Is our faith weakening?
Prophet Muḥammad s.a.w. taught us this dua:
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْهَمِّ وَالْحَزَنِ، وَالْعَجْزِ وَالْكَسَلِ، وَالْجُبْنِ وَالْبُخْلِ، وَضَلَعِ الدَّيْنِ، وَغَلَبَةِ الرِّجَالِ
“O Allah! I seek refuge with You from worry and grief, from incapacity and laziness, from cowardice and miserliness, from being heavily in debt and from being overpowered by (other) men.”
(Sahih Al-Bukhari)
The Prophet s.a.w. noticed a man in the mosque in between two prayers, sitting down with his fist placed on his cheek and elbow on his thigh – a posture suggesting deep contemplation. Concerned, the Prophet approached him to ask about his well-being. After listening to the man’s troubles, the Prophet taught him this supplication that many Muslims recite daily as part of their morning and/or evening routine.
In this story, Rasulullah was teaching us to seek help from experts and, simultaneously, not forget the connections we must continue to have with Allah and the Prophet. At the same time, the Prophet showed us that we must be aware to care for our fellow brothers and sisters. We must be alert to the emotions and mood shifts of our family members and friends. When we see that they are vulnerable and require assistance, approach them with compassion and a sincere heart to help. If we cannot help, do not dismiss their emotions. Acknowledge the difficulties they are going through and channel them to the relevant support or agencies.
Increase awareness of mental and spiritual well-being
In the past couple of years, especially post Covid-19, the awareness of mental well-being has increased. In addition, there is a reduction in mental health stigma among the general population of Singapore. In the recent report released by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) Singapore, the likelihood of Malays looking at mental illness as a sign of personal weakness rather than a medical condition is higher compared to the majority population although the general Singaporean Muslim population1 do have a better overall state of mental health as compared to people of other religion2.
Within the Muslim community, we struggle to understand the relationship between mental and spiritual well-being. We discuss and approach mental well-being without considering spiritual wellness, as though these two dimensions of well-being are mutually exclusive.
Many times, I have heard people making the remarks that “Muslims should inherently be strong mentally because they have religion and have connections with Allah and the Prophet. Those who are experiencing grief, anxiety, depression or sadness have not really gotten the correct connections with Allah and the Prophet”. “They need to pray more, do more selawat, read the Quran more, attend more religious classes and be content with what Allah has decreed upon them”. “Do not complain or dwell on the loss of some worldly attachments like a loved one, or be overly anxious about the future because your rizq (provisions) has already been determined. Discussing them is mounting to complaining, which means we are not thankful for Allah’s decree.”
It is as though those feelings of sadness, grief, anxiety and fear are due to lack of iman (faith). Are these conjectures true? Are more mental health issues coming up in our modern times reflecting low iman among Muslims living in this volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world? Or are external factors, like our modern lifestyle and our fast-paced society, significant contributing factors in inducing fear, anxiety, depression and grief in us?
We are more inclined towards the latter because these emotions are natural human emotions that can affect every single human being, including the best human beings that Allah has sent - the Prophets and the Messengers a.s.
Read: How did the Prophet s.a.w. deal with grief?
To explain what I mean here, let us look at the Quran and read the descriptions that Allah gave about Prophet Ya‘qub as he was grieving the loss of his son, Prophet Yusuf a.s. When the news of Prophet Yusuf was brought back by his brother that he was eaten by the wolf, Prophet Ya‘qub said that patience is the most fitting response and asked Allah for assistance in managing his loss and the lies that were brought to him by his other sons.
وَجَاءُوا عَلَىٰ قَمِيصِهِ بِدَمٍ كَذِبٍ ۚ قَالَ بَلْ سَوَّلَتْ لَكُمْ أَنفُسُكُمْ أَمْرًا ۖ فَصَبْرٌ جَمِيلٌ ۖ وَاللَّهُ الْمُسْتَعَانُ عَلَىٰ مَا تَصِفُونَ
“They stained his shirt with false blood. He said: "Nay, but your minds have made up a tale (that may pass) with you, (for me) patience is most fitting: Against that which ye assert, it is Allah (alone) Whose help can be sought"
(Surah Yusuf, 12:18)
Near the end of Surah Yusuf, we are told that Prophet Ya‘qub continued to experience grief for decades to the extent that it affected his eyesight. He continued to grief despite embracing patience and pleading for help from Allah s.w.t.
وَتَوَلَّىٰ عَنْهُمْ وَقَالَ يَا أَسَفَىٰ عَلَىٰ يُوسُفَ وَابْيَضَّتْ عَيْنَاهُ مِنَ الْحُزْنِ فَهُوَ كَظِيمٌ
“And he turned away from them, and said: "How great is my grief for Joseph!" And his eyes became white with sorrow, and he fell into silent melancholy.”
(Surah Yusuf, 12:84)
We definitely cannot say, that Prophet Ya‘qub a.s. had a weak iman and was not content (rida) upon the decree of Allah, and may Allah protect us from this. Can we say that “even after asking help from Allah, why did he continue to feel sad? Should he not be ok after making supplications?”
By Allah’s Grace, He selected the best stories and revealed them to us in the Quran so that we can learn and unravel the pearls of wisdom hidden in them. This story of Prophet Ya’qub and Prophet Yusuf a.s. shows us that feeling sad, sorrow, grief, and other emotions are part of being human. Those experiencing these emotions are not necessarily due to the lack of faith. These are natural human emotions. They need to be supported instead of being judged so that they can recover and function. Furthermore, they also need to seek help or perhaps we refer them to experts who can help them process, express and experience their emotions in a healthy way.
Our current contemporary world – A burnout society?
Let us now look at the external factors that may play a more significant role in causing us to face difficult emotions and mental sickness. In order to understand this, we need to locate the source of our current predicaments within our contemporary societies.
A complete picture of this will require long hours of study into the history of ideas and societies from the Middle Ages, when atheism, in any form, was incompatible with the culture and society of the time, which deeply valued the centrality of Divine Grace as an essential objective in human endeavours. This stands in contrast to the current contemporary dominant culture, which often struggles in accepting the centrality of Divine Grace for humans to achieve their goals or to do anything good. This significant shift has played a major role in the issue we’re trying to address in this article.
Let us hurdle past the complexities in history by looking at Charles Taylor in his book, The Secular Age, which offers a provocative answer to the question of what the secularisation of the West amounts to.3
Taylor, who is a Christian philosopher and a historian, started by asking under what conditions a society could move from a culture of belief to an easy-going culture of disbelief.
His answer is that, firstly, a culture had to emerge in which the supernatural was sharply distinguished from the natural. What this means is that how could a society that had a long history with religion as their central theological foundation could turn against religion and become totally anthropocentric (assuming humanity as the most important and central factor in the universe). Secondly, that same culture had to believe that it was possible to live entirely within the boundaries of the natural world, viewing humans as both the ultimate goal and purpose, without any reference to a reality beyond the natural (e.g, God and the Unseen world). In essence, society had to convince itself that it could exist without acknowledging anything beyond the material world.
Taylor’s argument is that in the West the first of these conditions was deliberately constructed, but that the second arose accidentally, at least initially but continued to shape all our ways in structuring and progressing the various dimensions of our society to the point that the idolising of the human becomes one of the greatest threats to the human themselves. He did not dismiss the benefits and advancements that came about from this theological ‘secularisation’ culture.
Byung-Chul Han in his book, ‘The Burnout Society’, described the characteristics of twenty-first-century societies using the metaphor of medical pathology. He argued that the past century was an immunological age that thrived in the elimination of ‘otherness’ like how immunological technology drives viruses and bacteria out of the body system.
This conception of otherness ended after the Cold War and has now marched in a new pathology that is neurological, not due to “negativity of what is immunologically foreign, but from excess positivity”4. He says, “Due to this fundamental shift of a disbelief culture neurological illnesses such as depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), borderline personality disorder (BDP) and burnout syndrome mark the landscape of pathology at the beginning of the twenty-first century.”5
The immunological age, which he terms it as the disciplinary society, was marked by external constraints managing and balancing both positive and negative aspects of life. We are now in an achievement-oriented society which emphasises on self-optimisation along with cut-throat efficiency and an overabundance of a positive outlook. Under the disciplinary sphere, a person was developed by external factors, such as institutions and rigid standards, which restricted their behaviour.
Some of these mechanisms of power are sustained through negation, which barred certain actions and organised a better way for a person’s life. Conversely, the achievement-oriented society replaces these restrictions on growth with the psychological requirement of ever-increasing growth and no room for failure. Han observes that these days, every person is an auto-and self-back-employer in his or her own industry. He says, “The achievement subject is simultaneously perpetrator and victim, master and slave”.6
Today’s society is no longer Foucault’s disciplinary world of hospitals, madhouses, prisons, barracks, and factories. It has long been replaced by another regime, namely a society of fitness studios, office towers, banks, airports, shopping malls, and genetic laboratories. Twenty-first-century society is no longer a disciplinary society, but rather an achievement society. Also, its inhabitants are no longer 'obedience-subjects' but 'achievement-subjects'. They are entrepreneurs of themselves.7
We are a society that wants to achieve more and more without knowing where we are heading. That continuous pursuit of ‘more and more’, ignorant of an end point brings exceptional pressure and stress that leads to depression and exhaustion and burnout. This obsession changed the way we interact with time and space as we are forced to respond to every stimulus that comes from the external environment.
To make matters worse, the response must be positive in nature, as if signifying that we are progressing, willing to try new things and have a positive attitude towards work. Negative responses, like pausing and contemplating, are frowned upon because these are viewed as eating into time and will hinder progress for all.
Like how Han said, “Today, the negative is replaced by positivity. Negativity creates pauses; positivity accelerates”.8 Regularly feeling the stress to be productive can take a large mental toll on people. According to Han, this leads to a state known as the “exhaustion society”, in which people forget the ability to take breaks and consistently work towards being productive, which is never-ending.
Read: For a new beginning: How to declutter the mind and soul
Han goes on to say that, because of this immense pressure, people shift the blame on themselves as he calls this shift “auto-aggression”. Han further classifies this phenomenon rather intricately, arguing that the empowerment tools are being used as oppression instruments to achieve what is required of an individual, saying that the achievement-subject is free from external domination but is not free. It is bound to itself. Due to this self-optimisation, doing something that goes deeper than just the surface becomes difficult, making people feel exhausted on an existential level.
We need to recognise that this lack of equilibrium between negativity and positivity is causing depression and burn-out for individuals which drains the whole society. Han summarises this beautifully by saying that, “Depression—which often culminates in burnout—follows from overexcited, overdriven, excessive self-reference that has assumed destructive traits. The exhausted, depressive achievement-subject grinds itself down, so to speak. It is tired, exhausted by itself, and at war with itself. Entirely incapable of stepping outward, of standing outside itself, of relying on the Other, on the world, it locks its jaws on itself; paradoxically, this leads the self to hollow and empty out. It wears itself out in a rat race it runs against itself.”9
Are we trapped in this external environment that will continue to drain all of our energy without giving us moments for pause and contemplation? Let us look and contemplate the nature of this world (dunya). Is it all about the endless pursuit of being productive/positive? Or is there a purpose and design to help us navigate here? How does the Islamic perspective on the transient nature of this world, dunya, provide an alternative view of the relentless pursuit of productivity and achievement in the burnout society? How can this understanding reduce the anxiety, depression and exhaustion that is experienced by us, which will simultaneously continue to make us contributing members of our society?
The nature of dunya (world)
Allah s.w.t. says in the Quran,
يَا قَوْمِ إِنَّمَا هَٰذِهِ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا مَتَاعٌ وَإِنَّ الْآخِرَةَ هِيَ دَارُ الْقَرَارِ
“O my people! This life of the present is nothing but (temporary) convenience: It is the Hereafter that is the Home that will last.”
(Surah Ghafir, 40:39)
Abu Zayd Al-Balkhi said in his book, The Sustenance of the Soul, “One should convince the heart that this world, dunya, has not been created to give people whatever they wish or desire without their being subjected to anxieties and worries or harmful unwelcome symptoms. One should realise (after this internal monologue of self-convincing) that this is the inherent nature of life on this earth and that this is what one should expect from life in developing one’s habits and a regular way of life. Therefore, one should not ask for what has not been created in the very nature of one’s world.”10
Read: Abu Zayd Al-Balkhi: A 9th-century Muslim psychologist and pioneer in mental health
There are many verses of the Quran that support the words of our classical scholars and teach us about the nature of this world. Among these verses, in the context of our psychological health, Allah reminds us that He is the Creator and the constant Sustainer of this world. Never at any moment of time that this world is out of His Control. We read this at least seventeen times daily:
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ. الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ. الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ.
“In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praises belong only to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds; The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.”
(Surah Al-Fatihah, 1:1-3)
How beautiful has Allah described His relationship with His Creations. The sustaining, nourishing and cherishing of His creations are through His twin attributes of mercy, which He repeats twice, placing the worlds in between these twin attributes. This means that Allah has written upon Himself Mercy to be the way how he Governs His creations.
Read: 99 divine names of Allah s.w.t.
The twin attributes of mercy show overflowing compassion towards creations. His Words are overflowing with a tender, affectionate, soothing address, which gives us the reality of this world and also lets us know that we are not left on our own. It removes us from the estrangement and dreariness and puts us in a meadow of intimacy with these conversations we have with His Words. Let us be reminded of these characterising features of dunya so that we are able to maintain our balance and equilibrium for a better spiritual and mental well-being.
1. This dunya is not permanent
Allah s.w.t. describes our creation and our end in such a beautiful and tender manner, reminding us that death and losing our loved ones is part of our journey in this dunyā, where nothing is permanent.
وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ مِن سُلَالَةٍ مِّن طِينٍ. ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَاهُ نُطْفَةً فِي قَرَارٍ مَّكِينٍ. ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا النُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْمُضْغَةَ عِظَامًا فَكَسَوْنَا الْعِظَامَ لَحْمًا ثُمَّ أَنشَأْنَاهُ خَلْقًا آخَرَ ۚ فَتَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخَالِقِينَ. ثُمَّ إِنَّكُم بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ لَمَيِّتُونَ. ثُمَّ إِنَّكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ تُبْعَثُونَ.
“And indeed, We created humankind from a quintessence (of clay); Then We placed him as (a drop of) sperm in a place of rest, firmly fixed; Then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood; then of that clot We made a (foetus) lump; then we made out of that lump bones and clothed the bones with flesh; then we developed out of it another creature. So blessed be Allah, the best to create! After that, you will surely die. Then, on the Day of Judgment, you will be resurrected.”
(Surah Al-Mu’min, 23:12-16)
2. This dunya (world) is a place to strive so that we will be rewarded
Allah s.w.t. acknowledges our hard work in this world as His servant and trustee (khalifah). His Generosity addresses us, informing us that we will meet our beloved and family members in the permanent abode.
يَا أَيُّهَا الْإِنسَانُ إِنَّكَ كَادِحٌ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ كَدْحًا فَمُلَاقِيهِ فَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ بِيَمِينِهِ فَسَوْفَ يُحَاسَبُ حِسَابًا يَسِيرًا وَيَنقَلِبُ إِلَىٰ أَهْلِهِ مَسْرُورًا
“O humanity! Indeed, you are labouring restlessly towards your Lord, and will (eventually) meet the consequences. As for those who are given their record in their right hand, they will have an easy reckoning, and will return to their people joyfully.”
(Surah Al-Insyiqaq, 84:6-9)
After providing us with the knowledge of our beginning, our end and the joy that we will experience in the next world, Allah speaks to us about the journey we will be taking in this world and the nature of this world, so that we are prepared to face them, emphasising the importance of good work in this world.
3. This dunya is a test to see which is the best
تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي بِيَدِهِ الْمُلْكُ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌالَّذِي خَلَقَ الْمَوْتَ وَالْحَيَاةَ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْغَفُورُ
“Blessed is the One in Whose Hands rests all authority. And He is Most Capable of everything. (He is the One) Who created death and life in order to test which of you is best in deeds. And He is the Almighty, All-Forgiving.”
(Surah Al-Mulk, 67:1-2)
What is the kind of test that we will face? Allah s.w.t. says,
وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُم بِشَيْءٍ مِّنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِّنَ الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَنفُسِ وَالثَّمَرَاتِ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ. الَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَتْهُم مُّصِيبَةٌ قَالُوا إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ. أُولَٰئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَاتٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ ۖ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُهْتَدُونَ.
“We will certainly test you with a touch of fear and famine and loss of property, life, and crops. Give good news to those who patiently endure—who say, when struck by a disaster, ‘Surely to Allah we belong and to Him we will (all) return.’ They are the ones who will receive Allah’s blessings and mercy. And it is they who are (rightly) guided.”
(Surah Al-Baqarah, 2: 155-157)
Shaykh Muḥammad Sa‘īd Ramadan Al-Buti, in his book 'Depression & Anxiety', provides an explanation for these verses, saying, “If you allow yourself to be sated by these words, your estimation of this world will decrease and then continue to decrease down from its lofty rank that used to hold sway over you. You will look at it and you will find that it is indeed insignificant… this affliction will shrink in size, regardless of whether it is an illness, poverty, disfigurement, an accident, an amputation… Yes, you will feel pain, there is no doubt, but something better will overcome whatever that you are feeling (because) you believe in Allah. You believe that He is the Creator. He is the One who plans everything. Then you believe that Allah is kind, that Allah is loving, that Allah is most merciful. You are confident of all this…and if Allah did not want to nurture you, better you and ennoble you by way of it, He would not have sent it your way.”11
Recognising the nature of dunya prompts us to know that our soul cannot be in a perpetual state of tranquillity, absent of anger, fear, distress and other similar psychological symptoms. Dunya is an “abode of anxiety, sadness, worry and calamity. So, it is normal for a person to expect, in spite of his efforts, the onslaught of misfortune or even calamity to disturb the calmness of his soul”.12 We can live our lives without experiencing any physical pain, but “it is unlikely that one will pass a day without experiencing something that causes anger, anxiety, sadness or gloom”. 13 However, each of us has had different levels of resilience.
Not all souls are the same. Some will be able to maintain balance after a misfortune, but others may need help after facing a similar calamity. “Every individual has a different level of endurance, the strength of his heart or its weakness (in facing anxiety) and the breadth of his chest… some can withstand great calamities without being stirred up… some, however, are traumatised or succumb to the slightest emotional provocation”.14
Therefore, self-awareness of our own abilities and strengths is important. At the same time, our ability and humility to seek assistance from others when the degree of our forbearance depletes will provide the much-needed therapy for our wounded souls. We must also be aware of people around us who are facing difficulties and help them when we sense that they require assistance and advice.
Read: The Prophet of Mercy: Showing care and concern for others
Connecting spirituality & psychological well-being
How then do we connect the wellness of our psyche to our spiritual health? Does it mean that any undesirable emotions and behaviour reflect some form of rustiness in our heart?
In Islam, the wellness of the human being is defined holistically. This means that all the aspects of the human constitutions must be protected and nourished for growth.15 Our holistic health is defined in a continuum that addresses our innate constitutions.
The foundation of holistic health is in recognising that the human being is, first and foremost, a spiritual being with human experiences in this world. In other words, our holistic health is rooted in the understanding that human beings are created for a life other than a life in this world. This world is just a stop we encounter in our journey to the afterlife. Therefore, health from an Islamic perspective is “maintained by a firm adherence to a life of worshipping God, and any obstacle that obstructs one’s ability to tread this path of worship is detrimental to human functioning and warrants removal”.16
What this means is that, in the absence of holistic health, some will not reach the clinical threshold of mental illness or mental disorder that requires psychological or psychiatric treatments. However, a human being who is lacking in their ability to live a life in accordance with the commands of the Divine is considered psycho-spiritually unhealthy.
The journey of psycho-spiritual health is a life-long process which oscillates between optimal and suboptimal functioning, dependent upon the ups and downs of one’s iman (faith). The default state of our physical well-being is healthy, with some occasions of falling into sickness. However, for psycho-spiritual health, our default state is not optimal but not necessarily sickness as we journey our lives in this dunya with occasions of diverting from God’s directives but returning back to Him (inabah) quickly when we remember (zikr).
Read: Repentance in Islam
The maintenance of psycho-spiritual health in Islam is as important as and can be more important in some occasions than the maintenance of our physical health. A general methodological treatment found within our Islamic Spiritual Tradition is the development of spiritual resilience through the disciplining of our soul or psycho-spiritual training (riyāh al-nafs) with a guide or a spiritual mentor. These spiritual mentors are individuals who have undergone a lengthy and rigorous course of training with their spiritual mentors, and the chain continues. This lengthy process will result in the acquisition of spiritual coping mechanisms that enable us to effectively manage the various stressors of our daily lives.
Read: Spirituality and mental well-being in Islam
Islam does not just restrict the notion of mental illness to significant impairment of social, occupational or familial functioning. Rather, Islam looks at the overall health of a person to also include character flaws that do not meet the clinical threshold.
Holistic health in Islam does not exclusively limit human dysfunction solely to the clinical impairment as defined by The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), but also “include character traits that lead to a poor functioning before they may even become significantly impairing”.17
For example, “while narcissistic traits may not meet the clinical threshold of narcissistic personality disorder”, an Islamic approach “will nevertheless view the patient as suffering from spiritual pathological character flaws that may or may not merit treatment in a clinical setting”.18 Another example to demonstrate the holistic nature of health and treatment in Islam is that self-admiration is important in the restoration of psychological health and, at times, is not socially debilitating or clinically in severity. However, unchecked self-admiration (‘ujub) can lead one down the path of pride (kibr) and arrogance (riyā’) which are the roots of multitudes of spiritual diseases.
Listen to: Tune Islam - Pride & arrogance
Furthermore, the reminder of the Prophet that “he who has an atom’s weight of arrogance in his heart will not enter the Garden” (Sahih Muslim) indicates the close connection between spirituality and mental well-being in Islam.
Clinical treatments in Islam are necessary, but they are carried out in the service of a larger Islamic purpose of achieving mardatillah (the pleasure of Allah) and hence not restricted to only symptom reduction or restoration of functioning in this world. In other words, when a patient’s psycho-spiritual health reaches the clinical threshold, which requires clinical interventions, they will first be treated clinically to restore their balance in this world. This is for them to return to their daily worldly functions and routines.
After this, the formal treatment of spiritual character defects can begin. Although within contemporary ethics, this can be controversial because it is considered as proselytising and may be inconsistent with the patient’s aims and goals of seeking treatment. However, there has been much research and a growing trend of introducing spiritually oriented psychotherapies into mainstream healthcare practices.19
From an Islamic standpoint, being functional in worldly affairs is not an indication that you are healthy holistically as spiritual diseases such as avarice (ḥasad), love of wealth (hubb al-mal) and this world (hubb al-dunya) can eventually cause a person to fall into the clinical range of psychological pathology. Treating spiritual diseases, which none of us human beings are independent of, is as important as treating psychological imbalances. The diagram below shows a schema of health and pathology from an Islamic perspective.
Another important dimension in the Islamic perspective of healthcare is the role of preventive medicine. Be it physical health or psychological and spiritual health. For physical health, a preventive measure will be our eating and drinking habits. Medicine will not work if we follow a careless and happy-go-lucky approach to our food consumption. If we do not care about what we eat, at what time we eat and in what quantity we eat, we will definitely be subjecting our physical body to the buildup of harmful waste that can accumulate in serious diseases.
Read: Halalan tayyiban: More than just halal
If we are careless in seeking early medical attention when physical symptoms appear, this may lead to the worsening of the symptoms until they reach a level that cannot be helped. If we do not follow the advice of the physicians and lack the self-control to eat food that will harm us, then we are charting our path towards our own destruction.
However, if we follow the recommendations of experts, control ourselves and be very careful during our healthy times,seek medical attention early when symptoms arise, then medicine prescribed will have a positive effect on us unless it is already written to be his time to return to his Lord.
Al-Balkhi says, “Accordingly the great services of both the one who brings the medicinal plants, the therapeutic animal parts or minerals from every corner of the earth, as well as the physicians who astutely combine them to treat the sick, must be appreciated and not be considered as meaningless or fruitless. In fact, the fruits of these professions are a gift provided by Allah, Most High and Gracious, to promote the health of His slaves and creatures with the inspiration and support He has bestowed on these qualified experts. Thus for every kind of disease, illness or disorder, there must be an antidote that would cure it if given in the correct manner.”20
Preventive medicine for psycho-spiritual health
The above metaphor can be applied to our psycho-spiritual health. As one recovers from a clinically diagnosed illness, one has to maintain one’s health based upon following the advice of the experts who know the nature of the human psyche or soul. The preventive measures must match the nature of the human soul.
To store up our preventive medicine for our psyche, we need to have the following four routines as ways that we can include pauses in our lives and move temporarily away from the busyness of an achievement-oriented society. Our current lifestyle, as described previously, places too much emphasis on positivity and frowns upon pauses in life to the extent that we get exhausted and depressed because we are not able to measure up to our own expectations. We must consciously bring in the pauses so that these pauses provide the necessary nourishments and care to our soul. The four practices that we recommend are:
● Contemplative practice
● Creative practice
● Physical practice
● Spiritual practice
Contemplative practice
This can be done before or after our daily prayers with your eyes closed. Breathe in and out slowly, feel our breath entering our lungs and exiting through our nose. To enhance this practice, surround yourselves around nature’s flora and fauna. As we stand on the grass barefooted, we can feel the energy coming from earth into our body as we breathe in. As we breathe out, we can feel all our burden and heaviness on our shoulders or our back, leaving us on earth via our legs. At this very moment, we say ‘Allah’. Repeat this cycle a couple of times and enjoy the breeze of nature that meets our face. What is important in this practice is the voluntary breathing that brings us into the moment, and the voluntary regulation of our breaths.
Another important contemplative practice is bibliotherapy.21 Take some time to read a book and be immersed in the world the author brings for a much needed pause and rejuvenation. Reading provides an emotional escape, reducing stress and fostering a sense of calm. Engaging with a story allows us to temporarily detach from our own worries and immerse ourselves in the characters’ lives and experiences. This detachment can offer emotional catharsis, an outlet to process complex feelings indirectly. Stories often mirror real-life situations, and characters may face challenges similar to us. Witnessing characters navigate hardships can help us process our own emotions in a safe and structured way.
We cannot deny that reading encourages introspection, offering us, the readers, new perspectives on life and upon ourselves. As we read, questions are posed to ask. As we reflect, we form deeper self-awareness.
Read: 10 books to read right now: Book recommendation by Ustazah Hidayah Azman
Another important contemplative practice is to generate internal good and healthy thoughts that can serve as first responders when afflicted with emotional symptoms. This is equivalent to the “storing of medicine with established worth in a first aid kit to use in a case of unexpected bodily pain developing in the absence of a physician”.22
For example, someone who after suffering from extreme sadness or depression who has been restored into equilibrium by an expert can build good internal thoughts about the nobility of one’s own soul or self. Our soul is the most precious thing given to us by the Divine and we must preserve its health. Losing the health of our soul is more detrimental than losing anything else in this world. Any hardship or damaging loss that our soul experiences are engraved in the nature of this life. Our experience of loss is similar or even less severe that the predicaments other people have suffered or are now suffering from, like the loss experienced by our Muslim brothers and sisters in Gaza and other conflict areas.
Creative practice
These are projects, hands-on activities that you have control over. This is where your will has a power to control on how to design, how you build, and how you complete a creative piece. It doesn’t have to be drawing. It could be simple puzzles, building a chair, arrow making or other activities that you use your creative juice and have control over.
Creative activities encourage mindfulness (muraqabah), where individuals focus on the present moment. In Islam, mindfulness is connected to khushu' (a state of humility and focus, especially in prayer), which fosters a deeper connection with one’s inner self and God. Activities like drawing or crafting allow for a state of flow, similar to a meditative state, reducing stress and promoting inner calm. In addition, routine creative practices act as a counterbalance to the demands of work or study, providing a means to relax while still engaging the mind and body productively.
This aligns with the concept of ihsan (excellence), where one engages in activities with intention and purpose, even in leisure. This can assist us in aligning our mind and body with the rhythm of creation. This sense of harmony counters the modern tendency towards hyperactivity and distraction, as Byung-Chul Han criticised in ‘The Burnout Society’. What is important is that the activity is continuous even though it is small and takes a longer time to complete.
Physical practice
Physical routines, such as exercise, gardening, or even structured acts like archery or walking, complement creative practices in promoting psychological and spiritual health from an Islamic perspective.
Physical activity aligns with the concept of riyadah al-nafs (discipline of the self), fostering discipline and resilience while engaging the body as an instrument of worship. Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. encouraged physical activities like swimming, horseback riding, and archery, emphasising their benefits not only for physical health but also for mental clarity and emotional balance. These routines help release stress, regulate emotions, and enhance overall well-being, aligning the mind and body with the principles of balance (mizan) and self-care promoted in Islam.
Additionally, physical routines ground individuals in the present moment, encouraging mindfulness and gratitude for the physical capabilities granted by Allah s.w.t. Activities like walking in nature or farming provide opportunities to reflect on God’s creation, enhancing spiritual awareness and fostering a connection with the Divine. These practices also reduce the distractions of modern hyperactivity by engaging the senses and promoting contemplation. By combining intention (niyyah) with physical movement, these routines transform ordinary actions into acts of worship, strengthening the relationship between physical vitality and spiritual growth. This holistic integration underscores the Islamic view that caring for the body is a means of honouring the trust (amanah) placed in individuals by God.
Spiritual practice
The obligatory worships are a must, and we must ensure that we complete them daily. That is the bare minimum. We must put in effort to ensure we complete this before we engage in other spiritual practices.
Read: 4 advices from Imam Al-Ghazali on worship
Once we are able to maintain five times daily prayers, we can then embark on reducing our sleep for performing qiyam (the night vigil prayers). We can then proceed to reduce our food intake by practising sunnah fasting every Monday and Thursday.
Read: Fasting on the White Days
We gradually reduce our screen time for Quran time. The whole objective is we do not want to satiate our nafs more than what we need. Start small, but continuous. A page of the Quran a day, doing daily sadaqah (charity) after Subuh prayers, even with a few cents. The ruh must be nourished with spiritual practices.
Read: Spirituality in Islam
These pauses allow us to step back from the pressure of our achievement-oriented society that drains away our energy, shifts the goal once we have reached it, or lacks clarity on our purpose and objectives in life that we are meant to pursue.
Conclusion
This guidance is not limited to personal resilience but extends to fostering compassion and support for those around us, ensuring that we contribute positively to the collective well-being of our communities. Our state of alertness to the people around us in our daily congregational prayers, or weekly Jumaah prayers can play a crucial support to our fellow Muslims who, at that moment, need a helping hand or a listening ear.
For us to develop emotional resilience and regulation is to develop the ability to sit with a range of emotions and deal with them as normal human emotions. Take them to be normative emotions that we will all encounter throughout our lives. Avoiding these emotions limits our ability to process and regulate them when they arise or are triggered by certain situations. Such avoidance can lead to imbalance, triggering defensive responses that either suppress or justify these emotions.
This survival instinct, when unchecked, can result in a self-centered focus, neglecting the needs of others around us and reacting out of a perceived sense of threat. By acknowledging and addressing these emotions, we align ourselves with Islamic teachings that emphasise emotional balance and spiritual grounding.
The holistic framework of health in Islam emphasises both preventive and treatment processes. During our healthy periods, it is important to integrate contemplative, creative, physical, and spiritual practices as part of a comprehensive strategy for psycho-spiritual health. These routines provide the necessary pauses from the relentless demands of a burnout society and help restore the equilibrium between worldly responsibilities and spiritual growth.
By grounding our practices in Islamic principles, we can transform the challenges of modern life into opportunities for self-improvement, deep connection with Allah, and the cultivation of resilience that enables us to thrive in both this world and the Hereafter. This balanced approach not only addresses our emotional and psychological needs but also ensures that our faith remains a source of strength and guidance amid life's trials.
References
1 IMH study shows an increase in mental health literacy and reduction in stigma among Singapore residents. Institute of Mental Health and National Healthcare Group. 19 Nov, 2024.
2 Janhavi Ajit Vaingankat et.al, ‘Religious Affiliation in Relation to Positive Mental Health and Mental Health Disorders in Multi-Ethnic Asian Population’, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18(7).
3 Charles Taylor, A Secular Age, (Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University press, 2007).
4 Byung-Chul Han, The Burnout Society, (Stanford, California: Standard University Press, 2015), p. 1.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid. 49.
7 Ibid, 8.
8 Ibid, 9.
9 Ibid, 46.
10 Abu Zayd al-Balkhi, Sustenance of the Soul (translated by Malik Badri), (London & Washington: The International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2020), 31.
11 Imam Muḥammad Sa ‘īd Ramaḍān al-Būṭī, Depression & Anxiety: The Causes & Treatment According to the Qur’ān (translated by Mahdi Lock & Hazen Nasr), (Singapore: Nawa Books & The Foreword Publications, 2023), pp. 46-47.
12 Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim. Decolonizing Human Rights. Cambridge: Cambridge Univesity Press. 2021.
13 Ibid.
14 Ibid, 32.
15 Muhammad Mubarak Habib Mohamed, ‘Spirituality and Mental Well-Being in Islam’, in Muslim.sg.
16 Hooman Keshavarzi & Bilal Ali, ‘Foundations of Traditional Islamically Integrated Psychotherapy’, in Hooman Keshavarzi, Fahad Khan, Bilal Ali & Rania Awaad (eds.) Applying Islamic Principles to Clinical Mental Health Care: Introducing Traditional Islamically Integrated Psychotherapy, (New York & London: Routledge, 2021), 20.
17 Ibid, 21.
18 Ibid.
19 For example, see Richards P. S., Sanders P. W., Lea T., McBride J. A., & Allen G. E. K. (2015). ‘Bringing spiritually oriented psychotherapies into the health care mainstream: a call for worldwide collaboration’. Spiritual Clin. Pract., 2(3), 169–179.
20 Abū Zayd al-Balkhī, Sustenance of the Soul (translated by Malik Badri), (London & Washington: The International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2020), pp. 69-70
21 This terminology was mentioned by brother Ibrahim Tahir, the owner of Wardah Books, Singapore in one of our Islamic Civilisation Book Club. We discussed this form of therapy our Islamic Civilisation Book Club post-reading session on the book of Abu Zayd Al-Balkhi ‘The Sustenance of the Soul’ on Sunday 17 November 2024.
22 Abu Zayd Al-Balkhi, Sustenance of the Soul (translated by Malik Badri), (London & Washington: The International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2020), 36.
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