131229P - INTEGRATION MODELS OF SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGION IN MUSLIM MAJORITY COUNTRIES

Presented at the IMANA program in Jeddah Saudi Arabia on 29^th December 2013 by Dr Omar Hasan Kasule Sr. MB ChB(MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard) Professor of Epidemiology and Bioethics Faculty of Medicine King Fahad Medical City Riyadh omarkasule@yahoo.com

Islam asserts the body-ruh duality. Both components of the duality have to be considered in medical diagnosis and treatment. Tauhid, a basic doctrine in Islam, motivates a holistic integrated approach to all aspects of life including medical practice. It provides a conceptual basis for the integration of body and ruh in medicine. The Qur’anic concept of ruh is very complex with humans having limited knowledge. We know from the Qur’an that ruh is the inner essence of human life that manifests in various ways as nafs, qalb, aql, fuad, lubb, and naasiyat with each manifestation having a role in medicine. Spirituality based on an Islamic concept of ruh has a role in medicine and various Muslim communities have integrated it in various ways. In all communities, spiritual healing, ruqya, is an integral part of treatment alongside other modalities of treatment and usually takes the form of reciting dua and reciting the Qur’an. These spiritual approaches have an effect on disease that is mediated through Allah’s pre-determination, qadar, and power, qudrat, in ways that we do not understand. There is however an indirect effect or dua or Qur’an on disease that we can understand and which has been shown in some studies. Dua and listening to the Qur’an have an effect on the mind which in turn through the neuro-endocrine and neuro-immune axis can affect the physical course of disease. In some hospitals there are religious officers whose duties include helping patients with their acts of worship, especially salat, and makingdua for them. The spiritual input is more intense in terminal care when religious officers talk to patients about repentance, forgiveness, and looking forward to the hereafter.  A more comprehensive approach to integrating spirituality in medical care is taking place in Malaysia and involves training of doctors and nurses in medical colleges that integrate Islamic spiritual values in the curriculum and then employing them in Islamic hospitals whose policies, operating procedures, and work culture are based on Islamic spiritual values.