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1. Psychology and mental health
Angelica Guajardo
from an Islamic Perspective

2. Outline
What is psychology from an Islamic perspective?
Theological: Qur’an and Hadith on mental illness
Theoretical: Contributions of early muslim scholars to
psychology field
How do Muslim Americans interpret and treat mental
illness in the 21st century?
Treatment of mental illnesses today
Salat and the brain

3. ‘ilm-al Nafsiāt
Study of the nafs
“self” or “psyche”
Nafs encompasses a broad
range of topics including:
the qalb (heart),
the ruh (spirit),
the aql (intellect)
mental health=“self well-being”

4. Qur’an and Hadith on
mental health
"Do not give your property which God assigned
you to manage to the insane: but feed and cloth
the insane with this property and tell splendid
words to him.” (Qur’an 4:5).
“There is no disease that Allah has created,
except that He also has created its remedy.”
(Bukhari 7.582)
“And never give up hope of Allah's soothing
Mercy: truly no one despairs of Allah's soothing
Mercy, except those who have no faith.” (Quran,
12:87)

5. Al-Balkhi
850-934 CE
first introduced concepts of mental
health and mental hygiene
book: Masalih al-Abdan wa al-anfus
(Sustenance for Body and Soul)
first book that discussed
psychosomatic diseases with an
emphasis on soul and body
"if the nafs (psyche) gets sick, the
body may also find no joy in life
with development of a physical
illness"

6. Al-Razi (Razes)
854 CE – 925 CE
director of first psychiatric ward in the world
was located in Bagdad, Iraq
Two books: El-mansuri and Al-hawi
mention complaints, signs, differential
diagnosis and effective treatment of an
illness
mental illnesses= medical conditions
treated them with psychotherapy and
drug treatment

7. Ibn Sina (Avicenna)
al-Qanun (Cannon of
Medicine)
provides descriptions
and treatments for:
insomnia, mania,
epilepsy, depression
980-1037 CE
believed in importance of
link between mind and body
pioneer of psychosomatic
medicine

9. Muslim American’s definition of
mental illness
2014 Exploratory Study of
American Muslim Conceptions of
Mental Illness
A majority of participants
agreed or strongly agreed
that mental illness is caused
by chemical imbalances in
the brain.
However, other majority
agreed mental illness is
caused by psycho-spiritual or
social elements.

11. Salat and the brain
increases alpha waves in the
brain
regular Salat practices may
help promote relaxation,
minimize anxiety, (and also
reduces cardiovascular risks).
suppression of sympathetic
system (flight-or-fight)
shows a profound connection
between mind and body.

12. References
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3705684/
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jmmh/10381607.0008.104/--
exploratory-study-of-american-muslim-conceptions-of-
mental?rgn=main;view=fulltext
http://www.academia.edu/3075855/Spiritual_Dimensions_in_M
ental_Health_A_Preliminary_from_Islamic_Overviews
http://ibro.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Arab-and-Muslim-
Contributions-to-Modern-Neuroscience.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21965118