Religious meaning-making among Muslim parents bereaved by homicide: Struggling to accept ‘God's will’ and yearning for ‘Qayama’ day

Abstract

Objective: Parental bereavement by homicide is considered an extremely difficult grief experience; hence it may significantly undermine one's meaning structures. Although bereaved parents' meaning-making process has been extensively researched, less is known about meaning reconstruction among Muslim parents bereaved by homicide – an understudied population. The study's goal was to gain an in-depth understanding of bereaved Muslim parents' meaning-making process in light of their religious background using Park's religious meaning-making model. Methods: Employing a qualitative approach, in-depth interviews were held with 12 Muslim parents bereaved by homicide. The data were analyzed using both categorical-content and categorical-form analyses. Results: The findings indicated that Muslim parents' meaning-making process involves silencing, which is grounded in their religious background. This process is characterized by a difficulty to accept this loss as God's will, as expected from them by religion, given that it was caused by an intentional act of human violence. Consequently, their global belief meanings are undermined. They, then, yearn for “Qayama” day–the day of judgment. Conclusions: The findings are discussed in light of Park's religious meaning-making model, highlighting that bereaved Muslim parents' coping process includes an additional challenge related to their religious background. This underscores the need for culturally-sensitive inquiry and spiritually-informed therapy.

Keywords

• Religious meaning-making
• Homicide
• Grief
• Bereavement
• Cultural sensitivity