The elderly care in Islam and the western societies : comparative study

Abstract EN

This research aims at highlighting the elderly issues and care in Islam, many verses of the Holy Qur'an and traditions of the Prophet Mohamed (prayers and peace be upon him) are presented in this research to show the incomparable high respect given to the aged people the most deserving of dignity and honor, and that distinguishes Islam in dealing with human affairs compared to other philosophies and cultures.

Ageing represents one part that cannot be separated from the entire human society which is organized according to Allah's will in dignifying human beings in the different life stages from weakness to strength and again from strength to weakness.

This research focuses on the conditions of the elderly in non- Muslim communities of the West which considers man as individual not a member of the family, such communities where materialistic life is dominating over human considerations .

The objective of this study is to compare the elderly care in Muslim communities to those in non-Muslim countries, thus a descriptive analytical method was used in this research in order to achieve the main objective.

Books, research results, websites and other sources of information were used as tools for data collection.

The results have shown the privileged status of the elderly in Islam and the good treatment they find within the family which Islam has emphasized its cohesion and correlation through the guidance of the Holy Qur'an and Sunnah.

Also, the results have shown the inhuman status of the elderly in other communities that claim defending man and his rights in a noble life.