Male-to-female transgenders are discriminated in Malaysia due to their gender expression, their involvement in the sex trade, and the high prevalence of HIV infection in this community. They are burdened by many health issues including HIV and sexually transmitted diseases, psychiatric problems, substance abuse, and complications resulting from feminizing procedures. Although majority of the transgender community is Muslim, many of them are far from religious guidance due to discrimination and fear towards criminalization. Efforts are needed to tackle the risks and vulnerability in health issues in the mak nyah community. This paper discusses the health issues faced by transgenders in Malaysia, and also describes an integrated method in helping the transgender community. � 2017 American Scientific Publishers All rights reserved.

This paper describes a female patient with major depressive disorder with psychotic features, who underwent mainstream psychiatric treatment complemented with ruqyah shar’iyyah (incantations based on Qur’an and prophetic traditions) healing in Malaysia. The patient faced the stigmatization of mental health within her family and had poor coping mechanisms, in addition to an incomplete understanding of what characterizes a religiously observant Muslim faith healer, in the early phases of her illness. The patient had periods of non-compliance with psychiatric care in between various ruqyah shar’iyyah, treatment periods, and faced a relapse that led to hospital admission. The patient’s outcome improved after she complemented her psychiatric treatment with ruqyah shar’iyyah, that complied with Islamic creed and law. The importance of the inter-related systems of medical and psycho-spiritual treatments needs to be emphasized as it is crucial to the psychological wellbeing of the patient. The case report illustrates that ruqyah shar’iyyah, a practice encouraged by the Prophet Muhammad is believed to be a therapeutic remedy for any disorder, and can be used as complementary spiritual-based treatment to mainstream psychiatry, bringing multiple benefits across various cultural groups of Muslims.

Grief has been defined as the reaction towards loss with typical symptoms including sadness, anger, guilt, yearning, regret, loneliness, numbness and positive feelings related to individual's personal experience. Grief has been postulated to occur when a safe and secure bond has been threatened. This loss can be an opportunity for personal growth. It is growth that emerges from difficult life events. It may occur during or after the process of grieving. We reviewed three cases related to grief and personal growth. Three cases were described where grief and personal growth were observed. Each case occurred in different situations. These different situations were; an adult child and caregiver of patient with dementia, a widow who loss her husband from drowning, and a cancer survivor who experienced psychological and spiritual growth from the loss and adverse life event. As a comparison three stories taken from the Quran and Hadith were analyzed to reflect on the three case discussions. The Quran and Hadith have mentioned stories of personal growth emerging from difficulties. The completeness of Islamic creed has never neglected the spiritual component in treating medical, physical and psychological illnesses. Islamic spirituality facilitates and enhances personal growth in the aftermath of any physical and psychological tribulations. It is important to merge the spiritual aspects of grief from Islamic perspective, as to aid those suffering from grief to attain personal and spiritual growth. � 2019 Default.

It is common for Muslims to associate mental illness with the work of jinn. Typically, an initial consultation with folk-healer is made within the local community by those who experience deviant symptoms. This behaviour results in several serious negative health implications. Misconception about the meaning of Islamic medicine, the use of ruqyah among the public, and the lack of culturally competent approach in handling mental illnesses are thought to perpetuate the problem. Despite the lack of evidence in the Qur'an and Sunnah to support jinn possession, the belief persists in the community. Thus, a multidisciplinary approach through engagement, advocacy, and research are much needed to manage the issue at hand. 2020 International Islamic University Malaysia.

Muslim faith healers are often sought by the Malaysian public as an avenue to address psychological distress. “Ruqyah” refers to the recitation of verses from the Qur'an and/or sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and is used by Muslim faith healers as a method of treatment. This study was conducted to assess the knowledge and attitude of Muslim faith healers in dealing with psychiatric patients in Malaysia. Seven Muslim faith healers were interviewed. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, and analysed qualitatively using thematic content analysis. The authors identified four themes: understanding of psychiatric illnesses, diagnostic competence, patients' referral, and integrating “ruqyah” into mainstream psychiatry. It was found that the respondents had limited knowledge of psychiatric illness, focusing on “ruqyah” as the main intervention in treating psychiatric illness. Recognizing the important role played by Muslim faith healers in the treatment of psychiatric illness in Malaysia, collaboration between them and fellow psychiatrists is deemed highly necessary.

Stigmatization of mental illness is closely related with media representation. Newspaper is regarded as the main source of information for Malaysian public. However, the portrayal of mental illnesses in this form of media was never assessed. This study was conducted with the aims of evaluating how Bahasa Melayu newspapers reported mental illness issues and to quantify the frequency of negative depiction versus positive depiction of mental illness patient. Four daily Bahasa Melayu newspapers were examined page by page by the researchers during a five-week period, from July to August 2015. These newspapers were chosen based on their average daily circulation. The selected articles were coded according to coding frame developed by the authors. The data were then analyzed qualitatively using content analysis. A total of 46 articles were selected for analysis. The majority of tone used in the headlines of these articles was neutral and the majority of the tone used in the text was negative. The most common keyword in these articles was �sakit mental�. The findings were similar to what have been reported in other studies. In order to prevent further negative stigma on mental illness, several recommendations were discussed. � 2018, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. All rights reserved.

The Kulliyyah of Medicine of IIUM has pioneered the Islamization of Medicine in Malaysia since its establishment in year 1994. Therefore, it is timely to review publications on Islamization by the kulliyyah and also to propose a classification system in the field of researches to promote an organized, comprehensive, inclusive and relevant Islamization process. The aim is to review and classify publications on Islamization performed by the members of Kulliyyah of Medicine, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). All researches and publications deposited in the IIUM Repository (IREP) under the Kulliyyah of Medicine between 1 st of January 2000 and 31 st of August 2016 were reviewed. Journal articles, posters and proceedings with Islamization themes were identified. These publications were classified based on common themes to either of the following; 1) "Islamic Principles and Related Rulings in Medicine"; 2) "Medical Treatment for Muslim Patients"; 3) "Islamic Input in Medical Practices"; 4) "Ruqyah and Tibb an-Nabawi in Contemporary Medicine". A total of 1616 items (journal articles, abstracts and proceedings) were reviewed. Sixty-one (3.8%) of them were related to Islamization. The major contributors to writings in Islamization are the Orthopaedics, Traumatology and Rehabilitation Department (10%) followed by the Internal Medicine Department (7.9%), from their total deposits in the IREP database. Majority (36.5%) of work were done in "Islamic Principles and Related Rulings in Medicine", which dwells in subjects such as euthanasia, autonomy and doctor-patient relationship followed by "Islamic Input in Medical Practice" (28.6%) which was related to topics in the medical curriculum such as Fiqh Ibadah for the sick. Twenty-three point eight percent (23.8%) of work were in the "Medical Treatment for Muslim Patients" which focuses on Ramadan and diabetes and joint problems and Solat. Minimal work (7.9%) was done in the "Ruqyah and Tibb an-Nabawi in Contemporary Medicine" category. Low number of publications on Islamization was deposited in the IREP database for the past 15 years. Based on the proposed classification system, majority of publications were on "Islamic Principles and Related Rulings in Medicine" and "Islamic Input in Medical Practice". More work is required on the theme of "Medical Treatment for Muslim Patients" and "Ruqyah and Tibb an-Nabawi in Contemporary Medicine". � 2019 Default.

Following the announcement of Traditional and Complementary Medicine Act 2013, Muslim faith healers are slowly gaining grounds to make their practice mainstream. One of the major characteristics of Muslim faith healers is the strong inclination to attribute mental illnesses to Jinn possession (demonic possession). Unlike other traditional healers, Muslim faith healers' primary mode of treatment is Ruqyah, an incantation or generally considered as 'Du'a or prayers. This article is a sharing by a psychiatrist who has been actively engaging with faith healers in order to understand the world of faith healing including the attitude and knowledge of both the healers and clients while attempting to educate them on modern psychiatry based on bio-psycho-socio-spiritual paradigm. The methodology: 1) Involvement in symposium, seminar and focused group discussion, either as participant or as speaker. 2) Collaborating with local spiritual leader to conduct workshop on mental illness in mosques. 3) Writing articles in scientific and popular publications with and without faith healers as the collaborators. 4) Appearing in radio advocating and discussing about the dilemma of mental illness issue from the religious perspectives, and 5) Participate in workshop conducted by Muslim faith healers. As a result, several issues come to the author's attention. The divisions of Muslim faith healers are rather complicated, for example Malay traditional healers or bomoh should not be categorized in the same group as Muslim faith healers. The oft-quoted 'Islamic Medicine' is problematic in view that it is laced with elements of local cultural value and practice which are not necessarily authentically Islamic. Since Malays make up the biggest community in Malaysia, one has to differentiate between Islam and Muslim. Majority of Muslims misunderstood the term Ruqyah as a form of healing exclusively done by the Muslim faith healers. In conclusion, psychiatrists should engage more proactively with faith and spiritual healers in order to curb stigmatization and delay in seeking psychiatric care and treatment. � 2019 Default.