Health Care

Prayer

Devout Muslims pray (salaat) 5 times a day. Daily salaat is mandatory and performed at dawn, noon, mid afternoon, sunset, and late night. It is helpful to direct the bed of a terminally ill Muslim patient toward Mecca (in a northeast direction in the United States) for spiritual reasons. Also it should be noted that Muslims ritually wash (Wuzu) before their daily prayers. This ritual includes washing the arms, face, mouth, ears, and feet each time before prayers. Therefore, if a patient desires to engage in this practice, extra effort will be needed from the medical team and nurses to help the patient meet this requirement.