Palliative Care for Muslim Patients

Palliative Care for Muslim Patients

Mohammad Zafir al-Shahri, MD, and Abdullah al-Khenaizan, MD

432 www.SupportiveOncology.net THE JOURNAL OF SUPPORTIVE ONCOLOGY J Support Oncol 2005;3:432–436

Spiritual care is recognized as an integral component of comprehensive palliative care.1,2 Muslims, estimated to number 1.3 to 1.7 billion worldwide,3,4 regard Islam as both a belief system and a way of life, as per the teachings of the Qur’an.5 Therefore, delivery of quality healthcare to Muslim patients calls for promoting health professionals’ awareness of the religion of Islam. In this paper, the authors aim at discussing some of the religious aspects pertinent to caring for a special group of Muslim patients, namely the terminally ill. This discussion should not be considered stereotypically applicable to every terminally ill Muslim patient, as every patient is unique. Indeed, not only do the schools of thought vary, but also the level of observance may vary considerably among patients within the same school of thought.

http://www.prolifemuslims.com/PDF-word-PowerPoint/Palliative_Care_for_Muslim_Patients.pdf