Of AIDS and licking finger

Do you know that AIDS is formerly known as GRID back in the 80's? Which stands for Gay-Related Immune Deficiency, because previously it was thought to infect only gays. But later on they changed the name to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

Vaccines or cure haven't been found yet, so far. But say if you're the scientist who finds the vaccine or cure for AIDS, will u be proud of it?

On one hand you'll be saving millions of lives, but on the other hand you'll be responsible for all the sexual outbreaks worldwide. People will no longer be afraid of the danger of AIDS, so nothing holds them back.

Something really interesting to think about, huh?

Actually our people need to clear the taboo on AIDS. As we know, unprotected sexual intercourse isn't the only way to get infected. They are newborn babies, innocent healthcare personnel or patients receiving blood transfusions who are also infected by it. So don't go around judging AIDS patients.

And on another note, please don't say that 'hukum hudud sebat 100x for zina' somehow cures AIDS. You'll be a laughing stock among scientists. Some people are too eager to relate science and Quran that they forgot to abide to scientific discipline. They do it carelessly without any proof.

Science is an advancing field, you see. What is considered true today might be wrong tomorrow.

Just a couple of decades ago, scientists thought that the world was undergoing 'Global Cooling', because previously the global temperature was dropping a couple of degrees Celsius. But see how wrong they are today.

So, be careful in matching Quran and science. Use only established scientific facts, not some unproven hypotheses.

Another example, people have been saying that there are certain enzymes present at the tip of our fingers that helps digestion. The proof is that whenever we touch food, it will go foul faster than usual.

For that reason, they are encouraging others to follow the sunnah and eat using our hands and lick them afterwards.

While the intention is noble, the method is somewhat inaccurate. We have literally thousands of different enzymes in our body, and each of them has been assigned a name, mainly according to their function and what they catalyze.

To produce energy from a molecule of carbohydrate alone, there are at lease 10 different enzymes. And surprise, surprise, each of them has a name.

So it would be nice if they could come up with the name of this so-called enzyme as to make the fact at lease reliable and authentic.

I like what Dr. Danial Zainal Abidin wrote in his book 'Quran Saintifik' in explaining the reason behind this. Instead of making up some pseudo-scientific bogus, he said that every food particle has a role in producing energy. Even a single grain of rice could produce a significant number of ATPs. So it would be wise to make full use of every piece of food and not waste them.

That's waayyy more acceptable, isn't it?

:)