Religious (Salat) Behavior and Suicidality among Youth in Pakistan

Abstract

The manuscript studied religious (Salat) behavior and its link with the probability of suicide among Muslim youth in Pakistan. After careful analysis of scientific literature, it was hypothesized that “young adults who are regular in the practice of religious behavior (Salat) would have a lower score on the measures of suicidal behavior as compared to those who are irregular and rarely/occasionally practice religious behavior (Salat)". A sample of 418 young adults was gathered from different universities. There were n = 210 men and n = 208 women, and they were further divided into three groups based on how they performed Salat. Group 1 consisted of those who reported regular practice of Salat; Group 2 reported irregularly performing Salat; and Group 3 reported that they rarely/occasionally performed Salat. The participants’ ages ranged from 19 to 25 years old. The findings show that young adults (i.e. regularly practice religious behavior (salat) scored significantly low on variables of suicidal behavior as compared to those young adults who were irregularly or occasionally practice religious behavior (Salat) [F(2,415) = 11.632, p<.05]. It was concluded that Muslim religious behavior (Salat) is beneficial, especially for those who are facing challenges of suicidal behavior. This research has provided a basis for future research.