ART OF SPIRITUAL CARE IN ISLAM

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ART OF SPIRITUAL CARE IN ISLAM

• Nazila Isgandarova, C.C.C.
• SR Care Coordinator, Cummer Lodge LTC

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Importance of Spirituality, Diversity,and
Spiritual Resources

• Diversity in spirituality enriches the
  educational experience
• Diversity in spirituality prompts personal growth
  and a healthy society
• Diversity in spirituality strengthens communities
  and the workplace.

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What is the Islamic Spirituality?

• God possesses a drink which is reserved for His
  intimate friendswhen they drink they become
  intoxicated,when they become intoxicated they
  become joyful,when they become joyful they
  become sweet,when they become sweet they begin
  to melt,

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What is the Islamic Spirituality?

• when they begin to melt they become free,when
  they become free they seek,when they seek they
  find,when they find they arrive,when they
  arrive they joinand when they join there is no
  difference between them and their Beloved.
• Imam Ali (a.s.)

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Importance of Spirituality

• Imagine yourself in a patient/client situation
  where that person suddenly asks you Why did God
  choose me to suffer?
• Health professionals take a spiritual history -
  find out whether religious or spiritual beliefs
  are used to cope, are evoking religious
  struggles, are likely to influence medical
  decisions or are responsible for other special
  needs that trained clergy may help with.

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Reasons to Define

• Regardless of different forms of organized
  religions spirituality is the affirmation of our
  essential humanness through our search to be
  alive and fruitful in meaningful ways.

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Multidisciplinary Definition of SpiritualityHay
River, NWT Regional Hospital, 1997

• Spirituality is that aspect of every human being
  , rooted in our unique createdness which is on a
  sacred journey of completeness, sometimes seeking
  to connect with and trust in the divine being and
  in pursuit of such things as wisdom, faith,
  future, love, justice, hope, meaning,
  forgiveness, peace and more in order to affirm
  who we are in essence as human beings and with
  the goal of being alive and fruitful in ways that
  are meaningful.

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Key aspects of Muslim spirituality

• Search for meaning
• wholeness
• peace
• individuality
• harmony
• a biological and integral part of being human
• way of being
• an energizing force for actualization
• meaningful and extensive way of knowing the world

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Spirituality in Islam has many forms and can be
practiced in many ways

• Prayer (may be silent or spoken out loud and can
  be done alone such as five daily prayer and in
  any setting or in groups such as the Jumaa
  prayer on Fridays)
• Regular attendance at a mosque may involve prayer
  which focuses on one's self (supplication) or on
  others (intercessory prayer).
• Spirituality can also be practiced without a
  formal religion
• Meditation, 12-step work (as practiced in
  Alcoholics Anonymous and similar groups), and
  seeking meaning in life all involve spirituality.
  
• Silent observation, listening, or gratitude can
  become part of an open-ended spirituality that
  can infuse everyday life.
• Spending time with nature, doing creative work,
  or by serving others.

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Forms of spiritual care in Islam

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• Iyâdah (visiting the sick) is the practice,
• rifq (exemplary kindness/care) is the approach,
• and ihsân (doing what is beautiful) is the
  optimal state in which spiritual care should be
  offered.

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Three Important Sources of Islamic Spiritual Care

• 1 The Quran
• 2 The Sunnah (traditions of the Prophet
  Muhammad peace be upon him)
• 3 the social sciences, expecially family
  therapy, counselling etc.

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Sura al-Isra

• We send down (stage by stage) in the Qur'an that
  which is a healing and a mercy to those who
  believe to the unjust it causes nothing but loss
  after loss.
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• Wanunazzilu mina alqur-ani mahuwa shifaon
  warahmatun lilmu/mineena walayazeedu
  alththalimeena illakhasaran
• (Surah 17, ayah 82)

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Importance of prayer from the Sunnah

• can decrease the negative effects of disease,
• speed recovery,
• and increase the effectiveness of medical
  treatments.
• to improve coping and provide comfort during
  illness.
• Religious attendance is sometimes linked with
• improvement of various health conditions such as
  heart disease, hypertension, stroke, colitis,
  uterine and other cancers, and overall health
  status.

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Tools for Islamic Spiritual Care - 1
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Tools for Islamic Spiritual Care - 2
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Who are the Muslim spiritual care givers?

• Muslim clergy such as Imams are the religious
  leaders of Muslim community
• Muslim Chaplains are the professional healthcare
  providers trained to do the spiritual care in
  hospitals, prison, long term care homes, tc.
• Muslim medical clinicians are the Muslim doctors,
  nurses, etc.

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Spiritual Concerns of Muslims

• Loss
• Mortality
• Dignity
• Hope
• After-death
• Isolation and connection, etc.

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Spiritual Questions Muslims Ask

• Why me?
• Why now?
• What does this mean?
• Is there hope?
• Can I be forgiven?
• What happens when I die?
• How will I be remembered?

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Signs of Spiritual Crisis

• The Dreaded Questions
• Loss of long-held beliefs and practices
• Seeking forgiveness, feeling abandoned
• Depression/anxiety/isolation/anger
• Non-adherence
• Unexplained symptoms

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The Greater Needs of Muslims

• Companionship
• Soothing
• Authentic interest
• Hope and Joy
• Intimacy/Connection
• The power of conversation

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What is Healing?

• In Islam, there are two main words for the
  purpose of treatment
• shifa which means healing and
• another one is mualija which means treatment.
• The Muslim tradition of spiritual healing or
  shifa which is based on the recognition of the
  effect of spiritual health on the physical body
  (Isgandarova, 2006).

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Importance of Spiritual Care

•  In Islamic tradition, visiting the sick and
  showing a spiritual care is a basic duty one
  Muslim has for another, and is not reserved only
  for close friends and family. 
• It is actually a basic form of worship to bring
  one closer to God.
• In times of distress or illness, the Muslim finds
  the greatest solace and comfort in the
  remembrance of God. 

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Religious Accommodation of Muslims

• It is about
• Respect
• Dignity
• Obeying Law
• Challenges
• Freedom of Religion To observe a religious
  practice
• Freedom from Religion Freedom from religious
  proselytization and evangelism

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Common Areas of Accommodation

• Dress
• Public Worship Service
• Diet
• Holidays
• Obligatory Practices
• Gender Issues
• Iconography

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Dietary Requirements

• The Quran prohibits the consumption of alcohol
  and pork.
• Muslims wont eat any food that has touched pork.
  For example picking the pepperoni off pizza
  isnt going to work.
• Muslims follow certain standards called Halal
  (permissible) to slaughter meat.
• Some Muslims wont eat any meat that isnt
  certified Halal and some will, as long as its
  not pork.

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Dressing Modestly Clothing and Dress

• In public, some Mennonite, Jewish, Muslim women
  wear headscarf. This attire may vary in style and
  includes a head covering. But some believe they
  do not need to cover their hair in order to
  maintain modest dress

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• Some men are also required to dress modestly
• You might see some Jewish, Muslim, Sikh boys
  wearing a small, sometimes flat cap on their
  heads. This is called a Kufi for Muslims, Turban
  for Sikhs, and Kippa for Jewish.
• If you see someone wearing a turban it doesnt
  necessarily mean they are a Muslim. In fact
  chances are theyre not.
• Cultural symbols for some countries in the Middle
  East so some men may wear one but it looks very
  different from a Sikh turban.

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Benefits of Spiritual and Religious Care to
Muslims

• decrease the depression and build the community
  for them
• old and new friendships
• share activities, communication and
  self-disclosure , etc.

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The ongoing crisis of faithful and the secular
Some examples

• A Muslim woman has a seizure in the library. Only
  male staff are available to help. What to do?
• A Muslim mal patient refuses to receive a care
  from a female nurse. What to do?
• In all of these cases, Muslims have strong
  positions on matters which a secular worker may
  see as non-issues. Are these issues of religion,
  mythology, superstition, etc?

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Modesty from an Islamic Perspective
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Conclusion