The Role of Islam in Decent Care for People with Stigmatized Diseases: An Evaluation via the Concept of Human Dignity

Individuals’ rights and freedoms within the scope of human rights have been tried to be guaranteed by many international organizations and laws (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, WorldHealth Organization) with universal legal regulations. In addition to many norms of respect, suchas personal rights and freedom, justice, peace, and social equality, human dignity is at the forefront of an individual's own value as a human. Although these norms are considered to be applicable to all individuals through international legal regulations, it is often overlooked to identifyan approach under the qualification of human dignity when it comes to pandemic (such asHIV/AIDS) or other dangerous epidemics. With the increasing interest, many health-oriented approaches have been developed in recent years by taking into account human dignity, thanks tothe careful efforts of many health institutions, especially the World Health Organization. However,the contribution of religious attitudes to these approaches is lacking, especially in Muslim communities either because people do not have enough religious knowledge or have an unclear understanding of it. For this reason, in this study, a conceptual framework related to human dignitywas first evaluated in the context of human rights, then it was discussed in the context of Islamand it was explained how important human dignity is in both the Qur'an and the Hadith. And thenthe suggestions of the general quality of health services in the light of human dignity were given.Finally, the components that are based on human dignity and decent care are highlighted and itis discussed whether there is a compensatory function in the health sector of human dignity forfuture studies.Today, it is noted that the underlying reason for ignoring human dignity today is due to religiousexplanations and discourses rather than social perception and stereotyped thoughts or traditiontraditions. Whereas, as in other Abrahamic religions, Islam says that human dignity originates fromGod, and considers human as valuable only because it is human. That is, according to Islam, a humanbeing is a worthy being by birth. Given that, ignoring human dignity will lead to unavoidable consequences when it comes to vital loop since human dignity, which is a universal value, is a concept withtheological, sociological and psychological dimensions. In particular, decent care required for stigmatized individuals, such as people with HIV/AIDS, can lead to various psychological and sociologicalproblems, as human dignity is not taken into consideration. Likewise, showing offensive attitudesand behaviors towards this kind of pandemic disease will lead people who have such illnesses to losetheir respect for themselves and others, to be excluded and to withdraw socially. In Islam, manyverses and the hadith underline the protection and maintaining human health under all circumstances.Considering all these, this study examines the four basic components of human dignity according to Islam in order to develop new attitudes in healthcare. The first and most important ofthese is the right to live. Here, several human dignity norms such as respecting the individual andsocial rights of the person, ensuring personal safety, promoting freedom of belief system, etc. areincluded. These are supported by the verses and the hadiths in Islam, and actions such as murder,suicide, killing or maiming are explicitly prohibited. The second is the right of freedom, which meansthat people control their decision-making processes, are subject to their own actions and do nothing to endanger the freedom or safety of others. The third is the right to religiosity, which is acceptedas a natural right of human dignity. What is meant here is that no one has the right to force someone else to choose religion or to change religion, and at the same time they will not be judged fortheir right to religiousness. The fourth and last one is the right to equality social advantages in justice.In Islam, human dignity is based on the freedom of choice in every person's social life. Therefore,Islam brings fundamentally responsible and protective regulations to human dignity so that people can live in peace, security, and comfort.Moreover, elements such as the right to live, the right to freedom, the right to religiousnessand the right to equal justice offered by religion are within the scope of a belief system in whichpeople respect the dignity of all individuals and that each person has an unconditional value.These components have the potential to play an important role in developing innovative approaches and techniques that promote decent care in health services for individuals whosehealth status requires special treatment.