Mothers' Experience of Holy Quran Recitation Regarding Health Care for Their Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Qualitative Study

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common chronic motor disability and cognitive neuropathy in children. Muslim mothers of children with CP, say prayers, cling to the progeny of the prophet, and recite holy Quran in these situations. The aim of this study was to identify the experience of mothers with CP children through reciting the holy Quran.

In this qualitative study, 5 mothers of CP children who were hospitalized in Valiasr Hospital in Fasa, Iran, were selected through purposive sampling and subjected to semi-structured interviews until data saturation. Inductive data analysis were performed to analyze data. Moreover, the criteria of acceptability, verifiability, and transmissibility were used to evaluate the accuracy, validity and reliability of the data.  

According to the results, 3 main categories and 8 subcategories were emerged in this study. The theme of “Miracle of Quran's therapy” emerged form “Psycho-physical improvement of mothers and children” subcategory. In addition, the category of “Spiritual growth” was emerged from the subcategories, such as “acceptance and surrender to divine volition”, “heroic return”, and “assurance of existence of patron”. Furthermore, the last category of “comprehensive management” was extracted form subcategories, including “self-management and task-doing”, “situation management”, and “looking ahead”.

Regarding the severity of the CP disease and various difficulties in taking care of children with CP, mothers selected the strategy of reciting the holy Quran. They believed that reciting holy Quran empowered them and help them play their maternal role and manage the situation. In addition, it is recommended to provide situations in which mothers can recite holy Quran as one of the most efficient way in meeting mothers’ needs.