In exploring attitudes towards the economic status of disabled people in Jordan, Majid Turmunsani XXXXXXXXXXfound that cultural attitudes towards disability were rooted in religious beliefs about...

In exploring attitudes towards the economic status of disabled people in Jordan, Majid Turmunsani (2003) found that cultural attitudes towards disability were rooted in religious beliefs about society and roles:

The concentration on a person’s productivity and contribution to their family and society seems to reinforce that characteristic of Islamic society which accord status to a person, especially a man, according to his financial capability. However, generally speaking, Islamic society is characterized by conservative values, habits, attitudes and beliefs that influence the perception of disability amongst the population. The dominant Islamic faith and its teaching attributes everything that occurs, and all that exists in the world, to the will of God. Therefore, society tends to perceive disability as an act of God testing the faith of individuals to determine who is able to accept and tolerate their fate with gratitude and patience, and those who are not. Disability is looked at as a test or as the will of God and it is incumbent upon the person not to show any distress or bad feeling towards it. It has been mentioned in one of the prophet’s traditions that there is a ‘steadfast place’ in Paradise for those parents to whom God has entrusted a disabled child who they have accepted without reservation . . .