THE issue highlighted by the media to quarantine people with HIV/AIDS has received many opinions from the public.
Actually, the practice of quarantine or separation of the diseased from the healthy has been around for a long time.
For example, rules existed for isolating lepers. Venice established the first formal system of quarantine, requiring ships to stay at anchor for 40 days before landing.
In the mid-20th century, the advent of antibiotics and routine vaccinations made large-scale quarantining a thing of the past. But today bio-terrorism and new diseases like SARS threaten to resurrect the age-old custom, potentially on the scale of entire cities.
The chronology of quarantines is clearly recorded in world history from AD549 to 2004.In AD549, during the most devastating epidemic of bubonic plague in history, the Byzantine emperor Justinian enacted a law meant to hinder and isolate people arriving from plague-infested regions.
In 2003, during an outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Asia and Canada, officials credit the use of both isolation (for those sick with SARS) and quarantine (for those exposed to the sick) to forestall an even more severe epidemic.
Furthermore, according to Dr Marawan Shahin, Professor of Hadith and its Sciences, Faculty of Usul Ad-Din (Theology), Al-Azhar University: “Infectious patients are exempted from attending prayers with the congregation so as not to transmit the disease to other people. The other way round, the healthy should avoid contact with infectious patients.”
Anyway, avoiding such patients is not a guarantee that one would not catch the disease. Instead, it is a kind of ofal-akhdh bil-asbab (taking all possible protective procedures).
According to the Islamic perspective, infection is not effected by its own, but by the will of Allah. In this sense, we see many people who come into contact with infectious patients not getting infected.
Anyway, people are told to use all possible lawful means to stop or avoid a danger.
The Prophet declared the ruling related to such cases in many hadith.
He said: “Avoid a man infected with leprosy as you avoid a lion.”
He is also reported to have said: “When you talk to a man infected with leprosy, let a distance of one or two spears be between you and him.”
On the other hand, people may say that we cannot equate HIV/AIDS with cholera or even tuberculosis, as it is not a contagious disease.
We can read hundreds of scientific journals about HIV/AIDS and their infection mechanisms. We can explain to the public that there are limited ways of getting infected with HIV/AIDS.
We can provide all the scientific facts but we forget that practical science can only explain the phenomena already found in the world.
Now we can say that the limited infection mechanism of HIV/AIDS is not a forever statement since practical science can never warrant or justify it.
Scientists may explain a phenomenon and try to imitate it, yet the whole process and substances included in it are Allah’s creation and He availed them to scientists to see signs of Allah’s absolute power.
This actually enhances the religious dimension of all fields of knowledge. That is why Allah says: “The erudite among His bondsmen fear Allah alone.” (Fatir: 28)
From the above, we can derive that precaution or quarantine is really better than distributing condoms for free. Condoms do not guarantee absolute precaution.
Allah has directed us to take all the necessary precautions and keep away from the source of ruin. He says: “And be not cast by your own hands to ruin.” (Al-Baqarah: 195)
In fact, there is no contradiction between science and religion. Applying reason to religion needs great wisdom and knowledge because lack of knowledge may lead man astray and confuse him.
Lastly, we come to the root or source. Why did HIV happen?
In 1981, homosexual men with symptoms of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) were first described in Los Angeles and New York.
The men had an unusual type of lung infection called Pneumocystis Carinii (now known as Pneumocystis jiroveci) Pneumonia (PCP) and rare skin tumours called Kaposi’s sarcoma.
The patients were noted to have severe depression of a type of cells, called CD4 cells, in the blood that are an important part of the immune system. These cells, often referred to as T cells, help the body fight infections.
In 1983, researchers in the United States and France described the virus that causes AIDS, now known as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), as belonging to the group of viruses called retroviruses.
AIDS is often referred to as the plague of the 21st century and is spreading rapidly around the world. It is considered the social disease of the century.
The disease is no longer a moral issue though it is still a religious issue.
However, AIDS does not recognise any religious boundaries. Anyone can be infected with HIV, regardless of gender, age, religion, or sexual orientation.
There is no cure for AIDS at this time although there are several treatments available that can delay the progression of the disease and improve the quality of life of those infected.
We have scholars, philosophers, specialists, researchers and scientists trying to create various theories, ideologies, scientific studies and research in finding formulations for an HIV vaccine and AIDS cure.
However, knowledge and intellectual strength alone for sure cannot overcome the chronic situation faced in this world without the spiritual elements correlated with it.
Research and findings derive from intellectual strength, and with believing in spiritual elements correlating and supporting it. Human development is not similar to world evolution.
It is for human development that Allah sent the Prophets. Not all social diseases can be resolved with intelligence alone.