Inside Islam
During the second term of OT school, I gave myself a professional development goal to watch a documentary, podcast, or online forum about something related to culture and bias that is different from my own and write a reflection about it. When thinking about what culture I wanted to explore and doing research about what is going on in the world globally, I decided that I wanted to know more about the culture of Muslim. I watched a documentary on youtube titled "Inside Isalm: the untold story of Islam". In this documentary I learned about the history of what makes up the Islamic faith and what are the foundations this religion stands on. Islam means submission, the humans will should be subjected to the will of God. I learned that there are about 7 million people in the US population who practice the Islamic faith. They believe that Muhammad was a prophet who was born to restore the faith in one God. It is said that two angels descended from heaven, opened his body and took out a black spot in his heart. This was alleged that his sins are removed and now it is his job to tell others about the God who cleaned him. The Quran is the Islamic bible filled with Arabic poetry of high order. The Quran retells and expands on upon stories of the bible. This book does mention Jesus, but he is not distinguished as divine or the son of God or God himself. The Islamic faith believes that Jesus was another important old testament prophet. They say that when Jesus was sent to be crucified that God lifted him to heaven and he was never crucified. Abraham is the prophet that is highly valued in the Quran due to him following his call from God and moving toward the promise land. The Kaaba is the black box cube that is very sacred in the Muslim faith. It is believed to be where Abraham prayed for a place of pilgrimage and it was where Mohammad was born, Mohammad established the 5 pillars of Islamic faith: God, prayer, fasting, charity, and pilgrimage.
God: the Shahada is a testament of faith that states that there is only one God and that Mohammad is the messenger. to convert to Islam you have t recite this testament one time with complete sincerity.
Prayer: As a Muslim, it is required to pray 5 times a day (dawn, mid day, afternoon, sunset, and in the evening before you go to sleep). The reason they pray multiple times a day is have a constant reminder of checking out of their life and regain the focus of keeping God in the center. It is also required that when you pray you must be clean of yourself and your environment. You must also face the direction of Mecca which is the birthplace of Mohammad.
Charity: It is required of every Muslim to contribute to charity. Compared to christianity the profit from charity is not able to go to the the operation of Mosques, it must go directly to the poor.
Fasting: The month of Ramadan is when the Quran was revealed to Mohammad. During this time you are not allowed to eat, drink, or engage in sexual activities from sunrise to sunset. The idea of fasting is to foster an inner reflection of the gift of life. During this time it is focused to increase your efforts to build your relationship with God.
Pilgrimage: The "journey to God" is known as the Hajj. It is required of every Muslim to complete this pilgrimage once in their lifetime if they are physically and financially able to do so. During this journey you wear a shroud which is a cloth that makes you dead to the world and devoting yourself to God. In Mecca, you are to walk around the Kaaba - this represents God being your axis and the center of your life. Then you must march between two mountains 7 times to represent the struggle in life. The next part of the pilgrimage is where you stay in a dessert for a day and complete meditation and quiet prayers. The last part of the journey is where you throw 7 stones at a granite pillar representing you casting/stoning the devil and wreckage of your sins.
As a future practitioner, I learned some important cultural practices to implement when working with a client who practices the Muslim faith. It is important that we practice using a same sex doctor/practitioner for the client. If this is not possible in the certain situation, then we would provide a third person to be in the room that is the same gender as the patient. The next thing to consider is diet and medication. In the Muslim faith, people are not allowed to consume alcohol or pork. It is important to ensure that if the patient is staying overnight in the hospital that there is food they can eat that does not interfere with their diet. It is also very important to observe a prayer time for those who are practicing the Islamic faith. To be courteous, we should include a prayer corner for the client to be able to freely participate in their culture activities as needed. As I mentioned they must also cleanse themselves, so it is important to have a sink nearby.
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