Here, we can't lie, because God is watching

12:07 because God is watching , Here , we can't lie 0 Comments

For 30 years, he lived a heroin addict's life, sleeping on streets, getting into trouble with the police and getting in and out of drug-treatment centres. Mr Feisal Fakharudin's habit made him an outcast until he found support from an unlikely source - the Ar Rahman mosque nestled in Kuala Lumpur. After performing his prayers, Mr Feisal slips upstairs away from his fellow worshippers to receive a dose of methadone at a drug-treatment clinic - the world's first to operate in a mosque, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Methadone is widely used in the treatment of drug addiction. "In the past, there was no one to help me," said Mr Feisal, who revealed that he used to feel like the "scum of society", Reuters reported. The treatment worked for Mr Feisal, who first tried heroin when he was 15. The 48-year-old father of four is now a street musician playing in Kuala Lumpur's popular tourist locations. The vicious circle he was trapped in only eased when he enrolled in a government methadone clinic six years ago and later was among 50 patients selected for the Ar Rahman mosque programme. He attributes the success of his treatment to the spiritual guidance he received from mosque clerics, as well as the methadone syrup dispensed twice a week by medical staff. Allowing the mosque to set up the methadone clinic, which started over two years ago, has raised eyebrows in a country that imposes the mandatory death penalty for drug traffickers. Mr Rusdi Abdul Rashid, the chief coordinator of the University of Malaya's Centre for Addiction Sciences (Umcas) that runs the clinic, had to work hard to convince mosque officials and religious authorities to allow the clinic to be set up. Islamic authorities in Malaysia eventually gave the green light for the treatment, deciding that methadone was not a banned substance under Islam. "Methadone is a God-gifted medication. It helps in the long-term treatment of drug addiction and prevents patients from relapsing," said Mr Rusdi, a lecturer and consultant psychiatrist who has been treating patients with methadone for 10 years. Umcas has plans to expand the programme to a third of the country's 6,000 mosques by 2015. Malaysia has an estimated 350,000 drug addicts, which could rise to half a million by 2015 partly because of a high relapse rate, according to Mr Rusdi. The Malaysian government's Department of Islamic Development (Jakim), which enforces Islamic laws, has also joined forces with the centre to combat drug addiction. 'Total treatment' Mr Ghaffar Surip, a Jakim official, believes mosques can be used for the "total treatment" of drug addicts. He said: "The use of methadone is only one part of treating drug addicts because we also have to look at the spiritual, psychological and psychosocial aspects of the patient." The patients are not always well-received; indeed, some who turn up at the Ar Rahman mosque face being stigmatised by the community and by the mosque officials themselves. Said Mr Ghaffar: "People always say that drug addicts are associated with crime and ask why the clinic is there. They think mosques are only for 'good' people." Mr Feisal said: "I prefer to come here (to the mosque) because I feel closer to God. I feel cleansed. It's different having treatment in the mosque compared to normal clinics. "Here, we can't lie, because God is watching."