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Presented at the 3rd National Seminar on Shariah Compliance Hospital 2019 held at Kuantan, Malaysia on December 2, 2019, by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule Sr. MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard) Chairman of the Human and Medical Ethics Committee as well as the Institutional Review Board King Fahad Medical City Riyadh Saudi Arabia
MUJAHADAT AL NAFS: Concept
• We shall start by discussing the two major concepts in this topic: mujaahadat and shari’at.
• The essence of a human is the nafs (also called ruh and qalb) and not the physical body (jasad). All great projects and changes start with changes in the nafs.
• Changing the nafs or keeping it away from evil is a greater struggle (jihaad akbar) than physical struggles (jihad asghar).
• Mujahadat al nafs is a struggle to transform the nafs from its lowest level, the nafs ammaara (tendency to evil) through nafs lawaamah (conscientious), to nafs mutmainnat (calmness).
• All forms of ‘ibadat are training to strengthen the struggle for example qiyam al lail is a struggle against sleep and puasa is a struggle against the food and sex appetites.
MUJAHADAT AL NAFS: Application
• A shari’at compliant hospital is a major transformation whose success depends on strong motivation from the nafs.
• It also requires struggle (mujaahadat) against opposing tendencies and forces of the nafs that resist that change.
• The hospital is a reaffirmation of the Islamic alternative that that turns away some, makes others uncomfortable, and makes others comfortable because they are on the right path.
MUJAHADAT AL NAFS: Stages
• Imaam Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyat mentioned 4 stages of jihad al nafs which parallel the stages we pass through in establishing and maintaining a shari’at compliant hospital.
• The first stage is getting knowledge (ta’allum),
• The second stage is calling others to join or support our enterprise (da’wa).
• The third stage is application (‘amal),
• The fourth stage is patience (sabr) to face challenges.
MUJAHADAT AL NAFS: Overcoming opposition
• In the case of the shari’at compliant hospital these stages are not consecutive but are contemporaneous and enter into one another.
• The resistance to the concept of the hospital arises out of the community being far from the original path of the Islamic world-view (tasawwur Islami).
• The hospital is not only providing shari’at compliant health care but is part of the effort of returning the community to the original Islamic world-view.
SHARI’AT: Changing meaning
• Shari’at means a guide. Every community has its path defined by the Qur’an as shir’atan (path) and minhajan (methodology) (maida:48).
• Shari’at is supposed to be a comprehensive guide for the community consisting of munakahaat (marriage and family matters), muamalaat (commercial transactions), huduud (punishments), and aqida (the creed).
• Over the centuries this comprehensiveness has been reduced. ‘Aqida was the first to be separated. Then huduud were separated. Next mu’amalaat were separated leaving only munakahaat and mawariith (inheritance) that constitute the bulk of the work of shari’at courts today.
• In some countries even munakahaat have been eliminated leaving nothing of shari’at.
SHARI’AT: Reviving the original
• A shari’at compliant hospital takes its place among institutions that are reviving shari’at as a comprehensive guide for the community in all affairs including the health sector.
• Disease and illness are the final path of violations in society: nutrition, hygiene, violence, stress etc. Society enters the hospital.
• Hospital plays the role of restoring society to the original path of shari’at.
• Hospital cannot live in its 4 walls it must go out.
• The hospital is corrective institution that changes those who pass through it (patients and families and professionals) should come out as better people.
CHALLENGES and BARRIERS
• Some changes are conceptual and intellectual related to understanding the concept of a shari’at compliant hospital.
• There are challenges of specific knowledge and skills relating to these hospitals.
• There are problems with logistics, financing, and management.
• It is my hope that this conference will discuss and find solutions to these problems.
• The biggest challenge is to keep the vision and mission intact despite obstacles and barriers.