The Religious Lessons Learned Based on the Islamic Lifestyle on Promoting Spiritual Health Indicators in Soldiers at the Military Basis in Tehran, Iran

Background and Aim: Since the lifestyle of each individual and society is influenced by the teachings of the beliefs and values of the society, it is essential to obtain the knowledge about the concept of lifestyle and religious beliefs and the interaction of these two categories with spiritual well-being. This study aims to investigate the influence of Islam on lifestyle education to promote spiritual health among military personnel (soldiers) at the military base in Tehran, Iran. Methods: This is a quasi-experimental study. The study population consisted of all soldiers under the supervision of a military university and the selected barracks in Tehran, Iran during 2016. Participants were 160 soldiers divided into two groups (80 in the experimental group and 80 in the control group). To measure the variables of the study, the spiritual well-being scale (SWB) by Paloutzian and Ellison (1982), Kaviani’s Islamic life style questionnaires and the spiritual health questionnaire developed by center of medicine and religion of Baqiyatallah university were all used before and after the intervention. The experimental group underwent 8 hours of direct Islamic lifestyle training by a spiritual mentor during two days with educational multimedia. Questionnaires were completed before and after the intervention by the two groups. Results: The positive effect of Islamic lifestyle intervention on spiritual well-being was statistically significant (P<0.001). Education effect on variables including the relationship between man and God, about man and last life, personal and social ethics, the relationship between man and the living world, human relationship and others and total scores of spiritual health were statistically significant (P<0.001). The effect of educational intervention on Islamic lifestyle variables was significant (P<0.01) but in the social scale; beliefs, ritual, family and security and defense were not significant (P>0.05). Conclusion: The effect of Islamic life style training on the components of the spiritual health and the spiritual well-being was significant and thus direct educational interventions with the help of educational programs can cause a spiritual health’s indicators upgrade in soldiers.

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