"Islam and AIDS" is the first book to comprehensively address the HIV/AIDS pandemic from an Islam perspective, with contributions from a number of internationally known activists and scholars of Islam. Religious leaders, whether Muslim or Catholic, have been frequently accused of denying the AIDS pandemic and encouraging the stigmatization of its sufferers. While often true, this view ignores the fact that religious communities have also been at the forefront of addressing the epidemic, which affects over thirty million sufferers worldwide, and devastates the lives of many more. With an introduction by Peter Piot, Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, this landmark work provides an insight into new and exciting possibilities of critical and progressive Islamic approaches, in both law and ethics, to one of the most urgent crises facing humankind today.

Author Biography

Farid Esack is a South African Muslim scholar, writer, and political activist. Former gender equity commissioner for Nelson Mandela, he was a founding member of both the AIDS Treatment Action Campaign and Positive Muslims. He is currently Visiting Professor of Islamic Studies, Harvard University.Sarah Chiddy has master's degree from Harvard Divinity School and works as a spiritual counselor for people with HIV and AIDS in Boston.