Abstract

The concept of spiritual and religious care, as core components of palliative care for patients at end of life stages, has achieved significant organized applications and advances in modes of intervention and tools. The past two decades have witnessed waves of secularization with impacts of the concepts of spirituality and chaplaincy that diverged away from religion, more so in the UK and some European countries as compared to US applications. Spirituality became more generic and broad that revealed itself in helping and education of patients and families to earth and think of meaning and purpose of life, suffering death and dying. The issues of spirituality and religiosity in the Islamic culture, teachings and attitudes towards patient care at terminal stages of life, is distinguished by clarity and harmony in view of clarity of Muslim beliefs and interpretations concerning purpose, meaning and mission of human life on this earth, end-of-life care and the afterlife. This paper will address the contemporary western diverse concepts of spirituality, its relationship with religiosity in terminal patient care, and will elaborate on the holistic Islamic views and attitudes towards this stage of human life.

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