| Summary: | Spiritual care in hospitals is a well-established practice in Sweden that is justified by religious freedom. Contemporary Sweden is a multicultural society with a culturally and religiously diverse population. Since 2006, a Muslim spiritual care organization has been established in co-operation with the Swedish state. This interview study with Muslim spiritual caregivers examines how Islam is being interpreted and how Muslim spiritual care in Swedish hospitals is apprehended by the informants. By approaching Islam as a discursive tradition and combining historical and ethnological methods, this study sheds light on what aspects of Islam are considered relevant in the hospital context and it examines why that is the case. The study shows that Muslim spiritual care is regarded to be a complement to other healthcare practices. To a large extent, the care is provided by supportive conversations, Islamic counseling, as well as help with religious practices and rituals. To manage a patient’s various wants and the denominational diversity, the Muslim representatives hold that they put the patient’s and the relatives’ needs and interpretations of Islam first. The study concludes that the representatives are spiritual care professionals that are loyal to the state and the secular institutions they serve. This involves staying true to ideals of cultural and religious pluralism and equality but also knowing that these principles are subordinated to the hospital’s rules. This constructs boundaries regarding how Islam is interpreted and has to be negotiated in the efforts of making Islam a natural part of the institution.
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