Phycology: A Contemplation Through Islam and Modernity

 

The foremost intent of studying psychology would be gaining proficiency in abnormal psychology or psychopathology, one of the sub-branches of the field is a scientific study on maladaptive or distress in behavior, mood, and thinking and on its causes and treatments.

The ancient physicians had sought acquisition of pathological mastery than theoretical consciousness on psychology. Innumerable books on the history of psychology assert the stance that before the medieval period, psychopathological comprehension had been more familiar than psychology itself, studies psychology then had been less apparent and more available than in abnormal psychology in turn.

In the Islam-occupied dynasties at its profound territories like Baghdad, Egypt, Cordoba, and Gondhishapur mental health establishments remained running active and prosperously advanced in psychiatric practice but nowadays facts on early theoretical aspects of psychology and proceedings of psychotherapy in the Islamic tradition are not unearthed completely like, in the later centuries, Europe is exposed to these kinds of developments.

But among dozens of the topics that historians had addressed, detailed reference to the disappearance of the data stood out. Therefore, further studies are needed to commission for disclosure of the deprived history. Besides that, there are a few but significant areas to be addressed ensuing that is the history of modern psychology which provides its circumstances and organizational attempts to render Islamic psychology which will determine its approval in the future.

 

Brief On Modern Psychology

 

Domains of psychology, would be educational Arena that urges more researches and innovation, commenced its conception from the philosophy, which, In Greek civilization, then was dealt with the quest to realizing the matter, soul, and Universal entity, in modern terms, is assigned to examine and explain features of behavioral characteristics and mental status. It has turned Independent and scientific after long series of studies relentlessly on that.

According to APA (American Psychological Association), the latest definition of psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and mental process, this also is subdivided into Clinical psychology, Sports psychology, forensic psychology, school psychology, and so on. That, the one previously in existence as a major part of philosophy from the conception stage in a stint of Aristotle and Plato, then called as moral philosophy, has become scientific and liberated from the half of 19th century. By 1900, psychology developed as to crack strident framework, on itself, being erected by the narrowed belief of philosophy, as it increasingly made the inclusion of Biological perspective within psychology. It brought about an enormous revolution embracing novel styles and manners in psychology.

In the first phase of the 20th century, incessant exposition of psychological experiments and measurement tools proliferated worldwide, mainly in Europe. This change occurred simply due to the development of these main factors: the development of study on psychophysics, the considerable influence of Darwinian psychology, and careful and systematic clinical attention for maladaptive and abnormal personalities.

Although Emanuel Kant, the German philosopher would count among the central enlightenment thinkers and most influential figure in modern Western philosophy, augured once that Human behavior can never be measured and quantitatively interpreted, psychologists like Francis Galton and William Wundt run to experiment to measure human behavior. in the meantime, remarkable Contribution of sciences like physics, Chemistry made the psychology more strengthened, helping comprehensively introduce the concept of forget fullness, intelligence, speed of responding, sensation and perception to the world.

Evolution theory by Charles Darwin Made the path to modern psychology along with biological perception easier. Despite its popularity in Biology, its clout expanded into psychology also. It is said that Francis Galton gathered data first, which helped to formulate the concepts of Individual difference; that is fundamental theoretical view or argument of evolutionists that the same species are not like, they differ from one to another.

Backing those days before 1900, Although Clinical establishment had worked smoothly throughout many dynasties and colonial periods, efficient and advanced clinical setup had begun to treat the maladjusted and people with abnormal behavior with increased inclusion of psychological tests and experiments. These profound developments in the sector of psychology made it free from the rigid outline of philosophy to an autonomous discipline.

Despite rapid movement in psychology, known for its rush in introducing new models of psychological teachings and experiments, there lies a great need for a new way to explore cultural dimensions to psychology to extensively expand across and make easier access to the field for outsiders of Europe.

That is indigenous psychology, which is more generally and properly known by the name of cultural psychology also, which is inevitably needed as the psychological theories and approaches in a cultural context do not meet the reality of the human psyche in others as universal for instance, almost theories running then come from Western cultural context do not explain that in Indian culture. In the 1980s, researches and studies in indigenous psychology began to be commissioned in India. Durganadha Sinha, is one of the great Indian psychologists of the modern period, can be counted among the incumbent list of Indian indigenous psychology.

Owing to the aftereffect of these developments, Indian psychology instantly shot to newfound academic fame by 2000, other than that, great deal plenty of debates were productively coming out, considering the history of modern psychology, it can be briefly reduced into the explanation and analysis above.

 

Islamic and Organisational Approach

 

Islamic psychology, which triggers intense debates and symposiums in the world’s educational portfolio, is an effort to read the science of psychology from an Islamic point of view. generally, academicians come to understand a comprehensive vision of Islamic psychology and disperse its dimensions academically through three leading ways. One, the effort to form a new educational stream of psychology with collecting raw data and particulars from the holy Quran, Sunnah, and Islamic traditions completely expelling factors of modern psychology as if in medicine the disparity is brought between homeopathy and Unani is deliberated methodically. Though it is no less intriguing, some complications are revolving around this idea, having the inability to bring forth efficiently a psychological therapy from Islamic tradition to the public sphere so far and to precisely define Islamic words such aql, nafs, ruh, khayal, and fahm which are close usages of psychology.

A structural change or establishment will definitely take time to attain global recognition, till then academicians and scholars ought to increasingly commission researches to help come to reality. But there is something to be heralded by some as a positive sign of well-organized Islamic psychology.
Quite a few organizations have prudently come up with goals of formulating a society to Islamic psychology. Among those organizations, the international association of Islamic psychology (IAIP), the UK-based is found by Malik Badri, the Sudan researcher who has won the greatest respect from various corners world for his remarkable contribution to the field, Whose books are still considered profound in Islamic psychology.

IAIP projects that spiritual perspective is accepted in addition to modern psychology’s mainly trio perspectives of biological, socio-cultural, and psychological. The spiritual factor remains to be ignorant as long as it is defined and outlined with perfect criteria, for dozens of perspectives and techniques in which the almost remains de facto and none in practice in the pristine Islamic tradition are more likely to be brought under the title of Spirituality. Moreover, it is quite difficult to determine its validity and reliability thus, its ever-frequent reference to spirituality would Jeopardize the concept of Islamic psychology instead of emerging as an independent science.

Another academic platform for rendering Islam with a much greater focus on psychological manner would be at the label of Transpersonal Psychology, so-called spiritual psychology. though a lot of researches and studies, on this topic, which try to reveal metaphysical aspects of human behavior and its process so that they were relatively less-valued in the mainstream, and it doesn’t accommodate Islam alone within its circle anymore. As well, the Multilevel interdisciplinary paradigm (MIP), is an Aitherose research association-led research initiative to unify the different aspects of religiosity and along with theoretical aspects of particular subjects including psychology, medicine, sociology, and so on, provides a spacious platform for Islamic psychology. Nevertheless, it is seemed undifferentiated from other methods described above, it shows some basic and subtle dissimilarities to others. It doesn’t put discussions merely on Islam and psychology but medicine, sociology, neurology so on. It is not considered as a branch under both psychology and Islam, whereas it makes effort to thrust spirituality and religiosity along with the synthesis of faith expression to the limelight.

Be that as it may, the outcome of the researches and studies carried out so far could barely be sufficient to establish Islamic psychology in its holistic manner. To make it possible, it is necessary to extensively collate the historical past of Islamic tradition, and therapeutic practices that practically were in force in the remote periods of Abbasid, Omayyad, and ottoman history. The organizations running for Islamic psychology should shift their focus on or academic direction into these ways. Adding to that, mentions in Quran, Hadith, and its interpreting books on the words denoting psychological concepts and terminology should be unveiled thoroughly. In doing so, the fulcrum of Islamic psychology is more likely to be established in no long term.

Shafiq Ahamed, an independent research scholar in the field of clinical psychology, is currently doing post-graduation in Islamic jurisprudence of imam shafi'e and asha'ri theology. His major works focus on interdisciplinary studies in Islamic tradition and modern psychological perspectives.

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