Islam and harm reduction.

Faith-based responses

Islam and harm reduction.

Although drugs are haram and therefore prohibited in Islam, illicit drug use is widespread in many Islamic countries throughout the world. In the last several years increased prevalence of this problem has been observed in many of these countries which has in turn led to increasing injecting drug use driven HIV epidemics across the Islamic world. Whilst some countries have recently responded to the threat through the implementation of harm reduction programmes, many others have been slow to respond. In Islam, The Quran and the Prophetic traditions or the Sunnah are the central sources of references for the laws and principles that guide the Muslims' way of life and by which policies and guidelines for responses including that of contemporary social and health problems can be derived. The preservation and protection of the dignity of man, and steering mankind away from harm and destruction are central to the teachings of Islam. When viewed through the Islamic principles of the preservation and protection of the faith, life, intellect, progeny and wealth, harm reduction programmes are permissible and in fact provide a practical solution to a problem that could result in far greater damage to the society at large if left unaddressed.

Following an in-depth tour of the epidemiology of illicit drug consumption, injecting drug use, and the HIV epidemic in Islamic countries, this paper presents the basic guidelines provided in the Quran and the Sunnah (Prophetic traditions) that support needle exchange programmes and opioid substitution therapy. The pragmatic evidence-informed public health approach of harm reduction programmes in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Malaysia and Indonesia contrasts starkly with the rejection of harm reduction in Libya, Tunisia, Syria, and Jordan. Despite the tenets of Islam, resistance in the latter countries appears ideological with roots in a criminal justice perspective. As the authors underscore, harm reduction is a public health issue that not only does not violate shariah law, it follows Islamic principles.