General Information

General Information

The word “Islam” means peace and submission to the will of Allah (translated literally as “the God”); those who follow Islam are called Muslims. Islam is one of the three Abrahamic religions after Judaism and Christianity. In the 7 th century C.E. Islam emerged in the Arabian Peninsula, or present day Saudi Arabia. Muslims believe that there is only one God and that Muhammad was the last Prophet of God. They also believe that God revealed teachings to Muhammad, which are recorded in the Islamic Holy Scripture: the Qur'an.  The Qur'an advises Muslims on their religious duties, including the five pillars, or religious obligations, including confession of faith, prayer, fasting, charity, and pilgrimage.

Muslims consider the Prophet Muhammad as an exemplar and they try to emulate his deeds in their own lives by following his traditions and the Qur'anic instructions. Such teachings have historically influenced attitudes and practices toward different aspects of life including birth, illness, and death and dying, as well as the development of political, social and economic structures. These factors often impact policies on health care and shape Muslim sub-communities' attitudes about receiving medical treatment from the larger non-Muslim society.

During the early period of development, Islam was influenced by different factors including the cultural practices of newly conquered lands. Muslim rulers in these regions had to be rather flexible and they adopted and improvised many existing local practices; therefore, innovations in health care practice were accepted provided that they did not conflict with Islamic Law (Shari'ah).

Shari'ah considers Muslims as one community (Ummah) and prescribes their activity from birth to death. Measures for basic health care in Islamic Law include diet and personal hygiene. Due to differences between local personal habits, different interpretations of the Shari'ah developed during the early period of Islam. These interpretations resulted in the development of five distinct schools of Fiqh, or Islamic jurisprudence. Although these schools interpret the Shari'ah based on their own theological approach, they share nearly the same fundamental beliefs on the matter of death and dying.