Suicidal Behavior in Muslim Majority Countries: Epidemiology, Risk Factors, and Prevention

The book is about suicidal behavior in Muslim majority countries. Islam is the second-largest religion in the world. There are also sizable Muslim populations in non-Islamic countries. Suicide is strongly prohibited in Islam and based on this tenet, suicide and self-harm remain criminalized acts in many Islamic countries. When compared to the global estimates for suicide rates and to non-Islamic countries, Muslim majority countries have lower rates, indicating that Islamic faith and practice may be protective against suicidal behaviors. However, several factors such as criminal status, stigma toward suicide, extreme dearth of research, low-quality data, and under-reporting make it difficult to draw any firm conclusions. Hence, this book aims to do a deeper study of suicidal behaviors in Muslim majority countries, covering epidemiology, risk factors, and the challenges of suicide prevention in Muslim majority countries.