Download The worship (ibadah)

The worship (ibadah)
and the aim of
Islamic Psychology
By ZULKIFLI KHAIR
The purpose of man’s life (as well as
jinn’s life)
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The purpose of life is ibadah (total submission,
surrender, and obedience to God).
However God will never ever get any losses if man do
not perform ibadah or being the servant of God.
“I have only created jinns and men, that they may
SERVE Me. No Sustenance do I require of them, nor
do I require that they should feed Me.” (az-Zariat, 51:
56-57)
God has a serious purpose to create man, not for idle
sport or play.
God is independent of all needs.
Worship (ibadah) in Islam
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Two kinds of ibadah: Specific ibadah (5 pillars of
Islam) and general ibadah.
Man as a servant of God and khalifah (ambassador).
General ibadah - Any behaviour should be an ibadah
as followed:
 Following the Islamic law.
 Good intention to God.
 The practice never contradict to Islam.
 Following the priority: wajib and sunah; fardh ‘ayn
and fardh kifayah.
Behaviour in Islam (1)
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All of the behaviours should be an ibadah to God
as discussed before.
All of the behaviours (good and bad) will be
counted and judged in the Judgment Day at the
court of God.
“Then shall anyone who has done an atom’s
weight of good, see it! And anyone who has done
an atom’s weight of evil, shall see it!” (alZalzalah, 99: 7-8)
Good in practice and behaviour is the proof of
good belief in the heart. Thus, man should
educate himself and control his soul.
Behaviour in Islam (2)
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Man should know the forbid and forbidden behaviours
according to the code of behaviour (Islamic ethic and
law, and others that do not against Islam).
Forbidden behaviours: _________________________
Forbid behaviours: _____________________________
e.g. Purity and cleanliness: “He indeed is successful
who purifies himself (in mind and body), and remembers
the name of his Lord, then prays.” (87:14-15)
e.g. Goodness and kindness to others: “Do good to
others, surely Allah loves those who do good to others.”
(2:195)
Behaviour and behaviourism (1)
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Skinner: Behaviours we call right or wrong are not due
to any real goodness or badness in a situation nor they
are due to innate knowledge of right or wrong; they
simply due to contingencies involving many kind of
positive and negative reinforces; rewards and
punishment.
Behaviourism is influenced by hedonism (love of
pleasant and joy), Darwinism (biological determinism;
survival of the fittest), and Hobbesian philosophy (man’s
behaviour = machine’s action).
Behaviour and behaviourism (2)
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Malik Badri: Trying to explain broad issue like psychospiritual religious phenomena using this restricted point
of view is like blind person telling the shape of elephant
by only feeling part of its body!
Abbas Hussein Ali: Metaphors in modern psychology:
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Men are all-knowing, all-just, all-powerful and loving (man
= God).
Men’s behaviour is involuntary, performed without
conscious awareness, predetermined, and fixed and
routine (man = machine).
Behaviourist only dealt with the outside part of human
being – human as if ‘humachine’ = ‘homo machine’.
Al-Ghazali and behaviour (1)
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Al-Ghazali has discussed the ‘soul’ part of man
expansively.
Behaviour can be changed by learning and training.
He defended his claim by generalising from animal to
human behaviour by saying: How can a person deny the
ability of training and learning in changing human
emotion and behaviour when even animal’s behaviour
can radically changed by such efforts?
However, al-Ghazali did not deny the inherited and
instinctual emotional behaviour such as sex and food,
and also anger and fear which are created by Allah in
man’s nature to facilitate his life on the earth.
Al-Ghazali and behaviour (2)
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Al-Ghazali accepted the individual differences in
education and training.
He also contributed in ‘behavioural therapeutic’ (bringing
balance between the mind and the body) as referred to
Abu Zaid al-Balkhi who showed the influence of
contemplation on health.
Al-Ghazali’s approach is similar to the ‘reciprocal
inhibition’ as introduced by Wolpe:
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Reducing food for obese greedy person.
Spending money for stinginess.
Humility for arrogance.
Why are you going to study?
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To get knowledge.
To get job.
To serve to the
family, nation, and
‘ummah’.
Responsible.
To worship to God.
To get blessing of
God (the ultimate
aim).
Psychology = ‘ilm an-nafs
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'Psyche' according to the Oxford dictionary means the spirit,
soul or mind; thus it corresponds with the Arabic word 'AlNafs' and its various senses.
In Islamic psychology, chapters on spirit, soul, and mind are
utmost important, Should lead to fulfill the purpose life of man
and the responsibility of man (as ‘abid and khalifah).
Ancient muslim scholars has studied human’s soul
extensively in the Islamic philosophy so that man can reach
the ultimate soul; the true servant of God and khalifah.
It also dealt with therapy towards a healthy soul and body.
Ibn Qayyim for example wrote on spirit and soul, besides that
he wrote on medicine such as Tibb an-Nabawi.
The aim of psychology
definitely must be
determined by the
Islamic law and
philosophy based on
the revealed
knowledge.
Ibn Qayyim: Treating sadness, grief,
and depression (1)
1 - Affirming Allaah's Oneness in His Lordship
2 - Affirming Allaah's Oneness in His Worship
3 - The belief in the creed of Tawheed
4 - Praising Allaah for not dealing with His slave with injustice and for not punishing him without a
reason
5 - The slave's affirming that it is he who has committed the injustice
6 - Pleading to Allaah by the most beloved methods to Him, by His Names, Attributes such as al-'Hay
(The Ever Living), Al Qayyum (Who Sustains everything and everyone)
7 - Depending and relying on Allaah Alone for everything
8 - The slave affirms that his hope is only in Allaah
9 - Acquiring true dependence on Allaah and relating all matters to Him, while admitting that the slave's
forelock is in His Hands Alone and that He does with it whatever He will. Also admitting that
Allaah's decision on the slave will certainly come to pass and that His judgement is certainly just.
Ibn Qayyim: Treating sadness, grief,
and depression (2)
10 - The slave's heart should enjoy the gardens of the Qur'an and should make the
Qur'an just like the spring of pure water to the animals. Also the slave should
use the light of the Qur'an to shatter the darkness of desires and lusts. The
Qur'an should be one's companion when no one else is present; the comfort that
relieves every type of calamity and the cure that discards every illness that
attacks the slave's heart. In short, the Qur'an should be the remover of sadness
and the end of depression and grief.
11 - Turning to istighfaar, seeking forgiveness from Allaah
12 - Repenting to Allaah
13 - Performing jihad in Allaah's Cause
14 - Performing prayer
15 - Relating all power and strength to He Who grasps them in His Hands."
Al-Kindi: Music theory and psychology
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“Al-Kindi was the first great theoretician of music in the ArabIslamic world. He proposed adding a fifth string to the 'ud and
discussed the cosmological connotations of music. He
surpassed the achievement of the Greek musicians in using
the alphabetical annotation for one eighth. As a psychologist,
Al-Kindi also realized the therapeutic value of music and tried
to cure a quadriplegic boy with music therapy. He published
fifteen treatises on music theory, but only five have survived.
In one of his treaties the word musiqia was used for the first
time in Arabic, which today means music in Arabic, Persian,
Turkish, English and several other languages in the Islamic
world.” (Wikipedia cited FSTC’s article in
www.muslimheritage.com)