An in-depth review of literature shows that not much has been written in English language on the relationship between health behavior and Islam. Still a search on the Internet has shown several attempts by Muslims and non-Muslims to document various relationships between Islam and contemporary health. Ruck (2002), a health and development consultant from the UK has written an Internet based lecture on child health and Islam. In it she describes Islamic ideas in relation to Community Health Promotion, which include.

- Zat al Bain: essential bonds within a community

- Fard –El Kifaya: Collective duty to care about others

De Leeuw and Hussein (1999) looked at the five action areas of the Ottawa charter and demonstrated their link to Islamic concepts of ‘Da’wah’, ‘Shari’ah’,’ Shuura’, ‘Hisba’ and ‘Waqf’. These notions, which show how Islam tries to establish a mechanism to care for each other in a community, are part of three major concepts in Islam, namely the five pillars of Islam, Elements of ‘Imaan’-Faith and Islamic Jurisprudence. These three concepts can be said to be the basis for an “Islamic Health Theory” (See figure 1 on slide). The figure shows how the Islamic concepts built upon the Quran and Ahadith could influence behavior through various determinants and ultimately leading to a healthy lifestyle which contributes to health as proven by various empirical studies. Obedience to the various concepts of Islam, based on Milgram’s experiment as described by Sabini (1992), is the assumption one has to take in applying this theory for health promotion interventions.

References:

De Leeuw, E. & Hussein, A. (1999). Islamic health promotion and interculturalization. Health Promotion International, Volume 14 No 4, 347-353.

Ruck, N. (2002). Child Care in Islam:Lessons for health promotion. Islamic supercourse lectures. http://www.pitt.edu/~super1/lecture/lec4981/index.htm