مالاوي: حملة إسلامية ضد العادات والتقاليد الخاطئة التي تنشر الإيدز

خبر من مصادر إنجليزية.

في إطار مواجهة انتشار مرض الإيدز الذي تُعد "مالاوي" واحدة من أكثر دول إفريقيا التي تتضمن معدلات انتشار مرتفعة بين النساء والأطفال - بدأ المسلمون حملة واسعة لمواجهة التقاليد والعادات التي تساهم في انتشار المرض.

ومن بين التقاليد الخاطئة والمحرمة إجبار الذكر البالغ على مضاجعة فتاة بالغة بعد مراسم جماعية، ثم إجبار الفتاة على مضاجعة رجل بالغ، ولذلك قرر دعاة المسلمين نشر الوعي والقيم الإسلامية الصحيحة، وبيان أخطار هذه التقاليد ودورها في نشر المرض، إضافة إلى تحريمها في الإسلام.

وقد لقِيت هذه المبادرة ترحيب الجهات المعنية بمكافحة الإيدز؛ حيث أعرب المسؤولون عن أهمية دور المسلمين في معالجة الأزمة على المستوى الاجتماعي ومن منظور ديني؛ المصدر: شبكة الألوكة.

يرجى الإشارة إلى المصدر عند نقل الخبر – شبكة الألوكة.

الخبر من مصدره الأصلي:

Malawi Muslims Fight Sex Customs Fueling AIDS

As HIV and AIDS pandemic continues to wreck havoc in Malawi, Muslim traditional leaders in the southern African nation have ganged up to “eradicate” some cultural practices which are said to be fueling the spread of this deadly disease in the highly impoverished country.

“There are some cultural beliefs and customs which we have allowed to take root in our societies since time immemorial,” Senior Chief Kadewere from a predominantly Muslim south told OnIslam.net.

“These include forcing teenage boys who are straight from initiation ceremonies to sleep with teenage girls after puberty. These girls are also forced to have sexual intercourse with older men after puberty or after going through initiation ceremonies,” he added.

Malawi has one of the highest HIV and AIDS prevalence rates in the sub-Saharan Africa with women and children bearing much of the brunt.

Poverty has been singled out as the main factor aggravating the spread of the disease.

Nevertheless, outdated traditional customs have been a stumbling block in the face of efforts to eradicate HIV and AIDs.

Therefore, Muslim traditional leaders decided to shoulder the responsibility of spreading awareness about the dangers of such practices, spreading true values of Islam.

“It is for this reason that as Muslim traditional leaders we have taken the lead to sensitize our communities on the dangers of these practices. As custodians of cultural values, we have taken this initiative to fight against these beliefs,” said Kadewere.

“We believe that as traditional leaders, we have a moral responsibility to guide our subjects on proper conduct and life styles particularly at this time, when the HIV and AIDs pandemic shows no signs of abating.”

“As times have evolved, we have discovered that these customs and beliefs are outdated and can no longer be entertained. These cultural practices are the ones aiding the spread of the HIV and AIDS pandemic in most of the societies in this country,” said Kadewere.