Dogma Disrupted
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What The Mental Health Industry Gets Wrong
Mental health has become a widely discussed and emphasized subject, particularly in the last five years. While mental health services are a critical component to healthcare, the mental health industry operates on multiple underlying dogmas that are opposed to the Islamic worldview.
Dr. Zohair Abdul Rahman joins Imam Tom Facchine to bring to light four key dogmas at play that both Muslims who seek access to these services and practitioners themselves should keep in mind when facing this paradigm.
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. That's not a topic for this discussion about what lifestyle factors and food and process things and all these sorts of things that may go into modern living that make us a bit more miserable than other people, than people in other times and epochs. But the point is that, you know, we're wanting to basically recognize and keep to our principles. We don't need to neglect about this idea of your morning and evening dhikr as part of therapy. You know, the idea of making sure your environment is inviting the angelic presence. What is going to ward off the shayateen better than the angels? And so, what is your home environment like? Is there music blasting? Are there pictures all over the walls? I know this is an issue of ikhlaa, but for the majority of people and these sorts of things, these are things that repel the angels from coming into your home. Is it messy and dirty? Are you smelling offensive and whatnot and these sorts of things? What are the things that you can adjust to actually invite the angelic presence towards you? This should be part of mental health therapy. Because when you look at the reality of it, no doubt the shayateen are a part of it. Because what does the shayateen make us want to do? The shayateen wants you to fear him. And his allies and his awliya. So, anxiety is a goal of the shayateen. The shayateen wants you to feel anxious and fearful. The shayateen wants you to feel depressed. And so, obviously, this has to be a very important part of things. And so, this is the point. We cannot, as Muslims, secularize our own knowledge. And for some reason, when it comes to mental health, they have this boundary that they've put forward that cannot be penetrated. Yeah, here's the bubble, a black box here. Yeah, for some reason, if you're sad and anxious, go through this black box. And Islam is there. It doesn't have anything to do with it. This is a biological problem. This is what we need to really recognize.
That it's quite possible this is the poking and the prodding of the shayateen. And the point is to address all sides. Holistic care, right, as they say. And this is something that is very clear from our own tradition. This is speaking with our own principles and our own values. This is the way that Muslims have understood it for many centuries. This idea that there's a biological element that can be then used, biological things, to treat people. And so, it can require medication. And that's not a problem. Even sometimes to be able to do the spiritual work, a person is so lacking that motivation, they need a bit of a boost in their energy so that they can do that spiritual work. And sometimes that can be in a form of a pill. What's the difference between a pill and the things that they would take from centuries before to boost their mood? There's things about talbina and these sorts of things. And people have this idea of drugs are bad because they're man-made and these sorts of things. Nothing is man-made in this world. Everything Allah ﷻ has created. Men just put things together and mix things up and whatnot and then package them. Lithium, for example, which is used to treat, is the first-line therapy to treat bipolar disorder. What is lithium? Lithium is literally dirt. That is what lithium is. It's literally found in the soil. It's an element and it's given as treatment. And so, these are things that we shouldn't be necessarily averse to. But at the same time, we should recognize, of course, the holistic aspect when we look at the spiritual realm as well. That's a very strong and, I think, a great place to end the conversation, to be honest with you. I think that what we're saying is that truly Islamic health, truly Islamic mental health, not just lip service, but truly Islamic mental health is truly holistic mental health. Is that it takes into account the entire reality of human beings, of the afterlife, of both physical and non-physical causes.
In addition to having benefits for our lives in this world, that's small potatoes compared to the ultimate goal, which is pleasing our Lord ﷻ and trying to get closer to Him. Dr. Zaheer, another fantastic conversation. Thank you so much for joining us today. Jazakumullahu khairan, Imam Tom. Always happy to be here. May Allah bless you and all the work you're doing. Ameen. May Allah accept it from us. Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika sharafan la ilaha illa anta. Astaghfiru qawtubu ilayk. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah.
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