Attitudes, beliefs, behaviours, and experiences of patients, healthcare professionals, and religious representatives towards prohibited medicines in Islam: a scoping review

OBJECTIVE: This scoping review aims to collate, summarize, and categorize current evidence on attitudes, beliefs, behaviours, and experiences regarding prohibited medicines in Islam from a multi-stakeholder perspective. METHODS: Seven databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, Scopus, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts) were searched from database inception to June 2025. Twenty-four peer-reviewed studies published between 2001 and 2023 from the UK, Malaysia, the USA, and eight other countries met the inclusion criteria. A standardized data-extraction tool, informed by the Joanna Briggs Institute data-extraction instrument, was used to chart study characteristics and key findings, which were synthesized narratively as a qualitative summary. KEY FINDINGS: The findings reveal widespread concerns about religious adherence, limited awareness of medicine ingredients among patients and healthcare professionals, and ethical issues surrounding informed consent. CONCLUSIONS: The review highlights important gaps in awareness and education regarding medicine ingredients that may conflict with Islamic principles and identifies the need for greater transparency in labelling and further investigation to support informed treatment decisions among Muslim populations.