Zanzibar's Islamic leaders use Qur'an to shift attitudes about sex, contraception, HIV/AIDS

The Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog" examines how religious leaders on the island of Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, are using the Qur'an to shift attitudes about the issues of sex, contraception, and HIV/AIDS in an effort to reduce HIV infection, improve maternal health and curb rapid population growth. "Their aim is to shift deep-rooted views in their devout Islamic society that contraception is a sin," according to the blog. "Compared with the Tanzanian mainland, Zanzibar has half the rate of use of contraception -- just 13 percent in fertile women in 2011 -- and more than double the proportion of Muslims, at 95 percent," the blog notes, adding that imams' work to educate the population is working, as "contraceptive use has crept up from nine percent to 13 percent in the past four years" (Carrington, 10/31).