Psychology in the

medieval Islamic
world

Islamic psychology or ʿilm al-nafs[1]

(Arabic: ‫)علم النفس‬, the science of the nafs
("self" or "psyche"),[2] is the medical and
philosophical study of the psyche from an
Islamic perspective and addresses topics
in psychology, neuroscience, philosophy of
mind, and psychiatry as well as
psychosomatic medicine. In Islam, mental
health and mental illness were viewed with
a holistic approach. This approach
emphasized the mutual connection
between maintaining adequate mental
wellbeing and good physical health in an
individual. People who practice Islam
thought it was necessary to maintain
positive mental health in order to partake
in prayer and other religious obligations.[3]
 A medical work by Ibn al-Nafis, who corrected some
of the erroneous theories of Galen and Avicenna on
the anatomy of the brain.

Concepts from Islamic thought have been

reexamined by Muslim psychologists and
scholars in the 20th and 21st centuries.[4]
Terminology

In the writings of Muslim scholars, the

term Nafs (self) was used to denote
individual personality and the term fitrah
for human nature. Nafs encompassed a
broad range of faculties including the qalb
(heart), the ruh (soul), the aql (intellect)
and irada (will). Muslim scholarship was
strongly influenced by Greek as well as by
the study of scripture, drawing particularly
from Galen's understanding of the four
humors of the body.

In medieval Islamic medicine in particular,

the study of mental illness was a speciality
of its own,[5] and was variously known as
al-‘ilaj al-nafs (approximately
"curing/treatment of the
ideas/soul/vegetative mind),[6] al-tibb al-
ruhani ("the healing of the spirit," or
"spiritual health") and tibb al-qalb ("healing
of the heart/self," or "mental medicine").[2]

The Classical Arabic term for the mentally

ill was "majnoon" which is derived from the
term "Jenna", which means "covered". It
was originally thought that mentally ill
individuals could not differentiate between
the real and the unreal. However, due to
their nuanced nature treatment on the
mentally ill could not be generalized as it
was in medieval Europe [7] This term was
gradually redefined among the educated,
and was defined by Avicenna as "one who
suffers from a condition in which reality is
replaced with fantasy".

Ethics and theology

In the Islamic world, special legal

protections were given to the mentally ill.
This attitude was reinforced by scripture,
as exemplified in Sura 4:5 of the Qur'an:

Do not give your property which

God assigned you to manage to
the insane: but feed and clothe
 the insane with this property
and tell splendid words to them.

— "[5]

This Quranic verse summarized Islam's

attitudes towards the mentally ill, who
were considered unfit to manage property
but must be treated humanely and be kept
under care by either a guardian or the
state.[5]

Psychology during the

Islamic Golden Age

During the 8th to 15th centuries of the

Gregorian calendar, the Islamic Golden
Age occurred. This marked a time of
numerous advancements and discoveries
in Islamic arts and sciences. This led to
Islam scholars understanding that certain
conditions can alter an individual's
spiritual and psychological states. Those
who were seen as majnoon (madness)
were believed to have an imbalance in
their spiritual and psychological states. A
prominent philosopher during this time
was al-Ghazali (1058–1111).[3] He
proposed that maintaining a balanced
connection between the spiritual and
psychological conditions within the body
was vital in order to sustain a close
relationship with God. al-Ghazali further
explained that divergence from this
interconnectedness could result in
abnormalities within an individual's mental
health.[3]

Major contributors

Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi

Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (865–

925), known as Rhazes in the western
tradition, was an influential Persian
physician, philosopher, and scientist
during the Golden Age of Islam, and
among the first in the world to write on
mental illness and psychotherapy.[8] As
chief physician of Baghdad hospital, he
was also the director of one of the first
psychiatric wards in the world. Two of his
works in particular, El-Mansuri and Al-Hawi,
provide descriptions and treatments for
mental illnesses.[8]

Abu-Ali al-Husayn ibn Abdalah ibn-

Sina

Abu-Ali al-Husayn ibn Abdalah ibn-Sina

(980–1030), known to the west as
Avicenna, was a Persian polymath who is
widely regarded for his writings on such
diverse subjects as philosophy, physics,
medicine, mathematics, geology, Islamic
theology, and poetry. In his most widely
celebrated work, the Canon of Medicine
(Al-Qanun-fi-il-Tabb), he provided
descriptions and treatments for such
conditions as insomnia, mania, vertigo,
paralysis, stroke, epilepsy, and depression
as well as male sexual dysfunction. He
was a pioneer in the field of
psychosomatic medicine, linking changes
in mental state to changes in the body.[9]

Abu Zayd al-Balkhi

Abu Zayd al-Balkhi (850-934) was a

Muslim psychologist and physician during
the Islamic Golden Age. His many
contributions were vital to the
understanding of mental health as well as
how to treat various mental illnesses. Al-
Balkhi is famous for his work titled
“Sustenance of the Body and Soul.”[10] In it,
he encouraged other physicians to treat
the body and mind as a whole and thus
take a holistic approach to medicine. This
thinking is significant because it laid the
foundation for a psychophysiological
approach to healthy living in Medieval
Islam. In al-Balkhi’s writings, he explains
that the soul experiences an array of
emotions such as distress, sadness, and
fear when the body undergoes physical
illnesses.[10]
The establishment of cognitive therapy is
credited to al-Balkhi. When his patients
experienced distress, he developed an
approach that motivated them to think
positively using healthy cognitions. al-
Balkhi and other important Islamic
scholars also implemented the technique
of reciprocal inhibition when treating their
patients.[11] Furthermore, al-Balkhi also
places emphasis on how environmental
factors, such as housing, exercise, and
nutrition, can affect a person’s mental
wellbeing. al-Balkhi’s contributions also
consisted of identifying the difference
between psychosis and neurosis. He
categorized neuroses into four groups:
obsessions, sadness and depression, fear
and anxiety, and anger and aggression.
The analysis al-Balki made in medieval
Islamic psychology is still relevant to
modern psychology.[3]

Melancholia

The mental health disorder melancholia

was frequently analyzed during medieval
Islam. Islamic scholars described
melancholia as a state of constant
sadness that people endured. It was
proposed that high amounts of black bile
in the body would result in this mental
illness. The location of the excess black
bile in the body would result in varied
symptoms of this mental health condition.
The state of sadness people experience
could be categorized into three different
types: sadness from trauma or stress,
sadness from external factors, such as
inadequate nourishment of the body, or
everyday sadness. This classification
system is similar to how present models
analyze depression. During medieval
Islam, melancholia was considered to be
variations of other health issues, such as
epilepsy and mania.[3]
Mental healthcare

The earliest bimaristans were built in the

9th century, and large bimaristans built in
the 13th century contained separate wards
for mentally ill patients.[12]

Treatment of mental illness

In addition to medication, treatment for

mental illness might include baths, music,
talk therapy, hijama (cupping), and
aromatherapy. Scholars and physicians of
this time period were some of the first to
emphasize psychosomatic medicine, the
emphasis placed on the relationship
between illness of the mind and problems
in the body.[13] Medicine would be
prescribed in order to re-balance the four
humors of the body, an imbalance of
which might result in psychosis.[9]
Insomnia, for example, was thought to
result from excessive amounts of the dry
humors which could be remedied by the
use of humectants.

See also

Islamic philosophy
Medicine in the medieval Islamic world
Ophthalmology in medieval Islam
 Science in medieval Islam
Sufi psychology

Notes

1. (Haque 2004, p. 358)

2. Deuraseh, Nurdeen; Mansor Abu, Talib
(2005), "Mental health in Islamic medical
tradition", The International Medical
Journal, 4 (2): 76–79.
3. Mitha, Karim (December 2020).
"Conceptualising and addressing mental
disorders amongst Muslim communities:
Approaches from the Islamic Golden Age"
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/article
s/PMC7689558) . Transcultural Psychiatry.
57 (6): 763–774.
doi:10.1177/1363461520962603 (https://d
oi.org/10.1177%2F1363461520962603) .
ISSN 1363-4615 (https://www.worldcat.or
g/issn/1363-4615) . PMC 7689558 (https://
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7
689558) . PMID 33059527 (https://pubme
d.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33059527) .
4. (Haque 2004)
5. (Youssef, Youssef & Dening 1996, p. 58)
6. (Haque 2004, p. 376)
7. Okasha, A. (2001), "Egyptian Contribution to
the Conception of Mental Health", Eastern
Mediterranean Health Journal, 7 (3): 377–
380, doi:10.26719/2001.7.3.377 (https://do
i.org/10.26719%2F2001.7.3.377) ,
PMID 12690756 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.
nih.gov/12690756) , S2CID 37684357 (http
s://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:3768
4357) .
8. Wael Mohamed, C.R. (2012). "Arab and
Muslim Contributions to Modern
Neuroscience". International Brain
Research Organization History of
Neuroscience.
 9. A. Okasha, C.R. (2001). "Mental Health and
Psychiatry in the Middle East" (https://doi.o
rg/10.26719%2F2001.7.3.336) . Eastern
Mediterranean Health Journal. 7: 336–347.
doi:10.26719/2001.7.3.336 (https://doi.org/
10.26719%2F2001.7.3.336) .
S2CID 21512463 (https://api.semanticscho
lar.org/CorpusID:21512463) .
10. Moffic, Steven; Peteet, John; Hankir, Ahmed;
Awaad, Rania (2018). Islamophobia and
psychiatry: recognition, prevention, and
treatment. Springer. pp. 4–8. ISBN 978-3-
030-00511-5.
11. Moffic, Steven; Peteet, John; Hankir, Ahmed;
Awaad, Rania (2018). Islamophobia and
psychiatry: Recognition, prevention, and
treatment. Springer. pp. 14–15. ISBN 978-3-
030-00511-5.
12. Miller, Andrew C (December 2006). "Jundi-
Shapur, bimaristans, and the rise of
academic medical centres" (https://archive.
today/20130201153053/http://jrsm.rsmjou
rnals.com/content/99/12/615.short) .
Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.
99 (12): 615–617.
doi:10.1177/014107680609901208 (http
s://doi.org/10.1177%2F014107680609901
208) . PMC 1676324 (https://www.ncbi.nl
m.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1676324) .
PMID 17139063 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.
nih.gov/17139063) . Archived from the
original (http://jrsm.rsmjournals.com/conte
nt/99/12/615.short) on 2013-02-01.
Retrieved 2018-08-26.
13. Mitha, Karim (2020). "Conceptualising and
addressing mental disorders amongst
Muslim communities: Approaches from the
Islamic Golden Age" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.
nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7689558) .
Transcultural Psychiatry. 57 (6): 763–774.
doi:10.1177/1363461520962603 (https://d
oi.org/10.1177%2F1363461520962603) .
PMC 7689558 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g
ov/pmc/articles/PMC7689558) .
PMID 33059527 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.
nih.gov/33059527) . S2CID 222832853 (htt
ps://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:222
832853) .
References

Bakhtiar, Laleh (2019), Quranic

Psychology of the Self: A Textbook on
Islamic Moral Psychology (ilm al-nafs),
Kazi Publications, ISBN 978-
1567446418
Haque, Amber (2004), "Psychology from
Islamic Perspective: Contributions of
Early Muslim Scholars and Challenges
to Contemporary Muslim
Psychologists", Journal of Religion and
Health, 43 (4): 357–377,
doi:10.1007/s10943-004-4302-z (http
s://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs10943-004-430
2-z) , S2CID 38740431 (https://api.sema
nticscholar.org/CorpusID:38740431)
Plott, C. (2000), Global History of
Philosophy: The Period of Scholasticism,
Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-0551-
8
Youssef, Hanafy A.; Youssef, Fatma A.;
Dening, T. R. (1996), "Evidence for the
existence of schizophrenia in medieval
Islamic society", History of Psychiatry, 7
(25): 55–62,
doi:10.1177/0957154X9600702503 (htt
ps://doi.org/10.1177%2F0957154X9600
702503) , PMID 11609215 (https://pub
med.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11609215) ,
 S2CID 44459712 (https://api.semantics
cholar.org/CorpusID:44459712)

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