ABSTRACT
Drawing from her interviews with Sunni Muslim imams, physicians, and patients, Hughes Rinker posits that certain fundamental Western medical practices embodied in American health care are “sites of religious meaning-making” for these Muslims. For instance, the system of scheduling and keeping appointments corresponds with Muhammad’s insistence on fulfilling one’s promises. The importance of specializing in a particular area and providing referrals to others outside of one’s expertise is also reflected in Islam, which boasts a tradition of specialty medicine going back to medieval times. Furthermore, the sanitization of hands and instruments can resonate with those who are concerned with maintaining cleanliness prior to religious rituals. Each of these practices involves care for the bodies under the doctor’s care and thereby echoes the primacy of respect in Islamic teachings as well. Hughes Rinker does not rule out the possibility of differences between predominant Islamic values and Western medical practices, nor does she deny that values in other religious traditions can also overlap with these practices, but she does suggest that, contrary to certain contemporary narratives in a post-September-11 world, Islam is not fundamentally opposed to innovation or Western values.
