ISLAM

Muslims Patients
The Muslims faith, like Christianity, is a universal religion

which finds adherents in literally in every nation in the

world.

The basic message of Islam can be summed up in

the Arabic expression la ilaha illa Allah: Muhammadun
rasulu Allah which states that there is no God but Allah
and that Muhammad is his final messenger.

Islam literally means submission, the term Muslim

means one who has submitted to Allah

Muslims believe that God of Islam, Christianity, and

Judaism is the same God .

 MUSLIM PATIENT SUGGESTIONS FOR CARE

Respect patients modesty and privacy
Provide meals in accordance with muslim traditions.
Accommodate prayer and Q uran reading.
Within statutory restraints, do not insist on autopsy or

organ donation.
Always examine a female patient in the presence of
another female.
Where possible, provide a same-sex health care provider
as the patient.
Preferably no male should be in the delivery room except
the husband.

 FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAMIC FAITH

-also know as five basic

fundamental Muslim obligation

1. Belief in Allah and his final prophet,
Muhammad
2. Salaat or prayers
3. Zakaat or alms
4. Fasting during the month of Ramadan
5. Hajj or pilgrimage

 FOOD SERVICE

-Muslims are enjoined to eat what is good. It

is common knowledge that pork
and its

products are forbidden to Muslims.

-also eating wild animals are forbidden.
-Muslims eat hatal meat
-gelatin also presents a problem
-medicines containing alcohol should be
avoided.

 HYGIENE

-personal hygiene plays an

important role in the Islamic religion.

-Maternity nurses should note that

women are excused from prayer during
menstruation.

 RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE

-all Muslims have the obligation of daily prayer.

-the patient or visitor must face toward the kaaba(a

small square house of prayer in Mecca.

-many parents will desire that the newborn have

the call to prayer recited in each ear.

-Also they following the example of Muhammad,

may wish that the hair of newborn be remove soon after
birth.

-Circumcision is performed on all male children.

 MODESTY

-Muslims are not allowed to

expose their bodies. A female is required
to be covered from head to ankles.
-men are not allowed to expose the area
between the waist and knees.

 GRIEVING AND BEREAVEMENT

-grieving is allowed for only 3 days.

Muslims feels that death is predestined by god
and that is the beginning of eternal life.

-when a Muslim patient on service dies,

it is preferable that his face be turned toward
Mecca and his whole body, including face, be
covered with a sheet.

-cremation is prohibited.

 HEALTH CARE ETHICS: A MUSLIM

PERSPECTIVE
ABORTION, EUTHANASIA, AND
SUICIDE

No soul can die except by Allah

permission

 TRANSPLANT

The Islamic faith allows for the acceptance of blood

products and most human organs, assuming the

following conditions can be met:

The donor must not be put at risk while alive.

There must be no coercion in the obtaining of

the organ (e.g. financial, social
or family pressure)
No vital organ can be removed from
implantation while the person is alive.
Cadaver to living is not permitted since it
involves the desecration of the dead
Body.

 ISSUES IN BIOTECHNICAL REPRODUCTION

Artificial insemination using the sperm

from the husband, fertilized in the uterus of the
wife or the test tube, would be allowed. The use
of sperm or eggs

From others and surrogate motherhood

would not meet the test due to questions of who
the mother is and questions of lineage. Cloning
would also seem to be a forbidden practice.