Muslim Mothers' Use of Spirituality When Parenting a Child with Special Needs.

摘要

Research indicates that spirituality is a prominent factor in family relationships. Many individuals and families claim some practices of spirituality in their daily lives (Speraw, 2006). When specifically considering parents that have children with special needs, research demonstrates that those with a spiritual belief system tend to turn to these beliefs during their formative childrearing years. The gap in current literature with respect to American Muslim parents facilitated the present study, specifically aiming to explore the Muslim mother's use of her spirituality when parenting a child with special needs.;The current research uses a transcendental phenomenological process to investigate the experiences of Muslim mothers utilizing spirituality when parenting their child with special needs. Data was collected by conducting semi-structured qualitative interviews with Muslim mothers of children with special needs. The interview transcripts were analyzed for themes about the experience of the participants with the phenomenon. Themes were clustered into textural and structural themes. Three main textural themes were identified from the interviews: (1) God-Consciousness, (2) Islamic teachings, and (3) prayer. Two main structural themes were identified with three subthemes; (1) Naseeb [Divine Destiny], (2) spiritual reframe. Subthemes included acceptance, being tested by God, and spiritual blessings. Implications were discussed and recommendations were given for the direction of future research.