Suicidal Behavior in Islamic Countries: An Overview

Historically, Muslim countries have lower rates of suicide compared to the global average as well as those of Western countries. Many theories are put forward for this. However, suicide is a complex phenomenon affected by multiple factors and there are wide variations in the practice of Islam, cultural norms, social and political structures, geography, and income levels of different countries. Generally, suicide is an under-researched and under-studied problem in Muslim-majority countries. This chapter gives an overview of suicidal behavior in the context of sociocultural, economic and political, backgrounds, the Islamic view on suicide, epidemiology, legal status, sources of data, and attitudes toward suicide in Muslim countries.