SIS Forum (Malaysia), formerly known as Sisters in Islam, said recent action against an HIV event would set a worrying precedent, that those who attended were at risk of being arrested and shamed.

The group’s communications manager Ameena Siddiqi said the HIV programmes, which provide screenings, education, and counselling, were necessary and were prescribed by Islam for protecting life.

“To withhold or criminalise such efforts is to knowingly perpetuate harm, and goes against Islamic ethics,” she said.

Ameena said that mislabelling the outreach programmes would derail the progress made in a national strategy to combat HIV/AIDS and discourage future collaboration between NGOs and government agencies.

The SIS statement comes in the wake of a raid in June, leading to the arrest of 20 men at a bungalow in Kota Bharu, allegedly for attending a “gay party”, a claim that several NGOs, including SIS Forum, and doctors said was false.

They said the event provided sexual health and HIV-related information, included talks by doctors and that none of the attendees were there to provide sexual services.

Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa of the Islamic Renaissance Front think tank said efforts to tackle HIV were ethical under Islam, meeting the obligation to prevent harm and preserve life. It would apply even for groups often viewed as engaging in high-risk or sinful behaviour, such as drug users, sex workers, and men who have sex with men.

“I believe that Islamic ethics strongly support HIV prevention and treatment initiatives, regardless of potential controversy, as acts of compassion, justice and public responsibility,” he said.

Farouk said that even the Perlis Fatwa Council had ruled that the importance of preventing the spread of HIV outweighs any moral concerns regarding perceived sinful behaviour.