Yassir Fazaga – S.2 Introduction To Islamic Psychology – House Of Wisdom 2023
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initiate on a regime Smilla Al hamdu lillah wa salatu salam ala Rasulillah in the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Most Merciful All praise is due to Allah we bear witness that no one is water there for sure but Allah and we've been witnessed that Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa Salam is indeed his final messenger. The best speech is a book of Allah. The best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam May Allah Subhana Allah make us amongst those who listen to the best of speech, the book of Allah and follow its commandments. And may Allah Subhana Allah make us amongst those who come to know the best of ways the way of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and
make us amongst his followers Allahumma Amin Allahu Allah Ameen. Allahumma Amin and I begin by greeting you all as Salaam Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Salam Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
it is good to be with you and I absolutely loving all the presentations the opening speeches the welcoming of Dr. Sol pond presentations of Dr. Emma's chef Aki and then also Dr. Abdullah Ali and these are all difficult acts to follow. So inshallah I will do my best here in being as meaningful as as possible. So the topic is on Islam and psychology.
In the past 200 years, there has been so much production, in the field of psychology, by Western civilization.
And when I say a lot, there is a lot
looking into the number of publications in the field of psychology and philosophy consistently, since 2010, there has been over 15,000 books just on the topic.
And that is in mainly that is coming from America, in the field of psychology.
And that is not necessarily a bad thing. But as we know,
in the fields of psychology, social scientists, Social Sciences, there is also the room of the presentations being very Eurocentric, meaning that the production of this is based on the philosophy, the principles, the values, and the way that those who produce that work, see and interpret the world. And unfortunately, there hasn't been much on the part of the Muslims. In fact, sadly, most of the production has been either translations, or an attempt to Islam Assize this part of psychology, which I believe is dishonest, academically dishonest, when you claim somebody else's thoughts and ideas, and then try to take credit for them.
And then also when you talk into Muslims about mental health or about psychology, the tendency is to dismiss this by immediately rejecting the idea that in our there isn't really much room for that in Islam. And one way of luring people in and I love this about our deen is just to inquire and ask. One of the most repeated descriptions of paradise in the Quran is actually a psychological reward. You know, as the average Muslim? What does Jannah paradise look like? And people are immediately going to jump into what it looks like and how excellent the climate is and how much food there is going to be abundance of this and abundance of that and that is all true. But then the more you look
into the Quran, I'm talking about the Quranic description of paradise, you find out that in no less than 1112 1314 different places in the Quran. Allah promises the people of paradise once you make it to paradise law, how often Allah himolla homea has unknown people in paradise shall not experience any fear, nor shall they experience any grief, which is brilliant. Because the presence of fear or the presence of grief will take away from whatever material joy we can potentially be experiencing. So what the Quran tells us is the first thing that you're going to notice in Paradise is that you should
have not experienced any fear, and you will not experience any grief. Think about it. Fear is all about imagination. And grief is all about memories. So we either become prisoners of our memories, or we become captives of our imaginations. We are too sad about what went wrong yesterday, we are too worried about what can potentially go wrong tomorrow. And we miss out on living today. So the Quran comes and says, you make it to paradise. And you truly get to enjoy the idea of living in the moment. Love often I lay him well at home, you know.
And that is just one way that the Quran displays this idea of, we are going to let you know that psychology and mental health and mental well being is so important that it is ranked amongst one of the most repeated images that the Quran gives about, about paradise. And as we also know, by means of observation, amongst the most
diagnosis in mental health, or anxiety disorders, and mood disorders. And yet the Quran speaks in such in such a manner. And going into the history of how Islam and Muslims contributed to the field just to give you an idea, we can have the PowerPoint going on.
It used to be that in the past, when anybody displayed any symptoms of beat psychosis or some type of mental disturbances, the belief was that the person is doing so because they've been possessed by evil spirits. And through affiliation was the method by which people got rid of evil spirits. Some people argue that this is the very first surgery known to mankind, which is literally about making a hole in somebody's skull in order to give way for the evil spirits to leave the body. And this is how it was done. Don't try this at home, by the way in case anybody's getting ideas there. But this is what happened. This is how people were invited to cue this notion of somebody displaying any type
of emotional disturbances. And this was a very common practice. It was followed by exorcism many cases and different methods and approaches and for the sake of time, I'm trying to expedite what happened here. Then comes the Quran. And what we see is
this verse in Surah, Nisa, where Allah subhanaw taala speaks about, well, I had to sue for her um, while Kamala Tia Hola Hola, como piano bokksu Humphrey Howard, who were kulula Polen marovo where the Quran speaks about a group of people known as Super heart beat meaning those who are feeble minded, those who are insane. The Quran speaks to these people and say, Do not entrust them with financial transactions. They don't have the LEA they're not capable of getting financial transactions. However, in the meantime, the community is responsible to look for their well being to consume, clothe them, feed them, and then the Quran says we're all owl and MA rufa speak to them
with splendid words, see what happens if if terrific, terrific nation failed, that individual was kicked out of the community. Because the belief is that the evil spirits are so embedded in that individual. And now that we have done truefinancial on them, and it did not work. They became unwanted in the community. And then what happened is that through this verse, what we see is an introduction to neuro ethics. And that is the field that concerns itself with the legal and ethical aspects when it comes to neuroscience. And here we see that the Quran says we acknowledge that these people may not
Be capable of carrying out these financial transactions. However, that does not translate into these people being rejected. But rather, the Quran says that these people are to be closed, they're to be fed, and you'll speak with them in splendid words, what is implied here is that if you're going to close them, if you're going to feed them, if you're going to be talking to them, it means that
they are still living amongst you. See, this may not really be something like a big deal. But this was a huge deal that so much so that
the first case
in England, that was used with insanity was used as a defense. That is in 1843. That is very recent, in 1843, meaning that people who were considered to be insane for the very first time, they will legally acknowledge that they are not to be held responsible. What does that mean?
If you look into the books of jurisprudence, the books of faith, you will find statements such as our abdomen, tech leaf, you know, this idea of a person must have the legal capacity they must have that they must have the cognitive abilities in order for them to be legally obliged or obligated or obliged, obliged to, I want you to see and appreciate how is it that on the one hand, people were practicing the definition, then the Quran comes and speaks about neuro ethics? And how is it that only as recent as 1843, that people are talking about insanity as a defense, yet again, the Quran already spoke about this Muslim jurists were already speaking about this way before these ideas were
introduced. And like, you know, Dr. Emmett said in his opening this idea of when you're constantly the consumer, when you're waiting for other people to produce, and you're just waiting for somebody to produce something so that you can either claim somehow it is your own or somehow, you know, just be ready to consume. You feel bad? Because what is it? What is it that we're producing? Why is everybody so crazy about? What is it men are from Mars and women from Venus, or whatever the case is? Or what is your love language and what is don't get me wrong, I'm not necessarily saying that these are bad books. But when you are constantly on the recipient, when you're constantly the one
that is receiving, then an element of Pride goes goes away.
And what happened as a result, that the summer is inviting people say, look, go, go go beyond the demons, to explain what is going on? Why are people feeling the way that they are? And if you go beyond the demons, then what are you doing that you're opening for other responsibilities, and now we are expanding the study of human beings. And I have two examples that I want to share with you very quickly seek mental health, develop ways to achieve mental health, and involve the role in mental health
as well. One thing that immediately find and appreciate about Islamic psychology is that Islamic psychology is a psychology of liberation.
Now, remember that these are not words that we're using to appeal and to make it these are actually Quranic expressions. So for example, towards the end of Surah, Elara of Allah Subhana Allah speaks about the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and we are told about the nine different things that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam came up with a Lavina Debbie or owner Rasul Allah never yell or may Allah you do know whom October and the Humphrey terace Will Ng, it speaks about this, you know, messenger and letter prophet that is being sent to them who is mentioned in their own books, he, you know, makes lawful for them pure things and he makes it unlawful for them in pure things.
And then towards the end, the Quran mentions two of the missions of the Prophet salallahu Alaihe Salam, where Allah says, Ye Allahu Anhu is home. Well as Lal and latika and Allah him, that part of the mission of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is that he is going to liberate people of their burdens, and is that he is going to release them of their yokes. And fakra raazi speaks about this idea of sre. And he says an SRE who are khulumani
You're local in San Juan and in Huracan. He said this is anything that prevents a human being from moving about freely. And here is the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, ALLAH SubhanA. Allah tells us that part of his mission is that there are yokes. And what we see here is there are two types of yolks or shackles. There are the self imposed shackles, and then there are the shackles that are imposed by others. So imagine that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam wakes up in the morning and monks the very first drought he would say is Allah who many arose of the communal hum me what hasn't? What was it becoming an icy well castle or other became an elbow level job in
danger or ritual? or Allah I seek refuge in You from anxiety and grief. I seek refuge in You from laziness and incapacitation or in decisiveness or procrastination depending on how you translate it or Allah I seek refuge in You from poverty and, and Cofer poverty and disbelief. And the relationship here is that poverty is people being financially deprived and and in in disbelief. People are spiritually deprived. But here's Allah Allahu alayhi wa sallam is identifying some of these shackles, and the worst type of shackles are the shackles that are self imposed. So we see that Islamic psychology is a psychology of liberation. More can be said about about this.
And again, what you see here is the more people are reading the Quran, more people are reading the Sunnah. People are coming up with Islam's approach Islamic principles to this whole idea, as it was presented by Dr. Abdullah Ali earlier, this idea of the Quran and as soon as a source you know, we talked about you know, where did he get that intellectual ability capacity source foundation from Quran and Sunnah as the source. Now all of a sudden we spoken about, you know, the balance between the worldly and the spiritual needs, and then they're talking about the original purity and goodness of humans, which is fifth, that human beings are intrinsically good at Harlequinade in Santa Fe as
any Tarquin when I teach this course on Islamic psychology, we look into the Word insan in the Quran, then we look into how Allah Subhana Allah speaks about Hola, hola, deja unlockable
was a word of comfort is on us who are come and meet me that Allah subhanho wa Taala gave you your shapes and Allah made your shapes beautiful. So the Quran Allah speaks about the intrinsically people are, are good and so beautifully, you're gonna speak about the source of
Western psychology originally it was based on Christianity. And now the idea here is that people are born sinful. The Quran comes and says absolutely absurd, people are not born sinful people are born sinless, not only that, sins cannot be inherited they can only be committed by the individual. And then most importantly, sins do not taint our being as claimed that the original sin does it taints your beam and there is no amount of good work that you can do to rid yourself of the original sin in Islam sins do not taint your being then taint your character Your being is the making of Allah your character is if your own doing so, if you do anything, you're tainting your character. And then of
course, there is the personal responsibility to atone from what it is that you have that you have done
what is the Okay.
So, there is the intrinsic goodness and then there is spiritual as well as the biological components of humans as
intrinsically good. This is a really really nice concept the bolar rasa by Ibn Sina almost Okay. I will just warming up
right. This is this is really beautiful, give you an idea of how Muslim
psychologists have used this so tabula rasa debate whether it was even Sina or even profile that actually came up with this. But basically this is talking about how is it that individuals are born without built in mental content, and that their knowledge comes from exp
perience and sensory perception people actually looked into the Quran and that's where they got it from
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It is Allah subhanho wa Taala that is facilitated for you that you come out of your mother's wombs
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knowing nothing,
when you're either looking with some outward upside or a feeder, landlocked dish grown and then it was Allah Subhana Allah Who gave you the faculties of knowledge, this idea of sensory that leads into perception that comes in the form of hearing seeing and understanding and what you see is a lot of these examples keep keep coming up.
Then this is this is so as as therapists, we have to use a, a theory. And now there is the most popular theory is CBT cognitive behavioral therapy with the basic idea of it is that
it is our thoughts that give birth to our feelings. So if you do not like your feelings, you don't attempt to manage your feelings, but you try to change the thoughts that are giving birth to these to these feelings. And now you look into this and literally
Malik battery Allah Rahmatullah was considered to be the father of modern Islamic psychology, wrote a book on abuse, Adel, Delphi, and I was able Belfry was the first one I'm going to pass this was this is all the work of AbdulKareem. I don't know what I was thinking, thinking that I can do all of this. But I was able Belfry speaks as to what causes people to be sad or to have anxiety. And he speaks about the notion of, he said that it is the concept of philosophical highly Well, apple that causes people to have psychological troubles. And what that basically means is for saddle higher level Apple, it is corruption or decay, in their actual cognitive cognition, and a higher level
imagination, because think about it.
Anxiety disorders, are all based on imagination,
you somehow go to the future, imagine the worst, and actually live in it.
And sometimes we do not appreciate the power of our thoughts. You are upstairs, it's 2am. And you hear noises downstairs, and you are certain that this is a burglar,
you're shaking, physiologically, things are changing in your body, the way that the blood flows in your body changes, and, and so on. And you go down steps only to find out that it was either the cat or you left the window open. And somehow, you know, it was the wind that was moving things around. And all of a sudden you calm down. Because see, our bodies don't really care much for accuracy. Our bodies only respond to certainty. So if you tell your body that there is a burglar down there, your body is not going to say timeout, you know you're wrong, your body is going to respond to that certainty. And as a result, people who go through anxiety, what I was able Belfry is talking about
is what we need to fix is the way that this person is thinking. And what they are imagining said that you're having this problem because you're experiencing facade highly while Apple a decay or a disruption. Or the thing that needs to be rectified is the way that this person is thinking or the way that this person is perceiving things. And then the last example would have been by Al kindI and Al kindI would have been so appropriate because alkyne they played such a big huge deal. In the House of Wisdom, baked in Heckman. Al kindI wrote an epistle on the idea of defeat Al Hasan How do you read yourself of Soto
and so on.
But this is this is a really really fascinating field where there is so much that could have been said a lot of work that that needs to be
done on this one
My only concern is for the people who want to study psychology. And I would love to see as many people studying psychology as possible. Like with all social sciences, sphere, especially studying social sciences in the West, you need to be religiously well grounded to do so. Because a lot of these ideas are going to challenge your dean. And you need to use your dean to challenge them back. And if you're not well grounded, I am afraid that more harm will be caused than the good that was originally intended. Disaster Mala Allahu Allah wa salam ala ala Nabina Muhammad Salah Malik rahmatullah wa barakato.