Raising Mental Health Awareness / The Muslim Community
Awareness of Mental Health Problems And Treatment
I am involved in raising awareness of mental health problems and treatment, with a particular interest in the Muslim community and ethnic minority cultures. I value diversity and have experience of working in a range of diverse environments while working in the NHS and in private Practice. I would like to encourage referrals from all ethnic groups, cultures, genders, and Faiths. I would particularly like to reach out to those who are of Muslim Faith, who require Islam to be integrated into the therapy work and who’s needs are not met by mainstream services. From personal experience, I can understand and appreciate the necessity of the spiritual component in mental health treatment and the difficulties and frustrations that can arise when this is unavailable or lacking; or when whatever is available is incompatible with the client’s particular spiritual needs and requirements. This is a very serious issue, and the unavailability of such services can be extremely detrimental to a client’s health; not only leading to unsuccessful treatment but also to the worsening of a client’s condition(s).
The impact that I have seen this have on Muslim patients has driven my passion to specialise in Islamically integrated psychotherapy and offer this alongside mainstream therapy where needed. When looking at the rich history we have in Islamic Psychology, as Muslims we should feel proud of our heritage and be more forthcoming and comfortable in seeking psychological help where required; particularly knowing that is part of our Deen, therefore, an obligation to do so.
After faith, one of the biggest blessings from Allah is good health and it is an Islamic obligation to take care of it. Health is indeed a great favour from Allah for which a believer must be thankful. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “There are two gifts which many men are unmindful about – good health and leisure” (Bukhari). Our bodies are an Amana from Allah. He has entrusted us with our bodies and therefore, we should take care of it. We are given this trust and will then need to “return” the body to its rightful owner – Allah. We will be held responsible for how we treat it, and we will be questioned about our health and how we took care of the body He gave us on the Day of Judgement. Allah says: “Then, on that Day, you will definitely be questioned about ˹your worldly˺ pleasures.” [Quran 102:8].
We could draw a comparison to the concept of Fitrah. The Prophet (pbuh) said, “No child is born except on al-Fitra (natural predisposition). Then his parents make him Jewish, Christian, or Magian.” [Bukhari]. Every child is born with this innocent natural predisposition, and outside influences change the child. We do a similar thing with our health when we contaminate our bodies with harmful substances and bad eating habits. Harmful behaviours such as overeating, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, narcotics abuse, and consuming all sorts of nutrition-less food, cause tremendous damage to our health.
To ensure that we look after our bodies and health, the Prophet (pbuh) instructed us to seek medication when we are ill. The Prophet (pbuh) said, ‘O servants of Allah, treat yourselves with medication when you are ill, because Allah, the Exalted, has created a cure for every illness except ‘old age’ (Ahmad; An Nasai).This Hadith indicates that as much as possible, we need to keep our bodies healthy. It is for this reason, the Prophet (pbuh) instructed his followers to seek medication. Hence, in the same manner, one will be required to protect his body and health as much as possible and safeguard it from being harmed and destroyed. And this can happen in numerous ways, such as through substance use, comfort eating etc.
The Prophet (pbuh) stated, “There is no disease that Allah has created, except that He also has created its treatment.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari) This spurred Muslims to seek cures for ailments both physical and mental.
(See blog articles – ‘Acknowledging the Importance of Mental Health in Islam’, ‘Taking Care of Your Physical Health/Body in Islam’, ‘The Prophet Muhammad’s (s.a.w) Teachings on Mental Health: The Importance of Seeking Professional Help’.)
Ethnic Minority
I would like to reach out to those from ethnic minority cultures to seek help for mental health problems. Being from an ethnic minority myself, I understand the difficulties that can be associated with speaking about such problems and in seeking help, and I would like to support those who are struggling with this. I individualise therapy in accordance with each client’s needs and goals and often draw upon cultural factors where it might be helpful to do so.
