How is it that the drug problem in Mauritius afflicts the Muslim community so much? It is not that she is the only victim, because the reality is that no one is spared. But it is abnormal, here as elsewhere in the world, that so many Muslims fall into this scoop when Islam prohibits drug consumption, as well as its production and trafficking, in the clearest and most firm way possible. The misunderstanding results from the fact that the reference to what is forbidden or permitted, either haraam or halaal respectively, is perceived as central to the life of the Muslim. This is often the case even when, for some, the practice of worship is neglected on a daily basis. Thus, it is extremely rare, almost impossible, to see someone who calls himself a Muslim indulge in the consumption of pork. But in the case of drugs, where consumption and trafficking are also illegal in Mauritius, such repulsion does not exist. Why?

We propose to return to Islamic sources in order to understand this prohibition. Then we will try to analyze what is happening within the Muslim community. How faithful is it to the texts and objectives of the religion? We cannot ignore the Mauritian context and its specificities. We hope to conclude by proposing, in all humility knowing the limits of our competences, measures which could eventually lead the Muslim community to greater fidelity to the faith that it bears. Mauritian society can only come out stronger if Muslims show a capacity to resist, confront and overcome the scurge of drugs, together with their fellow citizens who share the same will.

Islam

What the Quran calls “khamr” does not refer only to alcohol but more generally to any intoxicant that clouds the mind. Its prohibition was gradually realized in three stages going from discouragement (The Koran 2:219), followed by a partial prohibition related to prayer only (The Koran 4:31) to lead later to the complete prohibition (The Koran 5 :90-91). Moreover, the first of these stages does not begin until Medina, more than thirteen years after the beginning of the prophetic mission. The ease with which the Arabs of the time, great wine lovers for a long time, finally got rid of their barrels is the result of a pedagogy that should inspire us today. First, there is a whole spiritual dimension that binds man to his Creator, which will provide meaning to what is permitted or forbidden in Islam. Then, there is the gentleness, intelligence and wisdom of the Prophet (peace be upon him-pbuh) who give life and translate into reality this journey to which God calls believers. We know that the Prophet (pbuh), like his close companion Abu Bakr, never touched a drop of alcohol. But others drank it but some even arrived, like the companion Umar, to wish the revelation of a definitive prohibition order. Does this mean that alcohol disappeared from Medina? Even if the production, distribution and sale were obviously prohibited, it turned out that some Muslims could not resist the temptation, otherwise they had developed an addiction to alcohol. It is essential to see how the Prophet (pbuh) dealt with such cases. The strength of the prophetic example, the Sunna, lies in its ability to provide real solutions where the revealed texts are not scrupulously respected. Today such a methodology is sorely lacking and we end up forgetting the spirit of the laws and taking means for ends.

What methodology?

There is a story of a man named Abdullah. One day he was found drunk and taken to the Prophet (pbuh) for the offense of drunkenness in public. Later, he did it again and one of the companions said, “May God curse him! “. The Prophet (pbuh) reproached the latter saying: “Do not curse him, because I swear, by God, that you have no idea how much he loves God and His Prophet”. And he added: “Do not help the devil against your brother”. Thus, the Prophet (pbuh) reminded us that we must judge and condemn the act, and not the being. Abdullah may have been an alcoholic, but that did not prevent him from having the finest qualities, loving God and His Prophet (pbuh). It is, perhaps, this same Abdullah who loved the Prophet (pbuh) to the point of offering him a gift and then saying to him “Yes, O Prophet of God, I offered it to you but I can’t afford to pay for it”. And the Prophet (pbuh) to pay the cost of the gift and laugh with Abdullah about what he had done. The community around the Prophet (pbuh) was not divided between “religious” and “sinners”, with undesirable interactions between the two. The community was made up of human beings who were all journeying towards God, each at some point facing their own trials, living their piety in their own way in all humility. Tomorrow the sinner can become better than the godly one today. Society wanted to be inclusive and no one should be ostracized. The community around the Prophet (pbuh) was not divided between “religious” and “sinners”, with undesirable interactions between the two. The community was made up of human beings who were all journeying towards God, each at some point facing their own trials, living their piety in their own way in all humility. Tomorrow the sinner can become better than the godly one today. Society wanted to be inclusive and no one should be ostracized. The community around the Prophet (pbuh) was not divided between “religious” and “sinners”, with undesirable interactions between the two. The community was made up of human beings who were all journeying towards God, each at some point facing their own trials, living their piety in their own way in all humility. Tomorrow the sinner can become better than the godly one today. Society wanted to be inclusive and no one should be ostracized.

It should be noted that Abdullah’s offense was in the public domain. The Prophet (pbuh) must act when the case is presented to him and proven because he represents the judicial authority. But whoever hides his neighbor’s faults, God will hide his own here below and in the hereafter. It is a teaching of the Prophet (pbuh) as the one who educates men to reform themselves intimately, mutually supporting each other in truth, patience and perseverance in the quest for good. The believer’s honor is sacred. This does not mean promoting evil, injustice and sin or being indifferent. There are a thousand ways to “help your brother against the devil” and allow him to stop his blameworthy act.

We know the example of Umar, who became caliph, who saw Abu Mihjan consuming alcohol, but he did not punish him. The latter had told him that he could not spy on him to find out what he was doing in his home. This inclusive compassion, linked to a rigorous attachment to principles, ensured that when a member of society committed a fault, the consequences of his fault remained limited. No one was marginalized, and therefore the risks of seeing sin openly exhibited, even becoming commonplace in society, were slim. When a person made a mistake, his brothers never stopped supporting him without ever extorting him; we held out our hand to him and helped him to get back on the right path.

Goals

The science of law and jurisprudence preceded all other sciences within the Muslim world. It first took shape in the light of the practice of the Prophet (pbuh), in his very presence, when he was called upon to translate the Revelation into real life. This is the methodology described above. Over the centuries, other areas of knowledge were developed, even in the spheres of logic or experimentation such as, for example, algebra and medicine.

But there was no fragmentation of knowledge, between what is of the religious order and what is of the mundane order although obviously these two orders do not merge at all and have features which are specific to them. Between the religious and the worldly, an ethic existed. All these sciences were placed at the service of faith, in an effort to attain the love of God by doing good. This is how the sharia is defined, etymologically, this path that leads to God. Before referring to the laws, the sharia is a question here first of meaning, orientation and purpose. Scholars will not fail, over the centuries, to return to the maqasid or objectives of the sharia. First, they will do so through inductive analyzes to emphasize that sharia is meant to protect the faith, the person, the intellect, kinship and property. But scholars are quick to note that all sharia serves the well-being of humanity, inevitably linked to respect for all of creation.

Islam’s stance on the scourge of drugs is initially based on the Sharia’s goal of protecting our intellect. Some will also see in it the requirement to preserve human dignity, social order or even the protection of wealth, family, life and faith. The objectives of sharia are not mutually exclusive and are reflected in this prohibition. The words of Revelation relating to khamr (thus to all intoxicants) perfectly illustrate the multiple causes leading to their prohibition. First, it is pointed out that their usefulness is small, unlike the harm these intoxicants cause (Quran 2:219). Afterwards, it revealed that the intimate bond with God that is the prescribed prayer becomes impossible when a person does not understand what is being said because his mind is under the effect of intoxicants (The Quran 4:43). Finally, it is ordered to abstain from it definitively in order to prevent society from being plagued by disorder, enmity and hatred, evils which keep men away from the remembrance of God (The Koran 5:90-91 ).

For a long time certain Muslim scholars had considered tobacco as a lesser evil whose consumption would be detestable and not prohibited. Following overwhelming evidence demonstrating the effect of nicotine on the brain, among a thousand other substances contained in cigarettes, many have assimilated it to khamr, therefore have prohibited it. However, today tobacco is known to represent the characteristics of nothing less than a poison to the human body. But God explicitly commands “And do not kill yourself! (The Quran 4:29) and “And do not throw yourselves with your own hands into destruction” (The Quran 2:195). It thus emerges that the prohibition of tobacco is also, and more so, part of the objective of the sharia which is the protection of life, a more important necessity than the protection of the intellect. To varying degrees, the same is true of various drugs circulating today, including synthetics, which are a threat to everything sharia is meant to protect, from life to intellect to religion. The fact that some people can indulge in it without becoming addicts or without suffering sequelae, as a way of having fun and finding pleasure, does not mean that prohibition is spared them. In this, as in Medina with the prohibition of alcohol within the first Muslim society, sharia gives precedence to the general interest of the population and to the protection of its most vulnerable members. who are a threat to everything sharia aims to protect ranging from life to intellect to religion. The fact that some people can indulge in it without becoming addicts or without suffering sequelae, as a way of having fun and finding pleasure, does not mean that prohibition is spared them. In this, as in Medina with the prohibition of alcohol within the first Muslim society, sharia gives precedence to the general interest of the population and to the protection of its most vulnerable members. who are a threat to everything sharia aims to protect ranging from life to intellect to religion. The fact that some people can indulge in it without becoming addicts or without suffering sequelae, as a way of having fun and finding pleasure, does not mean that prohibition is spared them. In this, as in Medina with the prohibition of alcohol within the first Muslim society, sharia gives precedence to the general interest of the population and to the protection of its most vulnerable members. does not mean that prohibition is spared them. In this, as in Medina with the prohibition of alcohol within the first Muslim society, sharia gives precedence to the general interest of the population and to the protection of its most vulnerable members. does not mean that prohibition is spared them. In this, as in Medina with the prohibition of alcohol within the first Muslim society, sharia gives precedence to the general interest of the population and to the protection of its most vulnerable members.

Priorities

The calamities caused by the scourge of drugs go far beyond the mere clouding of the intellect of users. In Mauritius, we can no longer count the number of fatal overdoses, often fatal contaminations of HIV-AIDS, broken families, destroyed lives, victims of what is nothing less than human trafficking, heinous crimes or cases of prostitution linked to this scourge, including involving minors. Drug addiction is also a thorny public health problem. Drug trafficking is raging, a constant threat to the social environment, especially in certain suburbs. Prisons are filled with drug users who enter and leave them, never freeing themselves from this modern slavery that they live in on a daily basis. Traffickers are often out of reach. Specialists will never be able to adequately calculate the human, social and economic costs of the drug scourge. The harmful effects of alcohol and tobacco will also never be fully integrated into their findings. All in all, what do the taxes that the authorities collect on these legal drugs represent in the face of the scale of a catastrophe that can never be quantified? And to think that many times alcohol and tobacco are only a first step in the initiatory journey of drug addicts… the taxes that the authorities collect on these legal drugs in the face of the scale of a catastrophe that can never be quantified? And to think that many times alcohol and tobacco are only a first step in the initiatory journey of drug addicts… the taxes that the authorities collect on these legal drugs in the face of the scale of a catastrophe that can never be quantified? And to think that many times alcohol and tobacco are only a first step in the initiatory journey of drug addicts…

Sharia goals are not being met as things stand. In the first place, life, intellect and religion are not protected but, at the community level, we see that the family, social harmony and economic justice also suffer. Criminalization, penalization and stigmatization do not resolve the situation. On the contrary, they often make it worse. We must therefore review our priorities and we propose to do so in the light of the objectives of the sharia.

These objectives refer us to a principle which stipulates “la darara wa la dirar”, that is “that no one should suffer harm, and should not harm his neighbour”. We must therefore put all the victims at the heart of our concern, and not take means out of their contexts for the purposes we seek. Another principle that should be mentioned here is “al-dharurat tuhibul mahzurat” or “a lesser evil can be tolerated in order to avoid a greater evil”. And third principle, it is recognized that “dafu al-dharar wa jalbul manfaat”, or “evil must be treated and good must be advocated”. Within the Islamic reference itself, it turns out that the reduction of misdeeds, prejudices and risks is the priority of priorities. It is the urgency that arises when a greater evil is to be avoided, in fidelity to the objectives of sharia. The only condition would be that the methods applied be scientifically validated and respect the dignity of the human person. This is what we discovered in the very example of the Prophet (pbuh) who combined gentleness, intelligence and wisdom. Consequently, we realize the principle of “dar al-mafasid muqaddam ala jalib al-masalih”, “a very particular lesser evil can be tolerated in order to safeguard the general interest or the common good”.

Proposals

Concretely, how are these principles articulated in contemporary reality? First, it is becoming absolutely imperative to prevent and deal with the dimension of the drug problem, which is fundamentally a matter of public health. Drug addiction is a disease, like alcoholism and other diseases suffered by tobacco smokers. The doctor does not judge his patient and does not condemn him for having been perhaps irresponsible. This implies that the place of drug addicts is not in prison but in rehabilitation centres. In Iran, for example, the authorities took more than twenty years to realize that the strict criminalization of drug addicts had not only been a failure but went against what we have highlighted above as the objectives of sharia. In line with the above principles, Iran has since reviewed its policy in the general interest of society and in order to counter the scourge of drugs effectively. Today, this country has more than three thousand clinics where about half a million patients are followed and the results are promising.
Prevention is essential but it cannot be done by stigmatization. The mosques and madrassahs of Mauritius do not assume their role with regard to the first and are often responsible for the latter. We did not understand the example of the Prophet (pbuh) and the companion Abdoullah who was undoubtedly an alcoholic. When our religious leaders act as judges and executioners, a climate of rejection of those who use drugs develops within congregations and families. If by misfortune a young man, worse a young girl, ventures to try drugs, he will hardly find anyone to help him get rid of a possible addiction. Often he will only be able to speak to his peers, perhaps the same ones who prompted him to Since it is haraam, for some “religious” it is irrevocably hell. There are even young people who stigmatize themselves, those who develop such guilt that they believe they will not be able to get out of the hell here or the hell hereafter. Add to that the lightheartedness with which a drug like tobacco is viewed, sometimes by these same religious men, the prevalence of alcohol in the country and a culture of pleasure that is global, and we have the ingredients for anything but the protection that sharia can give. It’s also fertile ground for relapses for addicts struggling to recover. times by these same religious men, the prevalence of alcohol in the country and a culture of pleasure that is global, and here we have the ingredients for everything but the protection that sharia can give. It’s also fertile ground for relapses for addicts struggling to recover. times by these same religious men, the prevalence of alcohol in the country and a culture of pleasure that is global, and here we have the ingredients for everything but the protection that sharia can give. It’s also fertile ground for relapses for addicts struggling to recover.
Finally, very severe penalties are needed for the real culprits, the big traffickers and their accomplices. They slip through the cracks because they have money and they can bribe a whole system. Indeed, not only is a law against illegal enrichment necessary, but it must be applied precisely without variable geometry. Control over the financing of political parties and the declaration obligation to have elected officials, but also high-ranking officials in the customs, police and justice services as well as in the organizations for the fight against trafficking are essential. drug. Including their relatives. Studies have shown that when petty crime and “petty” crime are trivialized, it becomes more difficult to tackle “serious” crime. For example, smoking in public has become a habit although it is illegal. Therefore, we must act against a culture of impunity, not only through laws but also through education in civic responsibility. An awareness of ethics must enter through the front door at school at the same time as, in the mosque and the madrassah, spiritual morality must illuminate the teaching of the rules.
Conclusion

Returning to the objectives of sharia and the principles to which they refer us, an approach that is universal in scope, leads us to consider drug addiction as a public health problem, to give a soul to the prevention we provide and to put into question the operation of the repressive apparatus intended to combat the scourge of drugs. If the drug does not have the same repulsion as pork, for Muslims in this case, the fact remains that the so-called recreational, or possibly addictive, aspect of its consumption places our young people in a very vulnerable position. How to resist it in a materialistic and hedonistic society where, thanks to money and all sorts of new technologies and social networks, the cult of pleasure seems to be omnipresent?

The answer is that pleasure cannot be our god. This world with all its pleasures is only an ephemeral part of creation. The test, the meaning and the purpose of our life, as of our death, is to come closer to the Creator of all things. And to be able to consciously live the unique adoration that binds us to Him. Historically, as we have seen, this is the primary reason for the prohibition of anything resembling a drug. We must never forget it… it is in this reminder that our hearts will find peace.