A Comparative Assessment of the Spiritual Health Behaviors of the Iranian Muslim in the COVID-19 Pandemic with Religious Evidence

Based on religious beliefs, the Iranian Muslim follow the lifestyle of the Prophet and the Imams. The aim of this study was to comparatively evaluate the spiritual health behaviors of the Iranian Muslim in the COVID-19 pandemic with religious evidence.

This comparative study was conducted in the period from March 1, 2020, to the end of May 2020 in Tehran, Iran. Without intervening in the research samples, the researchers observed, recorded, examined and compared their individual and social behaviors with religious evidence. Data collection methods were semi-structured interviews, observation, taking notes from published papers, website surveys and social networks. Data were analyzed by conventional content analysis.

Religious beliefs, as a moral motivating factor, had a positive effect on the health behaviors and spiritual health of people in the biological crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. Community adherence to health standards, spiritual self-care, home care, and family participation in health services at prevention levels were consistent with scientific findings and religious evidence. Muslim people avoided doing things that endangered their own health or the health of others.

The adaptation of health behaviors of the research samples with religious evidence shows the effect of adherence to Islamic rules on the individual and social behaviors of Iranian Muslims, which can be recommended for followers of other Abrahamic religions.