By Najma Bibi Noor Mahomed

A hunger strike has been a method of expression and resistance against oppression and injustice for centuries.  The likes of the passive resistance icon Mahatma Gandhi, Latino-American labour rights leader Cesar Chavez and even Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein undertook a hunger strike as a show of political protest.
In recent days, more than 1 500 Palestinian political prisoners have embarked on a mass hunger strike to create awareness on the lack of basic rights and the humanitarian conditions inside Israeli detention centres.

The hunger strikes are being led by Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti. According to a prisoner rights group, there are about 6 500 Palestinian political prisoners. However noble the cause of a hunger strike, one must not ignore the effects this would have on the body.

What happens to the body of person observing a hunger strike?

According to medical doctor and a graduate of Darul Uloom al Arabiyya al Islamiyyah Moulana Dr Yusuf Arieff, during most hunger strikes, there is a deprivation of food, with little water intake.

“The body tends to go into a survival mode. Generally, with the type of hunger strike most people go through, they don’t deprive themselves of all food and water. The body is very resilient in trying to sustain its self.”

The consumption of water is critical to the survival of a human being. Medically speaking, most doctors agree that healthy humans can go up to eight weeks without food as long as they have water.

“If water is left out of the body completely, it is probably going to take about a week to 10days before the body shuts down. By this I mean in organ failure where the kidney and liver would start to fail. However if water is still kept in the body and food is deprived what you looking at is about a month or so before the body gives in,” Dr Arieff explained.

Listen to the interview here:

Are hunger strikes permissible in Islam?
In Islam, health is a basic human right. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) believed that moderation is necessary for everything – including worship.  “Your body has a right over you” is mentioned in one of the hadith of Prophet Muhammad in Bukhari.

Dr Arieff made reference to Surah An Nisaa in the Quraan verse [4:29]

“O you who have believed, do not consume one another’s wealth unjustly but only [in lawful] business by mutual consent. And do not kill yourselves [or one another]. Indeed, Allah is to you ever Merciful.”

And whoever does that in aggression and injustice – then We will drive him into a Fire. And that, for Allah, is [always] easy. [4:30]

In a hadith quoted in both Bukhari and Muslim by Abu Huraira (RA), the Prophet said, “He who commits suicide by throttling shall keep on throttling himself in the Hell Fire (forever) and he who commits suicide by stabbing himself shall keep on stabbing himself in the Hell-Fire.”

Dr Arieff elaborates: “From this what we can clearly see that suicide is haram, however the intent of the political prisoners is not to harm themselves or cause grievous bodily harm to themselves. What is the evidence of this? Well, Marwan Barghouti and the other detainees are taking water and salt on a daily basis to sustain them.”
The need for this hunger strike is to raise global awareness to the inhuman conditions that are being forced upon in Israeli prisons on Palestinian prisoners.

“We must understand the intention of these prisoners is not to kill them but to draw attention to the deplorable conditions they are facing in Israeli prisons currently. However, if they refused water and salt, that would lead to grievous bodily harm or death…that would be haram,” he emphasized.

South Africans are called on to join a national one day symbolic 24 hour fast and day of action on the 15th May in solidarity with thousands of Palestinians who are on a mass hunger strike. Civil society bodies as well as Palestinian political organisations have jumped on to support the cause.

In light of the call for solidarity, Dr Arieff has encouraged South Africans to support the cause.

“If you would like to experience what it is like for someone to go through such extreme conditions and the psyche behind it then maybe try to do it for a few days with them. Salt water will sustain you however you will lose weight quite rapidly and this is what happens to these prisoners,” Dr Arieff advised. VOC