ABSTRACT
An appreciation of religious ethic surrounding health and disease may therefore aid professionals in the challenging role of delivering care in a manner that is appropriate and culturally sensitive. This chapter explores the nature of health and ill health from within the Islamic world-view. An etymological approach is adopted, drawing on Qur’anic lexicons and Arabic commentaries on classical Islamic texts, for linguistic competence and religious understanding are regarded as inseparable within classical Muslim thought. The impact of Qur’anic Arabic in these latter regions should not, however, be underestimated because although only a few hundred terms may have been adopted, many of these have assumed positions of pivotal importance in defining important concepts in these communities. Man – Allah’s masterpiece creation – is fundamentally different from all other beings. The central point of his inwardness, the domain of the spirit and soul, is the qalb, or the human heart.
