Insallah

Now there is one word that can piss me off. What´s up with that?

I mean..o.k, one of the many things I like about the middleeastern culture, is the relaxed attitude towards everything. But sometimes I wonder. Here is one of the more innocent examples. Me: "Hey! Etisalat (UAE Phone and Internet Company). When will you install my internet?". Etisalat: "Tomorrow....Insallah". Which basically means, that if Allah is willing, my internet will be installed tomorrow. If i´m unlucky, which i´m funny enough always am, my internet will be installed in 4-6 weeks time.

Why Allah is interested in my internet connection, I will never figure out. If God does exist, I really hope he has better things to to than worry about my internet.

Anyway, the reason why I don´t like the word, is because of the way it´s used by the patients and their families. I´ts weird because on one side they leave it all in the hands of God. I will be saved, if God wants me to. Which basically means I don´t have to lift a finger to help myself. I hear stories of patients with strokes, coming to rehab and not wanting to do anything to get better. Why learn to walk when Allah will fix me (and I have a housemaid to carry me around anyway).

On the other hand they want us, the healthcare staff, to all thats in our power to heal the patients, even if it´s not possible. Resuscitation is one example. There is no such thing as DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) - no matter how old the patient or how terminal the disease. All because, apparently, somewhere in the Quran it says, that as long as you have hope - Allah will save you. If you give up, he´ll let you die. I´ve never read the Quran and i´m wondering how exactly does that work? Does it mean that if you´re a muslim, technically, you never have to die?

I´ve had one patient, who was in his late twenties. He was very ill, not terminal, but still very ill. He had been in the hospital for a year! Everyday he would drink something that said: "Holly Water. Ingredients: Honey and water (the Holly Quran recited over). (I know how to spell holy, thank you very much). But will he lift a finger to help himself? Not likely. He lies in bed watching TV all day. He wants to get better, but he doesn´t want to do the exercises that will make him better and get him out of the hospital.

Anyway, the hospital has been kind enough to provide every room with an arrow in the ceiling, pointing to Mecca, just incase one of our patients should be allowed to die.