Introduction

As practitioners who live and work in areas with significant Muslim communities – of which we are a part – it is clear that much can be done to improve the experience of healthcare for Muslim patients. Caring for Muslims seeks to describe what it means to belong to a sacred tradition, to explore the intricate connections between faith and health for Muslims, and consider some of the implications of this relationship for those striving to deliver culturally competent and sensitive healthcare. Minority groups in the West have traditionally been thought of in terms of race and, more recently, ethnicity, and there is now an important body of research and literature devoted to understanding the health needs of the principal ethnic groups. Muslim numbers globally are estimated to exceed 1.2 billion, with communities found in each and every country. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.