Developing a Model of Islamic Psychology and Psychotherapy

Due to the increasing challenges of our contemporary world and the methodical limitations of modern psychology, Muslim psychologists have, in recent decades, endeavoured to help their clients navigate through their problems with traditional healing methods found in our rich Islamic scholarship.

In his recent book, Developing a Model of Islamic Psychology and Psychotherapy, Dr Abdallah Rothman (Programme Lead, Islamic Psychology at Cambridge Muslim College) seeks to unveil the depths of the Islamic tradition of ʿilm al-nafs (the science of the soul) and present a practical framework to incorporate Islam into clinical approaches, thus catering for the surge of interest and attention on mental health within Muslim populations.

As a unique methodological approach, Rothman includes first-person reflections (author-researcher) offering his readers a personal experience and perception of his own journey into the field and beyond. The research process was based upon a grounded theory approach of qualitative research and data analysis – giving insights and first-hand accounts from informants – to develop an Islamic theory of psychology and psychotherapy. The process was, in his words, ‘characterised by uncertainty, change and breakthrough.’

Key Findings

• The psychology of humankind from an Islamic perspective is not an ‘emerging discipline’ as might be thought since studies in the Qur’an and Sunna abound and are primarily linked to philosophy, Islamic law (fiqh) and creed (ʿaqīda). In Sufism, a shaykh or spiritual master is often sought for religiously oriented personal development and spiritual guidance (like the ‘pastoral counselling’ practice found in the Christian tradition). But, as Rothman and others discern, the average scholar or Muslim therapist is often ‘unequipped’ for the task, thus the need for research to bridge the gap between Islam and psychotherapy by finding ways to incorporate traditional religious healing methods alongside Western mental health practices and approaches.
• Islam cannot be defined purely by ‘cultural’ or ‘theological’ viewpoints, but rather as a ‘living phenomenon’ shaped by a multitude of influences throughout time and place. The long tradition upheld by the ʿulamā, the Islamic scholars, on Qur’anic exegesis (tafsīr), dialectical theology (kalām), and prophetic traditions (aḥādīth) are all essential and constitutes the ‘Islamic’ part of an ‘Islamic psychology’. Works such as the Iḥyā ʿŪlūm al-Ḍīn (Revival of the Religious Sciences) of Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī are key references for understanding the person and the Islamic paradigm of psychology. Nonetheless, there remains a vast array of unexplored sources in the field that need to be studied and translated to grasp and develop this discipline further. Similarly, there is a need to strike a balance between the scientific approach and the religious method: while the work of early Muslim scholars is foundational and the tradition has within it all of the principles and depth of knowledge required to understand and to heal human psychology, what is needed is a way to ‘translate’ that into practical application that is relevant for the contemporary person in a very different world with different notions of self and God, then in the past. This point was especially highlighted by the late Islamic Psychology master, Malik Badri. In fact, modern psychology traces its roots back to Islamic thinkers and social science pioneers such as Ibn Sīnā, Ibn Khaldūn and Ibn Sīrīn.
• The Islamic concept of the self is one that is connected to God via the heart, which symbolises the key path to optimal physical and spiritual health and well-being as depicted in the prophetic tradition. Al-Ghazālī envisions the spiritual self as encompassing the entwined elements of the nafs (ego or ‘lower self’), ʿaql (intellect), qalb (heart) and rūḥ (spirit). Furthermore, Muslim scholars have expounded on this God-centred and spiritually oriented notion as pertaining to the human being’s ‘primordial nature’ or fiṭra, a nature which at its highest realisation seeks to emulate and resemble the perfect human being (al-insān al-kāmil), the Prophet Muḥammad. In chapter four, an extensive analysis and exchange of participants’ insights on these concepts is presented. For many, the heart represents the intermediary between the lower self and the spirit. In addition, the intellect is either synonymous with or linked to the heart as a person’s cognitive function. Yet, as a participant points out, the heart is a ‘higher capacity’, which goes beyond the material world and can ‘access the divine reality and thus the truth as known by God.’ Likewise, the spirit is, in its divine origin, naturally inclined to God.

Islamic Model of the Soul

• The three levels of the nafs or soul – the evil-commanding, the self-reproaching and the soul at rest – provide an ascending trajectory into the realm of self-knowledge and personal advancement. These three levels are juxtaposed and intertwined with three strategies of development: purification (tazkiya) of the soul, struggle (jihād), and reformation of character (tahdhīb al-akhlāq). Moreover, vices (muhlikāt) and virtues (munjiyāt), i.e. the illness and the treatment, form an integral part of the ‘Islamic Model of the Soul’ developed by Rothman, a model which incorporates and depicts all the elements discussed so far and their interplay. While the conception of the soul existed already within traditional sources, what is new about the model proposed by Rothman is how it is conceived, what choices were made to include or not include, as it relates to contemporary understandings of psychology and what elements are critical for for clinical applications specifically, rather than simply a model which represents all the permutations of the soul from a theological viewpoint. These theoretical foundations denote the guiding principles and frameworks behind the Islamic therapeutic plan and its conceptualisation. An in-depth discussion and exposition of each is presented in chapter five, where modern practices such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) are aligned with Islamic creed (ʿaqīda), for instance. Likewise, acts of worship (ʿibāda) are considered as practical and effective methods of self-consciousness and accountability rather than simply transactional behaviours, which they sometimes can be approached as from within a purely religious/theological framework, thus potentially leading to ‘spiritual bypassing’. In Sufism, the heart and the soul can be trained and refined through the teachings and practices found in the spiritual path (taṣawwuf).

Author’s Message

To provide an Islamic model of psychology and psychotherapy is, in fact, to re-orient this discipline to its proper place, that is the study of the soul or spirit, as in Greek ‘psyche’. Limiting psychology to the realms of the ‘self’ and the ‘mind’, i.e. the behavioural and cognitive spheres, as in the Western model, is to provide a deficient model of holistic therapy. In Islam, the soul, intellect, heart, and spirit are the primary vehicles for a person’s behavioural, cognitive, emotional, and spiritual health and equilibrium. Hence, to ignore a client’s spiritual or religious standpoint is to hinder his or her path to adjustment and growth, a path which, in essence, ought to be empowering and transformative.

Further Insights: CMC IP Lab Symposium in Qatar