Islam, Medicine, and Practice: The Manifestation of Islamic Moral Values in the Everyday Aspects of the United States Healthcare System
Cortney Hughes Rinker, PhD, George Mason University
This paper explores the relationship between Islam and the healthcare system in the United States through drawing upon ethnographic research I have conducted with Muslim communities and medical providers in the Washington D.C. metro area, a textual analysis, and a literature review. During an interview with an Imam about Islam and end-of-life care, he said, “In my opinion, Islamic moral values are found in the West and not in the Muslim world.” I asked him to explain this in the context of the healthcare system. He went on to say that making and keeping appointments, referring patients to specialists who are more knowledgeable about a particular disease, and regular sanitizing procedures are exemplary of Islamic medial ethics, but he feels that these practices are not widely found in countries where Islam is the predominant religion. Picking up on his point, the objective of this presentation is to flush out this paradox and to examine how medical standards of care in the United States—which many people take for granted—are in line with Islamic values and even facilitate their practice. In what ways do the practical aspects of the US healthcare system complement Islamic morals and Islamic principles about health, illness, and the body? How do medical guidelines for treating diseases intersect with Islamic beliefs about disease and sickness? How does the responsibility of medical providers to treat and heal patients coincide with what Islam teaches about gaining knowledge, care giving, and health? In this paper I will demonstrate that Islam may be used pragmatically to justify particular health decisions and encourage specific health practices, and at the same time, I will show that the introduction of practices can also cause individuals to reinterpret Islamic texts and their own religious beliefs. Through data collected from interviews and observations as well as from texts, I will explore how Muslims in the United States experience the US healthcare system and make sense of religious and secular medical discourses as they seek treatment in healthcare facilities. I argue that we should not pit cultural and religious traditions against medicine and instead trace how the religious and medical both become embodied in health practices concurrently. Ultimately, I hope to demonstrate that several key Islamic moral values are actually manifested within the very practical aspects of the US healthcare system—the aspects that patients engage with most often.
This paper explores the relationship between Islam and the healthcare system in the United States through drawing upon ethnographic research I have conducted with Muslim communities and medical providers in the Washington D.C. metro area, a textual analysis, and a literature review. During an interview with an Imam about Islam and end-of-life care, he said, “In my opinion, Islamic moral values are found in the West and not in the Muslim world.” I asked him to explain this in the context of the healthcare system. He went on to say that making and keeping appointments, referring patients to specialists who are more knowledgeable about a particular disease, and regular sanitizing procedures are exemplary of Islamic medial ethics, but he feels that these practices are not widely found in countries where Islam is the predominant religion. Picking up on his point, the objective of this presentation is to flush out this paradox and to examine how medical standards of care in the United States—which many people take for granted—are in line with Islamic values and even facilitate their practice. In what ways do the practical aspects of the US healthcare system complement Islamic morals and Islamic principles about health, illness, and the body? How do medical guidelines for treating diseases intersect with Islamic beliefs about disease and sickness? How does the responsibility of medical providers to treat and heal patients coincide with what Islam teaches about gaining knowledge, care giving, and health? In this paper I will demonstrate that Islam may be used pragmatically to justify particular health decisions and encourage specific health practices, and at the same time, I will show that the introduction of practices can also cause individuals to reinterpret Islamic texts and their own religious beliefs. Through data collected from interviews and observations as well as from texts, I will explore how Muslims in the United States experience the US healthcare system and make sense of religious and secular medical discourses as they seek treatment in healthcare facilities. I argue that we should not pit cultural and religious traditions against medicine and instead trace how the religious and medical both become embodied in health practices concurrently. Ultimately, I hope to demonstrate that several key Islamic moral values are actually manifested within the very practical aspects of the US healthcare system—the aspects that patients engage with most often.