Rothman, A. (2019). What Islam Offers to Modern Self-Help: An Islamic Paradigm of Psychology [blog post]. The Productive Muslim.
Abstract
Islam offers not only a theological framework within which we can position ourselves in relation to God, but it also offers a holistic map for how to navigate the human experience on a path of development of the self, or soul. While we may understand and believe that the Qur’an and Sunnah provide all of the guidance we need in life, many do not realize just how much is contained within this deen. With all of the influence of global trends toward secularism and the predominantly secular societies we live in, it can be easy to be persuaded by the assumption of a binary between religion and science. The institution of academia has fought hard to convince the world that the social sciences are in fact sciences rather than philosophical paradigms rooted in epistemology. In turn, the Muslim ummah has collectively bought into this story and forgotten its rich tradition of ‘ilm an-nafs (knowledge of the soul).