We live in an increasingly diverse and multicultural society, where our public institutions serve people of many different backgrounds and faiths. It is important to ensure that all those using or working in public institutions have access to services that meet their needs and receive the highest standards of care, including spiritual care. Chaplains have a vital role to play in delivering this – providing religious and pastoral support and helping
institutions to understand the religious, cultural and spiritual needs of the communities they serve. This includes caring for individuals who may be particularly vulnerable, such as students away from home, prisoners or those suffering sickness and bereavement.
As a varied group of Muslim community organisations, between us we have worked with public institutions including the prison service and the NHS to help develop comprehensive structures and support for chaplains working in these institutions. We have seen some excellent work to support high standards of chaplaincy in the public sector , including that done by other faiths and multi-faith teams. However , we are also aware that the level of support and standards for chaplains can be variable, and we believe that there is a need to address gaps where existing provisions do not exist.
As Muslim community organisations, we have witnessed excellent examples of best practice amongst Muslim chaplains working in the public sector . This document, developed by Faith Matters and built on the work of The Experience Corps, captures that best practice and we hope will enable it to be shared more widely to help contribute to consistently high standards in chaplaincy across the public sector . We understand this document was
originally intended to provide guidance on best practice in Muslim chaplaincy. However, chaplaincy is a multi-faith profession and our view is that it is vital that all chaplains have the skills and support they need, particularly when it comes to protecting vulnerable individuals in their care, and that the best way to achieve this is by faiths working together to support chaplaincy as a whole. We feel the practice captured here has many uses – from
helping institutions understand the range of issues to be considered when employing a chaplain, to enabling those wishing to become chaplains to understand the demands of the role. We hope that others working in this field feel the same way.
We would like to see this document form the basis of further work, to continue to support chaplains working in our public institutions and help ensure they have the skills and support they need to meet the needs of communities and support the vulnerable.
Asgar Halim Rajput – Association of Muslim Chaplains in Education.
Yousif Al-Khoei – Al Khoei Foundation
Shahid Raza – British Muslim Forum
Julie Siddiqi – Islamic Society of Britain
Shuja Shafi – Muslim Council of Britain
Shokat Malik – Sufi Muslim Council.
