The Spiritual Approach to Better Mental Health

HEALTH The Spiritual Approach to Better Mental Health

The Khalil Center offers Islamic psychology-centered help in both Chicago and Los Angeles

BY STEPHENIE BUSHRA KHAN

Mental health is part of being human, a matter of adjustment and how you deal with what’s going on around you. At times, these events can be rather challenging.

Emotional problems can be situational or biochemical in nature. Tranquility, which is felt in the heart, is defined as how one deals with adversity, for, as God tells us, “Be sure We shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the fruits (of your toil), but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere” (2:155).

The Quran and Hadith help us understand happiness and mental health. Unhappiness, grief and stress affected both the prophets and ordinary people. The Quran informs us that many prophets experienced extreme difficulties. Through these two core sources, Prophet Muhammad (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) laid the foundation upon which later Muslim scholars used to diagnose different types of mental illness as being the outward manifestation of the interaction of body and soul, religion, science and spirituality. They viewed all of these elements as mutually intertwined.

Islamic psychology is the science of the ego/self (nafs), which refers to our soul and heart. The Quran uses nafs in both the individualistic (2:48) and the collective sense (4:1), thereby indicating that although all human beings possess the positive qualities of a

Hooman Keshavarzi

nafs, they are individually responsible for exercising the free will that it provides them.

The Quran, which is the ultimate guide for those who are striving to lead normal lives, categorizes abnormal behavior into al-nafs al-amaara (the commanding self [12:53]), which gives guidance to help overcome the inner turmoil caused by this nafs, to bring our peaceful self into being through the al-nafs al-lawaama (the correcting self [75:2)], which leads to the al-nafs al-mutma’inna (the reassured soul content with God’s Will — a state of serenity [89:27-28]).

When we become aware of how we think and behave, we begin to develop our sense of morality. This awareness, when complemented with mindfulness, enables us to be aware of our actions.

Unlike traditional Western psychology, the spiritually based CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy) that arose in the field during the 1960s describes the link among thoughts, emotions and behaviors so that patients can be guided toward developing more adaptive behavior.

THE ISLAMIC APPROACH Islamic psychology, pioneered by Abu Zayd al-Balkhi (850934; see Malik Badri, “Abu Zayd al-Balkhi’s Sustenance of the Soul: The Cognitive Behavior Therapy of a Ninth Century Physician,” 2013), began during Islam’s golden age, traditionally dated from the 8th to the 14th centuries." In his writings on the body and soul, all of which were based on the Quran and Hadith, al-Balkhi stated that diseases that affect one’s spiritual and psychological health are related to the body and the soul.

He critiqued those contemporaneous physicians who emphasized their patients’ physical health to the exclusion of their mental health, arguing that one can be considered healthy only when both the body and the soul are healthy. If the body is mentally ill, then the patient’s physical body will suffer as well. Al-Balkhi, who pioneered cognitive therapy, as well as psychotherapy and psychophysiology, stressed that individuals should develop and then maintain healthy thoughts and feelings.

Ibn Sina (980-1037), the founder of modern medicine, believed that mental illness was environmentally and chemically based. In 705, al-Razi, among the leading physicians of his time, founded the world’s first psychiatric hospital in Baghdad.

Malik Badri, Ph.D. (19322021), a Sudanese professor of psychology, is considered the father of modern Islamic psychology. Among his several published books and articles, the “Dilemma of Muslim Psychologists” stands out. He founded the International Association of this field (www. islamicpsychology.org) to increase awareness of both it and the interaction between mental and physical health. Going far beyond traditional psychology, he focused on cleansing one’s ego and the spirituality of the heart and soul through the Quran and Hadith. His philosophy made the birth of the Khalil Center (www. khalilcenter.com) possible.

Hooman Keshavazi, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist living in Chicago, is the center’s founder and current executive director. A clinical therapist holding a masters and a doctorate in clinical psychology from Istanbul’s Ibn Haldun University, he is an adjunct professor at the American Islamic College (aicusa.edu) and Hartford Seminary (www.hartsem. edu), as well as an instructor of

psychology at the Islamic Online University (iou.edu.gm/homepage/). He has authored several academic papers on integrating Islamic spirituality into modern psychological practice.

Today the Khalil Center (est. 2010), a teaching and research institution that offers mental health workers training via certificate and degree proas an imam, scholar and social worker, he saw a great need for this service in his community and thus visited the Chicago facility. Very impressed by what he saw there, he went back home and set about establishing a center in Los Angeles.

Shaykh Mulla says that its success can be seen in the patients’ belief that they have Health Care: Introducing Traditional Islamic Integrated Psychology [TIIP]” (2013).

Its program utilizes modern contemporary therapeutic care in an Islamic setting and with Islamic approaches of psychotherapy inspired by the Quran and traditions of the ‘ulema (religious scholars), muraqaba (observation and meditation)

TODAY THE KHALIL CENTER (EST. 2010), A TEACHING AND RESEARCH INSTITUTION THAT OFFERS MENTAL HEALTH WORKERS TRAINING VIA CERTIFICATE AND DEGREE PROGRAMS IN TRADITIONAL ISLAMIC INTEGRATED PSYCHOLOGY (TIIP) AND ISLAMIC SCHOLARSHIP, IS CONSIDERED THE NATION’S LARGEST AND FIRST ISLAMIC WELLNESS CARE CENTER. ITS SERVICES ARE COVERED BY MAJOR INSURANCE COMPANIES, AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IS OFFERED FOR THE UN- OR UNDER-INSURED.

grams in Traditional Islamic Integrated Psychology (TIIP) and Islamic scholarship, is considered the nation’s largest and first Islamic wellness care center. Its services are covered by major insurance companies, and financial assistance is offered for the un- or under-insured. In 2014 the center came under the Zakat Foundation of America’s (www.zakat.org) umbrella. It’s also a community partner of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (www.ciogc.org), which runs Zakat Chicago. Such support enables the center to accept patients of all backgrounds and to help many of them overcome their challenges.

In addition to its Chicago founding center, it has centers in Southern California, the Bay Area, New York City, and Toronto.

THE WEST COAST FACILITY Shaykh Suhail Mulla (director, the Khalil Center of Los Angeles) started the center in January 2019. In his capacity received the tools that they need and, after implementing them in their lives, can function normally, work, be with their families and community and become as productive as they possibly can. He says that every step that a patient takes is a step forward in overcoming his or her mental health difficulties.

The Khalil Center focuses on individuals who have mental health needs. In addition to psychiatric services, it provides pre-marital counseling as well as individual and family therapy, serves adults and children who suffer from feelings of loss and dysfunction, and offers religious consultation (e.g., can they take their prescribed antidepressants during Ramadan or even whether they can fast). Specialized support groups are also available.

Keshavarsi and Haque outlined the center’s spiritually integrated ever-evolving psychological treatment in their book “Applying Islamic Principles to Clinical Mental and du‘a, and other TIIPconsistent practices. Different meditation techniques, as well as Islamic affirmations, help one build a connection with God, says Dr. Rania Awaad, a Stanford University practicing psychiatrist who, along with licensed therapist Humera Sheikh, teaches this technique at the Los Angeles center.

Like other mental health clinics, the Khalil Center also has licensed clinical trained therapists. Licentiate therapists have state and national boards and receive training in TIIP and Islamic principles from social workers and psychologists. Due to the pandemic, all appointments remain virtual. The Los Angeles center, which has no psychiatrists on staff, refers its patients to Bay-area Muslim psychiatrists.

These two centers, which offer alternative mental health care to Muslims, has served some 60,000 patients in Chicago and Los Angeles. Its team of 40+ licensed therapists and mental health care workers has grown during the pandemic due to the increased number of patients.

Muslims communities suffer the same conditions as other cultures do. Due to the traditional stigma and shame associated with mental health problems within the community, however, Muslims tend to remain silent about or ignore these problems. They may also hesitate to seek such treatment on the grounds that conventional Western health care workers don’t understand their cultural and religious backgrounds or may judge them. And yet this is not the case.

Many times, such families go to religious authorities who have no mental health training. They are told that they will recover if they pray more, instead of encouraged to seek therapeutic intervention. The uninformed and the superstitious feel that the patient is possessed by a demon and/or a jinn, for they have no concept of a mental disease that can be helped — even cured — by treatment. They don’t realize that treatment can both greatly improve the patient’s quality of life and end a great deal of suffering for both the patient and the family.

Sometimes medication is necessary. Many times the patient needs to be convinced that it will improve his or her psychological health and not interfere with his or her spirituality, functioning or creativity.

Due to its Islamic grounding, meditation and affirmation techniques, non-judgmental attitude and teaching the patient about God’s mercy and forgiveness, the Khalil Center relieves patients of their shame and hesitancy to seek treatment and offers services that can improve their situation. ih

Stephenie Bushra Khan is a freelance writer for Islamic magazines and professional artist. She also wrote for The Independent newspaper in Bangladesh for three years.