Source: The New York Times
KAZIKOT VILLAGE, India — In this village not far from the Pakistani border, the wheat harvest is only days away. Water buffaloes are resting in the shade. Farmers are preparing their fields. And drug addicts like Pargat Singh are crouched in the shadows, injecting themselves with cocktails of synthetic drugs.
Last Thursday, just after 11 a.m., Mr. Singh followed another man into a dark corner of a decrepit building favored by the roughly 50 addicts in this village. Cracked prescription bottles littered the ground. The other man jabbed a syringe into his arm and injected a blend of prescription drugs that delivers a six-hour high.
“Save some for me,” said Mr. Singh, who is H.I.V. positive and stricken with tuberculosis. He told a photographer: “Shoot my picture. Make me famous.”
Throughout the border state of Punjab, whether in villages or cities, drugs have become a scourge. Opium is prevalent, refined as heroin or other illegal substances. Schoolboys sometimes eat small black balls of opium paste, with tea, before classes. Synthetic drugs are popular among those too poor to afford heroin.
This may help someone:
Know A Muslim With An Addiction Problem?
The Messenger of Allah Said what could mean “ A Muslim is not stung from the same whole twice” (1).
Meaning the Muslim should be on the alert and benefit by his experience to avoid mistakes in the future and is not deceived twice. But what if you have a relapsing brain disorder where you don’t learn from your mistakes and have a compulsion that drives you to do haraam things that you really don’t want to do?
This is the case with our fellow Muslims who have addiction problems. A person with an addiction problem has a serious medical issue that changes the brain and behavior of the individual.This also drains ones will power and iman the two things most Muslims rely on to give them the strength they need to get out of a bad situation.
On one hand the addiction tricks them into feeling that it is helping them to cope with problems by temporarily pacifying them, and on the other hand they understand they are harming themselves. This internal struggle causes pain, shame and blame.
The addictive cycle can be summed up as follows:
1. Person experiences pain.
2. Person wants to get high to escape pain.
3. They get high.
1. They get pain and trouble from getting high.
2. Person wants to get high to escape pain.
3. They get high.
1. They get pain and trouble from getting high.
2. Person wants to get high to escape pain.
and on and on….etc
To make the matter worse, when the addiction changes the persons behavior it negatively affects the relationship they have with their family. This causes family problems, loneliness and more pain.
Alhamdulilah, millions of people are in active recovery from their addiction issues. They learned to get treatment, get into a support network to talk about their life with others, hold themselves accountable for their actions and made an effort to grow holistically.
It can be a real challenge to start and maintain the process of recovery, especially if a person has been in the addictive cycle for a long time.Muslim Sober Companion.com helps to break the cycle so the person can enter a long and stable recovery from their addiction. We offer support in the form of live in support and on going phone support to help our brothers/sisters to get better.
FAQ
What Does A Muslim Sober Companion do?
A MSC is a professional who lives with Muslims who have suffer with an addiction to help them to increase their internal and external resources to remain abstinence from the addition they are suffering from.
A MSC may meet with a client when they leave rehab to keep them from relapsing. MSC usually customizes the needs of the client to the support they provide. Wither it’s live in support that’s needed or on going phone coaching. MSC also offer escort services as well, basically what ever is needed by the client.
What qualifications should a good Muslim Sober Companion have?
They should have a certification with a state board in an addiction related specialty for example: Certified Addiction Counselor or Certified Recovery Support Specialist. This will make sure they have the education, know how and accountability necessary to be an effective professional. It’s also important they are a practicing Muslim with a solid Islamic education.
Who hires a Muslim Sober Companion?
Usually it’s professionals who want to save their career or marriage or a concerned parents who want to protect the investment they made in rehab for their child. Anyone suffering from an addiction could benefit by having an professional with them 24 hours a day 7 days a week. MSC can work internationally.
How can I help?
You can donate to Muslim Sober Companion so we can help more Muslims. You can learn about how to set up group support meetings in your city. Group support meetings are really needed for Muslims so they can be inspired, grow and share their experience with other believers suffering from the same issue. There are different models to follow. Call so we can answer any of your questions.
Visit us online and call us.
http://www.MuslimSoberCompanion.com
Reference
1. book of Zuhd and Al-raqa’iq from al-lu’lu’wal-Marjan,also in Bukhari, and Muslim