Dilemma of Muslims in the West

Integration of Islamic precepts, behavioral sciences can boost foundations of Western mental healthcare

Modern independent psychological paradigms, based on world views, have created weak foundations for the Western mental health system. To reinforce the foundations of clinical mental healthcare and contemporary psychology, the integration of Islamic precepts and contemporary behavioral sciences is important as it can provide an ever-evolving paradigm of psychological treatment rooted in Islamic theology.

The views were expressed by Dr Fahad Khan, deputy director Khalil Center, a psychological wellness center in the US rooted in Islamic theology, during a hybrid session titled, ‘Dilemma of Muslims in the West’, held at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Islamabad, on June 21, 2022. The session was also attended by Khalid Rahman, chairman IPS, and Ambassador Syed Abrar Hussain, vice-chairman IPS.

Highlighting the mental disorders among Muslims in the West, Dr Fahad said that the rate of suicidal thoughts among Muslims is almost twice that of non-Muslims. The situation, overall, is so bad that suicide has become a leading cause of death in the US, where 50% of adults are known to have not received any sort of treatment. This, among other factors, has created a dilemma in the West, where the mental health system is failing due to weak foundations.

Some of the underlying problems of this weak foundation, as discussed by Dr Fahad, are the flawed knowledge production and knowledge divide. According to him, knowledge production in the field of psychology has been undifferentiated from the value of time and peace and has been determined by power. The ones with power and influence created world views, based on which modern psychological theories were formulated and evolved. Consequently, most modern western psychology is based on paradigms developed by untrained theorists, who formulated the theories on reactions and world views.

Pointing out the knowledge divide and the existing split of sacred knowledge from secular knowledge, he highlighted that the clash of sacred and secular knowledge was never present in Islam and it only emerged as an implication of colonialism. Associated with these problems is the prevailing exclusionist rhetoric, the lack of recognition of Islamic intellectual heritage in psychology, and the absence of 1,700 years of Islamic psychological knowledge and works from the records.

The practice of professional psychology rooted in Islamic theology, as advanced by the Khalil Center, has not emerged as a counter to Western psychology. It sieves modern psychology through the filter of Islamic precepts and, then, integrates it with contemporary behavioral science. This forms the basis of the therapeutic framework, Traditional Islamically Integrated Psychotherapy (TIIP), to treat the problems and dilemmas of Muslims in the US.

This approach of TIIP, within an Islamic epistemological and ontological framework, which is evolving with time through multidisciplinary research, allows the integration of modern psychology and clinical mental healthcare that is rooted in Islamic theology and traditions. With regards to this integration, Dr. Fahad shared the statistics that 96% of contacted Muslims in the US consented that their therapist should share their religious values, while 97% said that their therapy procedures must integrate Islamic theology.

According to TIIP, the treatments for Muslims are targeted at the ontological elements of the human psyche; aql or cognition, nafs or behavioral inclinations, rūḥ or spirit, and iḥsās or emotions. Furthermore, he underscored the objectives of this psychotherapeutic encounter, the sources of knowledge for Islamic orientation to psychotherapy, and the resolution of contradiction.

While sharing the graphs of one-year process outcome study on TIIP of 107 patients treated at the Khalil Center, he noted that the TIIP increased the Psychological Measure of Islamic Religiousness (PMIR) coping capacity in patients, along with a decrease in their psychological and functional distress. Lastly, he highlighted that the awareness about psychological issues and disorders is increasing among Muslims in the West as they are striving to live better while coping with their dilemmas and mental health issues.

In the concluding remarks, Khalid Rahman accentuated the importance and need for knowledge and discussion on the topic by the scholars having a strong reference to Islam and the ability to analyze the world knowledge through the Islamic framework. He underlined that the cost of keeping this religious paradigm apart from independent psychological paradigms has resulted in the loss of the reputation of traditions and values in the societies. Consequently, the societies are going through a transition phase, which has, in turn, posed new challenges that must be addressed within such paradigms.

Ambassador Abrar Hussain commended Dr Fahad Khan for sharing his valuable insights and knowledge on Muslim mental health and Islamic psychological traditions and aspired to hold future discussions with him.