Khadijah Abdullah
Member
Humans are judgmental. We judge people by the way they look. We judge them by the way they talk. We judge them by the way they associate with others. We judge them by what they did in the past. Sometimes we cannot avoid being judgmental. But a lot of times we can.
I was recently surfing the internet and came across an article titled “HIV in the Muslim community” which led me to this site. As the founder of Reaching All HIV+ Muslims In America (RAHMA), I immediately clicked on the link. The post was written by a brother who became HIV+ at the age of 22 due to sexual relations outside of marriage. He asked God for forgiveness and is now trying to start off fresh, hoping to marry one day. He also stated that he finds it strange that Islamic leaders do not talk about HIV and even his own family was scared when they learned of his status.
The responses to his post literally broke my heart. Stigma and ignorance is rampant in the Muslim community. Some people have responded that he can never get married. Some say he is lucky he did not die the instant he became infected. Others say those living with HIV have only 10-15 years to live after diagnosis. Most of the bloggers were so eager to find out how he contracted HIV and were less interested on how they could help. In the brother’s post, he did not originally say how he contracted HIV, just that he was living with it. It only was revealed when several people inquired. Then someone replied that he should have kept that to himself. Um hello! Why did you ask?
To me, how should not matter. What people do is between them and God. What we should do as Muslims is help. As the saying goes, “We should want for our brother what we want for ourselves”. If any one of us contracted HIV or an STD, would we want the Ummah to turn their backs on us? We must remember, HIV is NOT a death sentence. We are all going to die one day, no matter what. We should be more concerned about the good we are doing (if any) in our everyday lives, and how we treat others. In today’s world, people living with HIV have a very long life expectancy due to the incredible technology of medicine. I recently met a man who has been living with HIV since 1977. That is way beyond the 10-15 year threshold one blogger mentioned.
We have to stop being ignorant about this. We can no longer shove this under the rug. What will it take for us to realize it is about us? When you, me, or someone we know becomes infected?
Narrated Abu Huraiah (RA) the Prophet (pbuh) said: “He, who helps to remove the hardship of another, will have his difficulties removed by Allah in this world and the Hereafter”. (Muslim).
There are many Muslims living with HIV and STD’s in our community (How do I know? I have met many). Some contracted it by no control of their own (not that it matters, how is not important, help is). No one should have to live in fear. I believe we only have the right the judge, if we ourselves are perfect. Since none of us are, what gives us the right?
I was recently surfing the internet and came across an article titled “HIV in the Muslim community” which led me to this site. As the founder of Reaching All HIV+ Muslims In America (RAHMA), I immediately clicked on the link. The post was written by a brother who became HIV+ at the age of 22 due to sexual relations outside of marriage. He asked God for forgiveness and is now trying to start off fresh, hoping to marry one day. He also stated that he finds it strange that Islamic leaders do not talk about HIV and even his own family was scared when they learned of his status.
The responses to his post literally broke my heart. Stigma and ignorance is rampant in the Muslim community. Some people have responded that he can never get married. Some say he is lucky he did not die the instant he became infected. Others say those living with HIV have only 10-15 years to live after diagnosis. Most of the bloggers were so eager to find out how he contracted HIV and were less interested on how they could help. In the brother’s post, he did not originally say how he contracted HIV, just that he was living with it. It only was revealed when several people inquired. Then someone replied that he should have kept that to himself. Um hello! Why did you ask?
To me, how should not matter. What people do is between them and God. What we should do as Muslims is help. As the saying goes, “We should want for our brother what we want for ourselves”. If any one of us contracted HIV or an STD, would we want the Ummah to turn their backs on us? We must remember, HIV is NOT a death sentence. We are all going to die one day, no matter what. We should be more concerned about the good we are doing (if any) in our everyday lives, and how we treat others. In today’s world, people living with HIV have a very long life expectancy due to the incredible technology of medicine. I recently met a man who has been living with HIV since 1977. That is way beyond the 10-15 year threshold one blogger mentioned.
We have to stop being ignorant about this. We can no longer shove this under the rug. What will it take for us to realize it is about us? When you, me, or someone we know becomes infected?
Narrated Abu Huraiah (RA) the Prophet (pbuh) said: “He, who helps to remove the hardship of another, will have his difficulties removed by Allah in this world and the Hereafter”. (Muslim).
There are many Muslims living with HIV and STD’s in our community (How do I know? I have met many). Some contracted it by no control of their own (not that it matters, how is not important, help is). No one should have to live in fear. I believe we only have the right the judge, if we ourselves are perfect. Since none of us are, what gives us the right?