South Africa – Mental wellness is all about taking care of one’s mind and having it functioning in your best interest. Striving for goodness and refining one’s character is crucial to mental wellness. As Muslims, it is important to incorporate Islamic practices into this process of refinement.
The practice of working to refine the character is an important aspect in Islam. Evidence of its importance and necessity are the many manuscripts written by scholars, explained Seyed Jamaluddin Miri, Director of International Students of Islamic Psychology. The scholars all note how important it is to have balance in life and embodying the traits of Nabi (SAW) into one’s life.
“Essentially, it’s about embodying the morals and characteristic traits of the Prophet (SAW). It’s about embodying the moral aspects of our Deen and it’s about balancing your character. Allah (SWT) has given us our emotions for a reason. As Muslims we should never refrain from our emotions. We should balance.”
The importance of balancing one’s emotions in Islam
Certain religions find it virtuous for one to refrain from marriage and be celibate. There are others that find it virtuous for one to refrain from showing other emotions. In Islam, to refrain from these things are not virtuous at all, explained Miri. The scholars note it important to show emotions but in a balanced way.
“When we speak about anger, it’s not about refraining from anger because then, according to all the manuscripts, you become a coward. If someone is attacking your home and they want to kidnap your family, as a father you want to protect your family. You should not just go and lock yourself in the bathroom. You should protect your family. That’s one extreme. If you have too little anger then you become a coward.”
On the other side of the spectrum is having too much anger. Letting the anger take complete control of you which leads to you doing something that you will regret. This can lead to very destructive situations.
“Letting anger take over your rational thinking or your heart is also very destructive. This destructive and toxic masculinity that we can see is when it’s extreme on the other level. The balance is when you moderate it. You work with yourself. You refine your character. Then it is to be heroic. Having confidence to stand up in a balanced way.”
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How Islamic psychology differs from modern psychology
Nowadays there is a lot of talk regarding self-development. Building oneself in a certain manner. Building one’s brand. Islamic and modern psychology both have their own ways of addressing this topic. Miri believes the way modern psychology addresses it creates a narcissistic person. The Islamic way is about connecting oneself to Allah (SWT).
“The Islamic personal development is not to refrain from working with it but we also have a verticality that doesn’t exist in the secular approaches which is Tawheed (the connection to Allah (SWT)). When we develop our personality, we’re not only trying to refine our characters but also trying to come closer to Allah (SWT). It’s about morals and ethics as well. It’s about not doing it for yourself, do it for Allah (SWT). I think that if we can combine this with some aspect in personal development from Western psychology, that could be very beneficial. We can bring in a dimension that will break the narcissistic self.”
How the individuation process is viewed from an Islamic point of view
Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist, believed each person was unique and had a distinct destination. The individuation process was Jung’s way of explaining how a person can reach optimal personal development. Jung believed everyone, knowingly or unknowingly, was searching for their souls. Every person has the unconscious, which is everything we don’t know or can’t observe within ourselves. This part of ourselves is where our true self lies. Society conditions our consciousness while our unconscious remains dormant for at least the first half of our lives. Miri believes that even though Jung was part of the Western psychologists, his view fell closer to the Islamic paradigm.
“Even though he is not fully believing in Tawheed, he is beyond just dunyavi (wordly) in his way of looking at health. He had acknowledged some form of meta physicality in a sense … The individuation process is like you connect back to your archetype. Your archetypical self and there is something there that could lead to verticality but it’s not defined … When we speak about humanitarianism from an Islamic point of view, it’s not only to be a good person. It’s also to come closer to Allah (SWT), to serve Allah (SWT). It’s to go beyond oneself and come closer to Allah (SWT).”
The Western way is about being good but not being with Allah (SWT). It’s about feeling good but not feeling Allah (SWT), explained Miri. This is the main difference with Islamic psychology. It is to do things, to grow oneself with the main purpose being to serve Allah (SWT).
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Self-mastery in Islamic psychology
Self-mastery is the ability to control one’s own desires or impulses. It is only through self-knowledge that one can achieve self-mastery. In Islamic psychology it is all about understanding that one has a master who is Allah (SWT), said Miri. This is the difference between Islamic psychology and Western psychology. They have no links to a higher power.
“Self-mastery comes from breaking your Nafs (desires), controlling them but not eradicating them because Allah (SWT) has put it there for a reason. To marinate it, to refine it and to bring it to a higher level which is Nafsul Mutmainnah, closeness to Allah (SWT). It’s about self-work, self-awareness, self-knowledge, muraqabah (introspection), tafakkur (contemplation) but always have the measurements which is the Quran and the Sunnah.”
Refining one’s character could take years of hard work and one might not even reach their ultimate goal. For Miri, it is all about refining one’s character while gaining closeness to Allah (SWT). That is the true purpose of Islamic psychology. This may take time but never give up when mistakes are made. Repent and carry on because through every struggle, there is some benefit that we can’t see.
