The Drugs Threat - Islam is the Solution
16/09/2005 | adduonline
The discussion about drug abuse and its harmful effects on the society has surfaced once again. A national master plan for dealing with this menacing issue is being currently prepared by the government agencies. The general public seem to have lost all confidence in these measures as they have not witnessed any positive change in the last decade. As a result of this prolonged failure, Islam has become the last resort to provide a cure for treating this ailment and many scholars have already stated that it is Islam which can protect the society from this evil scourge. Having said that, it should be noted that Islamic solutions cannot be applied to incorrectly diagnosed realities. If Islam is expected to solve this particular crisis, a correct diagnosis of the problem have to be performed before applying the Islamic solutions at different levels. The reason for our inability to deal with this crisis should be attributed our inability to diagnose the problem in the correct manner. For example, a TVM program interviewed the general public and identified 5 causes for the growing problem of drugs of which 3 are listed below:

1)Unemployment

2)Family problems

3)Influence of friends

Now, can anyone imagine how Islam is expected to give a solution to one human problem produced by three different causes ? If unemployment is indeed the cause for people taking drugs, then this should be the only cause for every man because human nature consists of a unique cause-effect relationship. This approach to understanding human behaviour is tantamount to giving credence to Darwin's theory which indirectly purports that human nature is variable due to ''progression of ideas'' and genetic structure. It is as if the problem of hunger is variable in human beings. So according to this corrupt logic, the problem of hunger may be ''Addu hunger'',''Male hunger'' and so on. The problem of ''Addu hunger'' has to be solved differently from the problem of ''Male' hunger''. Any attempts to apply Islamic principles and solutions to such corrupt diagnosis will not solve the problem and it could perpetuate the notion that Islam is not applicable in the 21st century and that it needs a 'reformation' to fit to the corrupt reality.

Similarly during the last days of Islamic State, West launched a fierce
attack on the concepts of Islam in an attempt to cast doubt on its applicability. One of the weaponry in this attack is creating a reality that is the furthest from Islam, and then asking for the Islamic Shariah on such disastrous issues that were caused by the corrupt reality. An example of this is someone asking for the ruling of Islam on insurance where it is legally obligatory, or the ruling on taking interest-bearing loans, where poverty has spread, for the sake of basic needs of life. The Islamic rule is questioned about these issues as if Islam is responsible for solving the corrupt reality with solutions that are based on it, ignoring totally the fact that the corrupt reality is a result of the absence of Islam and the presence of Capitalism its place. Also, what about an Islamic party which endeavours to implement the Shariah by participating in the corrupt western political system ? Such a party may initially attempt to call for the implementation of Islamic penal code in a society which implements the capitalist system. And when the penal code fails to deliver, the vile opponents of Islam can cast doubts about the suitability of Islam to the point where we have to apologise for being Muslims. This is how the deceptive agents cultivate their concepts in the name of 'nation building'. That is to say, they don't ram down their culture down our throats in one fell swoop; but it is a systematic indoctrination in which our hearts and minds are involved.

Islam came to address human problems.

Islam's legislative rules and principles are founded on a doctrine that views problems as extending from the needs of human beings as human beings. That is to say, not in their racial, regional or tribal context, or as a reaction to a particular social condition; or as Muslims or non-Muslims, or as Hasan or Hussein, but as human beings. It is only a specific doctrine inasmuch as it is specific to all human beings. It is a timeless conception of the human condition, for it is not man's nature that changes with the passage of time, but his material circumstances; the complexity of material and technology, which develop through continuous scientific endeavour.

Man's innate needs, whether basic organic requirements such as the need for food, clothing and shelter or basic instinctual drives such as survival, justice and security, remain consistent. Furthermore, the needs that extend from this basic constitution such as the need to regulate political, social and economic relationships individually or collectively are also seen to exist across the expanse of human history. Though their manifestations may change, it could not be said that new needs have manifested or that the existing ones always increase, either in complexity or propensity. New world-views, thoughts and beliefs may develop over time and emerge at various points in human history, but these too do not represent a shift in man's fundamental nature, intellect or needs. Since the Islamic system addresses problems as demands extending from this consistent human nature, it is continually applicable and a consistent source of solutions for tackling human problems.

Now. coming back to the problem of drugs, it is incorrect to say that there are different causes which make people take drugs. It is also wrong to say that drugs is the problem which needs to be tackled. Rather drugs problem is one of the manifestations of satisfying the survival instinct according to the capitalist criterion of benefit rather than hukm shariah. The so called causes (e.g unemployment) which supposedly make people take drugs are not causes, but they are extraneous circumstances which may agitate the survival instinct. How people respond to these agitations depend on the concepts they carry and the reality. An individual can even suspend the agitation because of the strength of his concepts. Or an individual can replace the manifestation of the agitated attribute of the instinct with another manifestation of the same instinct. For example greed is one of the manifestations of the survival instinct which can be replaced by another manifestation like altruism. Although the instinct cannot be suppressed some of its manifestations can be suppressed or replaced. So the only cause for people taking drugs is the basis of their thinking and outlook.

Ends.