Investigating the Perception of Muslims With Hearing Impairment Towards Islamic Understanding and Practice

Abstract

Introduction: This study aims to investigate the relationship between; i) the perception of Islamic obligation and Islamic practice, ii) the perception of difficulty in understanding and practicing Islam and the perception of Islamic practice, iii) hearing loss threshold and the perception of difficulty in understanding and practicing Islam; and iv) to compare the perception of difficulty in understanding and practicing Islam between hearing aid users and non-hearing-aid users. Method: Seventy- seven (77) subjects with hearing impairment underwent audiological assessments and completed the ‘Inventori Persepsi bagi Muslim yang Memiliki Masalah Pendengaran’ (IPM3P) questionnaire (consists of three domains- ‘obligation’, ‘practice’, and ‘difficulty’). Results: Pearson correlation revealed a significant positive correlation (p<0.05) between obligation and practice domain, and between difficulty and practice domain. A significant negative correlation was observed (p<0.05) between hearing threshold and total difficulty domain score. The Independent T-test revealed a significantly greater difficulty in understanding and practicing Islam among non-hearing aid users compared to hearing aid users (p<0.05). Conclusion: The study findings emphasized on; i) the importance to instill good perception of Islamic obligation via appropriate Islamic education, ii) the benefit of hearing aid in elevating the difficulty level in understanding and in practicing Islam, thus calls for prompt action to help in funding amplification for Muslims with hearing impairment.