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| Drug Addiction Dr. Arafat El Ashi
In an attempt to follow up the burning
issues of modern societies, I picked up an article in the "Globe and
Mail" of Canada (September 7,1989) issue. It was under the caption
"What if illegal drugs were made legal?". I held the pen and
wrote a counter article which I called "Legalizing drugs will add
fuel to fire". Although I sent the article to the "Globe and
Mail", I was not aware whether it was published or not. Hence, this
brochure is in order to share with as many people as possible what I feel
to be the Islamic solution for drug addiction. I was indeed infuriated by that article
which suggested legalizing drugs as one solution to end this age-old
problem. The reason behind my anger was not because I am a drug trafficker
or consumer. On the contrary, as a committed Muslim I am whole-heartily in
favour of a successful campaign against drug addiction as well as drug
trafficking. The difference is only in method and approach. It is, no
doubt, a great difference, which I would like to share with other well
wishers of a better North America or more correctly for a better humanity.
This is simply because we are living in a small world where anything good
or bad that takes place in one end of it immediately takes place in the
other. On the other hand, going back to the
American scene we hear Americans from time to time admitting that
America's advancement has only been possible and could be achieved through
collective contributions from various cultures and civilizations. This is
actually true and is applicable particularly to the major cultures of the
world. Thus when the first American astronaut set foot on the moon the
same acknowledgment was confirmed admitting indebtedness to all humanity.
This indeed is a healthy sign. In the same spirit then why don't we also
share ideas to find a conclusive solution for one of the major problems of
America as well as of the world at large? To begin with, in my humble opinion as a
Muslim who is residing in America, I believe that the treatment of this
fearful ailment should be from within rather that from the outside. In
other words, it should not be forced by the government only but the core
of the problem should be treated first. As long as the core is rotten what
is the use of treating the shell or the surface only? The efforts should
act first from within. In the light of the above, let us ask
ourselves the following question: It may be asked here: what other more
important measures should be taken in order to fulfill our target? As a
matter of fact, what is more important than just solving the immediate
problems is education and raising the moral standards of those infected
with addiction. Again in my point of view, the basis of education and
morals should be commitment to religion; for there is no really solid
basis for morals without religion. But how does Islam prevent the problem of
drug addiction before it actually takes place? Islam, in fact, gives both
hope and commitment to the believing Muslim. A
drug addict is a hopeless victim. He
or she does not have any goal in life. Islam, however, always gives hope
to the most wretched persons. Let us contemplate the following verse: In this verse Islam provides hope. It is,
in fact, a message of hope. I remember once how a hopeless drug addict
wanted to commit suicide. She had a committed Muslim neighbor who came to
visit her and conveyed to her this message of hope. This worked like
wonders and the woman asked more questions about the Quran and Islam until
she embraced it and that was her way out of that inferno. Islam in fact came to Arabia at a time when
wine was consumed by the great majority of the Arabs. They loved wine more
than anything else. What did Islam do not ban wine and stop it? It did not
issue a drastic order and stopped it once for all. On the contrary, it
applied a gradual process of four steps the final one of which was the
prohibition command, which acted like magic. People immediately responded
and accepted this prohibition so much so that we can safely say that this
was one of the first laws in the world that witnessed collective
implementation. People could not believe their own eyes.
All of a sudden, the once most beloved drink of Arabia became the most
avoided and abhorred drink of all. Islam succeeded when all similar, both
earlier and later, attempts had failed. Why don't people today use
the Islamic solution to ban drugs? It is the most successful method.
What is needed is to change people from within, to make them God fearing,
God conscious and make them feel that they are obeying God by boycotting
this evil. This is the decisive role Islam can play to save humanity from
drug addiction. Some people may ask: but why Islam in
particular? Why don't we follow any other religion and not
necessarily Islam? This is simply because other religions have no say in
the solution. They even encourage taking wine. So how can they solve
the problem? Let us come closer and contemplate the
Quranic verses that provided the gradual solution of wine addiction which
is to this day a unique achievement of Islam in the history of humanity. In the first place the Quran implied that
wine is not a good drink when it said: Then the Quran took a second step when it
conveyed the following message: Establishing this the Quran then commanded
the believers not to approach prayer while they are intoxicated. It said: Finally came the conclusive command when
the Quran declared: All believers abstained and the problem of wine addiction was solved once and for all. Why don't people today try the Islamic solution for drug addiction?
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