PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATION: HOW ISLAMIC PSYCHOLOGY CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE

Psychology is the study of human behavior and mental status while Islamic psychology (“Ilm-al-Nafs”); involves the scientific study of the soul, human behavior, and the seen and the unseen world. It has a very broad spectrum ranging from Educational psychology, to Clinical, Counselling and Organizational psychology. We retrieve answers to questions like; What are the stages of development of children? Why do people fall in love? Why do we have tempers? Why do we easily forget things? Why are people motivated by different things? And why do we have constant nightmares or disorders?

Psychology is gradually changing my life. It had made me understand my self-better. It had become clear to me why I act a certain way and what triggers my actions. The most interesting part was when I realized that common; emotions, consciousness and memory are actually broad topics of their own. I had never imagined what my emotions were or the stages of my sleep. This made me appreciate Allah more and the attributes he created in us. I have also come across a lot of theories of psychology which helped me evaluate how other people think and act, hence the improvement of my social skills.

PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATION: HOW PSYCHOLOGY CHANGED MY LIFE

1. Organizational Psychology: I had opened a new company for Gadget repairs which had been in existence for the past 2 months. Psychology taught me that the key to success for my business is to understand my employees. I have grossly improved in my recruitment process, negotiations of contacts, marketing skills and motivating my employees, hence a 2 percent increase in growth rate. Some of the theories I had applied from psychology is;

· Reciprocity; If my friend gets me a contract to repair 100 computers, it is natural to expect something in return. The principle behind this is to analyze your objectives first, decide the favor you want from them and what you can give them as an appreciation. This principle has made me plan for the expectation of the person helping me even before getting the help. It helped me to be organized and plan better.

· Emotional intelligence: Understanding how and why my client’s acts a certain way makes me manage my team more effectively.

From an Islamic perspective; the key to success is to handle one’s business with Taqwa and Ihsan. As a leader, one has to implore justice among its employees, prevent unethical behavior and incentives to cheat people.

2. Memory: When I am in a bad mood, it affects my memory. Psychology has taught me that mood has an effect of one’s memory and I completely believe in it. The principle of mood congruence proved to me that one tends to remember negative things when one is in a bad mood so I tried to stay in a positive state.

Islamically, being forgetful is from Satan and the remedy for it is to seek refuge from Satan. “Indeed, I forgot [there] the fish. And none made me forget it except Satan – that I should mention It.” al-Kahf (18):63.

3. Emotions: Psychology made me attend anger management sessions due to my bad temper. I was taught to count 1-10 before responding to something that triggers my emotions.

In the Islamic perspective, emotions are gifts to us from the creator. “And that it is He who makes [one] laugh and weep.’ an-Najm (53):43. When I understood emotions were indeed test from Allah it made my channel them towards God. I can manage my emotions effectively now. I have learnt that there are so many rewards for controlling one’s anger. I either seek refuge from Satan or change position of my sleep, or sit while I was standing.

4. Motivation: Apart from my company, I have been working in a government organization where the salary was good but the working condition was poor and there were no rewards or compensation. Appraisals were not tied to performance. After studying this course I realized that my motivation was not money that was why I decided to start a company of my own.

In the Islamic point of view, we should not allow desires control us. I have learnt to always take the middle road when fulfilling our needs. “And [they are] those who, when they spend, do so not excessively or sparingly, but are ever, between that, [justly] moderate."(Q25: 63). I have also learnt to give up certain things in this word for something better in the hereafter known as delayed gratification.

The Prophet(s) is my role model because of his good character. In terms of self-actualization and personal development I am looking up to him. “And indeed you are of a great moral character” (Q 68:4).

Al-Jaza’iry mentions: “and when to habitually do good is the source of motivation then this is called ‘good character’ ”. Human beings have psychological needs but they have to be achieved in an acceptable way with compliance to Allah’s sharia”.

5. Purified soul and Improved Taqwa: I learnt that human beings are surrounded by desires and doubts that we have guard ourselves against. The classification of nafs made me fully aware when I am about to commit a sin or when remorseful. I always look forward to my soul reaching al-nafs al-mut`mainna. My soul is purified and level of Taqwa increased.

PRACTICAL EXAMPLES OF HOW PSYCHOLOGY INSIGHTED ME TO ADVICE FAMILY

1. Clinical psychology: My brother has been having recurrent mental scenarios of wanting to harm himself or others. I came across obsessive compulsive disorder which fit his profile. So I advised him to go see a psychiatrist where he recommended some therapies for him.

In the Islamic perspective I told him to be reciting the 2 Al-Mu'awwidhatayn and should be in constant remembrance of Allah. ‘Daqat’ is the term used to signify psychological stress in the Quran which means to be ‘confined’.

2. Psychiatry and educational psychology: My daughter is learning at a very low pace, she does not like to socialize with people, and she has speech delays. I consulted a psychiatrist who performed clinical evaluation on her.

I also consulted an educational psychologist; her instincts, behaviors and tempers were all studied. It made me adopt new methods of teaching her at home and I paid attention on how she was responding to the new method. This contributed towards her personal development.

3. Clinical psychology: After studying psychology I realized that my partner’s insomnia is not severe because he had never gone 48 hours without sleep and never exhibited behaviors of irritation or forgetfulness but he still saw a psychologist who recommended a sleeping tablet.

An integral part of Islamic psychology is that life in the unseen world is far more intensive than life in the seen world which is contrary to the secular view. The soul Allah created drives our emotions, motivation and behavior. All human beings have a natural inclination of the existence of Allah. Revelation from Allah is the primary criteria used to explain things.

Psychology has helped me understand how one perceives things, takes a decision between alternates. It is like when one is on a play and he is behind the scenes because going behind the scenes will give one a greater chance at understanding the play, hence the success.

Psychology taught me on REM stage of sleep. The day I saw my daughters eyeballs moving so fast underneath her eyelid made me smile and I started recalling whether or not nightmares occur at that stage.

Islam has the treatment for all sorts of illness, whether psychological or mental, just have faith in Allah.

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