a key ingredient that determined success for each of the ‘runners’.

So often we say to ourselves ‘I didn’t have enough time to do this or that’. The important thing to note is that it isn’t so much about time itself but how it is utilised. This utilisation can literally mean the difference between remaining in the situation we’re in versus taking that one closer step to the next greatest change for all.

In the case of HIV and AIDS, it is well documented that there are currently over 33 million people living with the virus. We still have time to halt, reverse, and eradicate it. But to do this, we need to dedicate time and utilise it well.  

The clock runs, let’s not get left behind.

Bruce the Turantula & the Bicycle with no Brakes

There was once a turantula called Bruce who decided to take a walk in the park.  Suddenly HAVOC!!! People were scared of him. Some screamed their heads off, some tried to stamp on him, others simply ran. Bruce was shaken. All he had wanted to do was to take a walk in the park and enjoy the sunshine.

This is what people living with HIV and AIDS experience on a regular basis. The stigma that surrounds their existence can prove a crushing blow. The negative attitudes and maltreatment that they endure on a daily basis can be devastating enough to stop them from getting on with their lives.

In both the short and long term it doesn’t do the individual or society any good. The individual can end up being shunned by family and the wider community.  On a community level, those who may be carrying the HIV virus may refuse to go and get tested for fear that they too may end up being rejected by others. This puts others at risk of contracting the virus from them because they are unaware of their HIV status. Stigma can also exist at the government level and prevent action being taken against the pandemic.  This has been the case in many countries.

What we end up with is a bicycle with no brakes going at high speed down a hill.  The situation goes out of control for everyone involved.

Without breaking down the barriers of stigma people will always be fearful of HIV and AIDS. When you fear something you cannot overcome it. If you cannot overcome it, you will not be able to take the first steps to stopping it. The Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) said in a hadith: “Be merciful to those on earth, so that the One above the heavens (God) will be merciful to you.”  We need to let this saying guide our actions towards people living with HIV and AIDS.  Without mercy and compassion we do an injustice to others and to ourselves.

A man called Mango and his starring role in World AIDS Day

Mango was arrested last Thursday afternoon for killing several men, women, and children.  The authorities had been on his track for a while but owing to the lack of a coordinated effort by those in charge he was allowed to go and claim more victims. After his arrest, something shocking happened. Someone had unwittingly left the jail door open and allowed him to escape. His whereabouts are unknown but the people whose lives he has affected is very clear to see.  

Who is Mango?

Mango represents the story of HIV and AIDS, a killer on the loose in society. Since 1981 HIV and AIDS has killed over 25 million Muslims and non-Muslims around the world.  Another 33 million people are living with the effects of its attack.  

Today marks a day in which activists around the world are campaigning to bring about an end to HIV and AIDS. Today is World AIDS Day. But for us at the International HIV Fund, it is World AIDS Day every day. Collectively we need to throw this virus into jail and throw away the key. To tackle something however you must first understand it. Education and action go hand in hand. They are both part of faith. See: http://www.internationalhivfund.org/about-hiv-and-aids

Once someone wise said: ‘’HIV: You are either infected or affected’’. If you are not living with HIV, you are living in a community affected by it - which ultimately affects you.

It’s time to care.

Monkey, Man, and Ostrich (By Dr Hany El-Banna)

How can a medical problem become a cultural phenomenon and what is the relationship between both? Which started first and how can we deal with both?

In the case of HIV and AIDS its inception is debatable because we always blame the monkey. But the monkey is innocent: either we injected him with HIV or he was carrying it and transmitted it to a human being.  Whatever the origins of HIV, the monkey is not responsible for our sexual and drug addictive behaviours, which are found to be the prime causes of HIV transmission. 

I believe the monkey is innocent.

Let us discuss new cultural attitudes of the highly developed society that we are living in at the moment. The UN is developing what we call the ABC approach: A stands for ‘Abstinence’, B for ‘Be Faithful’ and C for ‘Correct and Consistent Use of Condoms’. Human attitudes towards sexual behaviour speeded up the transmission of the virus from generation to generation and from one gender to another.
The highly civilised culture reflects free sex for all with a partner who is from the same or different gender, and includes sex workers. The sidelining of the family issue and religious values and the stigma affecting the non-sexually active members of society breaks all the barriers and boundaries that builds the family which can build a stable society. The freedom of sexual behaviour and the availability of it for pre-aged school children is raising another alarm: inexperienced young girls and boys might have been contracting HIV and transmitting it without knowing. Furthermore, the acceptance of same-sex sexual practices as a part of our life becomes’ another source of transmission for HIV.

Moving out of sexual behaviour (which is debatable with a strong right according to where we are) we move onto drugs and addiction which constitutes a change of attitudes towards injected drug use as a whole. People do not discuss the issue of addiction but discuss the issue of the needle – and this is a shift in the mindset of a newly developing moral society value which has taken away all the moral teachings of religions that were brought to humanity to protect society.
When we look at all these factors which change the mindset of the people and encourage a drastic change in human behaviour, we find that this has led to the creation of a new culture which is facilitating the spread of the virus. 

We are left with one option: to try to protect our society from the devastating impact of the spread of HIV. The solution is to create another culture that can protect society from infancy and childhood to see an end to this ill (cultural) behaviour of the human race.

It will take some time - at least one generation - to bring about a second generation that understands the moral societal value that can protect the family unit and bring forth the future citizens of society who believe that citizens within the family is the most importance asset any nation can have. So while we are treating and looking after the people who are living with HIV, we need to build up this new culture which protects future generations.

At the end of the day we don’t want to become like the ostrich with her head buried in the sand. Rather we would like to face the route causes of the problem courageously: either cut it or change it to save the human race.

I have to admit that the monkey is innocent from the verdict of guilt that he has transmitted HIV to us. Let’s give the monkey his freedom by releasing him from the cage and look to the real causes of HIV.

What is Culture? (By Dr Hany El-Banna)

Yesterday the IHIVF coordinator spoke of her visit to a speakers tour which detailed the experiences of people living with HIV, and touched upon some of the issues surrounding the virus. Today, we shall continue with an analysis of the root causes of HIV by looking at some questions relating to culture.

Firstly, what do we mean by culture?

Is culture dictating our life?
Is culture a part of our religion?
Is culture the reflection of our civilisation?
Is culture a personal or common issue?
Is culture touchable or untouchable?
Does culture dictate rights and wrongs and if so, who judges this?

With regards to HIV and AIDS:
Is culture having an impact on HIV or not? And, is it still a medical pandemic or a new cultural phenomenon?

Part 2 coming up. In the meantime please let us know your thoughts on the above.

Can we eradicate HIV?

‘’Any movement starts with one person at a time...’’

These were the words ringing through my ears as I listened to the account of George, a young man from the USA who has been living with HIV for the past five years.

I was sitting in the Grand Committee Room in the House of Commons for the Stop AIDS Speaker Tour, a part of the Stop AIDS Campaign. Joining George on the panel of speakers were Esnart from Zambia and Bonani from Zimbabwe. The meeting was chaired by Pauline Latham OBE MP, Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on HIV and AIDS.

George, Esnart, and Bonani had different experiences of HIV. Whereas the first two had contracted the virus from others, Bonani’s experience differed in that he watched his brother, TJ, die from it.

The three speakers represented the scope of the virus across two different continents. In addition to there being disparities in access to medication, all three speakers stressed the lack of access to quality treatment which could enhance the quality of life for a person living with HIV. George for instance said there were very little support services available in his state for someone who had just discovered they were living with HIV. Upon learning of his status, he fell into a deep depression and turned to alcohol and cocaine to numb his pain. Touchingly, Bonani also recalled how his brother did not die from the virus; rather it was the lack of love and support from his family which had killed his spirit.
Meanwhile in Zambia, Esnart had watched both her husband and child die in a relatively short space of time but thought this may have been owing to other illnesses. One day she read a book about HIV and decided to get herself tested. She tested positive for HIV.

There are many issues at play here from the lack of vital services to the need for greater awareness and education on HIV. The experiences encountered by George, Esnart, and Bonani have led them to be active campaigners against the virus. It is a deadly virus but one that is also very complex in its character. Just as importantly, there is no cure for HIV. This makes it all the more important for us all to become more involved.
Perhaps the most inspirational story of the night came from Esnart. After her HIV positive status had been confirmed she met a man whom she fell in love with. One night, he confessed to her that he had HIV. They eventually married and had a child together who was put on treatment immediately after birth. Just recently, their daughter had her final HIV test which tested negative, meaning their daughter is officially free of the virus (despite both mother and father living with HIV).

Esnart’s story gives hope that there is every possibility of halting, reversing, and eradicating HIV.

Hall leading into Westminster

Big Ben

Grand Committee Room, House of Commons (more pics below)

Welcome

Dear all,

Things have been quiet on the blog front for the International HIV Fund. We will be launching our new campaign very shortly. For now, you can keep in touch with our organisation and HIV related news via our website. You can also join us on our Facebook page and follow us via Twitter.

Stay tuned!