Religion and Spirituality in Coping with Cancer among Muslims: A Literature Review

Active religious practice is central to the lives of Muslims. Few studies have examined how religious engagement by Muslims who are coping with cancer affects their psychological health during treatment. Objective: To determine how and the extent to which religion and spirituality are employed as coping mechanisms by Muslims through a literature review. Methods: The electronic Medline, Cinahl, Google Scholar, and PubMed databases were used to identify relevant articles. Grey literature, including websites, was also looked over. Studies including patients with cancer of all types and stages were included. Results: Eight articles were included in the review. Key topics of interest were how the characteristics of Muslim religiosity and spirituality are involved in coping with cancer, including whether they further enable a Muslim to give meaning to cancer, how cancer affects the religious beliefs of Muslim patients with cancer, and whether religion influences treatment considerations. Conclusion: Religion and spirituality are crucial for Muslim patients to find meaning in cancer, and both are used as primary means of coping. Thus, nurses must be aware of and sensitive to the importance of religion in caring for such patients.