Mohammad Azeem leads prayers every Friday at his local mosque in Karachi, the largest city of Pakistan but one week his sermon shocked the deeply conservative congregation.  Azeem aimed his sermen educating congregation about the dangers of AIDS which is considered a taboo subject in any Muslims country.

Azeem admits that he saw sufferers as sinners against Allah until he was invited to a meeting organised by Pakistan’s National AIDS Control Programme (NACP). He said,

“What impressed me most about the programme and changed my view of AIDS and its victims was that it was aimed at saving lives. That inspired me to play an active role in the awareness campaign.”

NACP programme manager Hasan Abbas Zaheer said “We started the programme because the religious leaders are widely respected and people listen to what they say.”

Zaheer further said almost all those who attended the meetings with NACP were open to the idea of preaching to their congregations on issues outside religion because they viewed Islam as a way of life.
But it was more difficult to persuade them that AIDS was a problem in Pakistan. “As we told them more about the disease, they said they could contribute to raising awareness through mosques, using Islamic teachings for support,” said Abdul Mateen, one of the volunteer trainers who lead the sessions. Hundreds of prayer leaders now regularly deliver sermons that feature AIDS awareness messages, mostly focusing on family matters and the rights of the poor, who are disproportionately affected by the disease.

Azeem said people were initially reluctant to listen to his AIDS sermons, but they came round eventually. “People actually do want to know about these issues,” he said. “But it has to be communicated in the right way, and that is what we can do.”