Citation

Shoib S, Armiya'u AY, Nahidi M, Arif N, Saeed F. Health Sci. Rep. 2022; 5(4): e665.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/hsr2.665

PMID

35702511

PMCID

PMC9178353

Abstract

Islam is the world's second-biggest religion, with a population of almost 1.9 billion people and a major presence in nearly 50 nations and territories. According to a survey published in 2020, 1.9 billion people follow Islam, accounting for around 24.9% of the global population.1 The majority of Muslim nations are in Asia (one-third from South Asia) and Africa's LAMIC region. Most of them are classified as low and middle-income countries (LMICs).2 Suicide is the world's fourth-biggest cause of mortality among those aged 15-29. In 2019, LMICs accounted for 77 percent of all suicide deaths, with adolescent suicide accounting for 88 percent of all suicide deaths globally.3 Suicide rates are lower in Muslim nations, according to reports, since Islam forbids Muslims from taking their own life. However, these data should be interpreted with caution since there are still some unresolved concerns with suicide reporting, the criminal status of suicide, and the stigma associated with suicide. Furthermore, stigma, attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and intention about the use of formal mental health services impact mental health of Muslims.4 While the lower rates of suicide can greatly be directly attributed to religion, indirect impacts of religion and other factors, less related to religion (such as social pressure, denser networks of family, peer, ethnic, and other social ties, smaller windows of opportunity for committing suicide in the multigenerational households), are also effective. The level of religiosity is also responsible for low suicide rates among Muslims. Nevertheless, a few Muslim countries (Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Kazakhstan, and Sierra Leone) have higher suicide rates than the global average.3 The disproportionately high levels of civil conflict, wars, or internal disputes within Muslim-majority which at times see adaptation of suicide as a tactic of warfare can be a reason that can justify this finding...

Language: en