Islamic psychology : metatheoretical issues and implications

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Before one can articulate the theory and practice of Islamic psychology, or speak ofits relationship to, or integration with, secular psychology, it is imperative that itsmetatheoretical underpinnings be articulated and understood from the outset. It isargued that this is especially important for the reader steeped in the Western scientifictradition, since its secular metatheory has proved insufficient in accommodating theIslamic worldview. Psychology in Islam is preoccupied with the afterlife - as a result,the subjects of mental disorder and psychotherapy are heavily invested with religiousand moral significance. Mental disorder refers to such traits as lead to personaldestruction in the hereafter, while psychotherapy entails both the observance of all(external) religious obligations as well as the (internal) purification of the self Thispaper demonstrates firstly that Islamic psychology is a legitimate intellectual domain.That, secondly, from an Islamic perspective, psychological theory is useless anddangerous without a pious practitioner, and, thirdly, that the methodological hierarchythat yields psychological theory is the opposite of its secular version. Lastly, it isargued that while Sunni Islam dismisses the notion of free will, this in no waydiminishes the relevance ofIslamic psychology.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University