THIS IS A TEST SITE
Mental health concerns in the context of faith:
A Muslim Perspective
Meet Aliya:
Aliya grew up in Surrey, BC, the eldest of two children of a committed Muslim family. They regularly attended their Muslim community centre for prayer and were also part of other religious and social activities. In her last year of high school, she met some dangerous people at school who introduced her to Crystal Methaphetamine (Crystal Meth). Aliya’s grades began to drop. There were times that she was not able to complete tasks, was withdrawn and sleeping all day, while at other times, when high, felt like she could achieve anything, no matter how unrealistic. She had deep feelings of shame and self-loathing. Aliya tried several times to quit but the withdrawal symptoms were too harsh.
Participating in her community was an integral part of Aliya’s identity, but she found it difficult to wrestle with her own feelings of shame and meaninglessness. She was struggling so much and noticing how her Muslim friends were no longer comfortable around her. All her life she believed if you trust in Allah, everything would work itself out.
حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَ نِعْمَ الْوَكيل
Allah is sufficient for us and most excellent is the Protector (Qur’an, 3:173)
Aliya knew that the Qur’an repeatedly says that we should trust and rely on God and we have to seek His help alone. In another place the Qur’an beautifully explains that Allah promises that if we become a righteous person and follow the way of God, He will show us the exit point in our difficulties and give us sustenance in ways which we never thought and noticed. God is Sufficient for the needs of whoever trusts in Him:
وَ مَن يَتَّقِ اللَّهَ يجَعَل لَّهُ مخَرَجًا. وَ يَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يحَتَسِبُ وَ مَن يَتَوَكلَْ عَلىَ اللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُ
God will make a way out of difficulty for one who has fear of Him and will provide him with sustenance in a way that he will not even notice. God is Sufficient for the needs of whoever trusts in Him (Qur’an, 65:2, 3)
These verses of Qur’an gave her hope. At one point, in her desperation with the addiction, she talked to a Muslim friend about her problem to seek their help and guidance. She was told she needed to “pray more” to get over it. In the beginning it was very confusing for her to believe how prayer can help her suffering but when she visited the relevant Qur’anic verse, it was amazing and striking experience for her to see the verse in which Allah says:
وَ اسْتَعينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَ الصَّلاةِ
And seek assistance (in your difficulties) through patience and prayer (Qur’an, 2:45)
This verse led Aliya to pay more attention to the deeper aspects of these two pillars of help. It came to her mind that these are two spiritual weapons; one is internal (patience) and the second is external (prayer) and both are required to overcome any suffering and affliction.
Despite the fact that the Quranic principles were helpful for her but her external environment was not helping her because she felt judged and dismissed by her faith community. She began to believe the reason for her addiction was that she was not being a good Muslim and that her faith was not strong enough to get her through it. The struggle continued, every time she turned to the Quran, she ended up reading more, and she would get glimpses of hope and meaning in all of this. Eventually she started understanding the fact that righteousness and spirituality play a significant role to prevent us from wrong doings and evil deeds (Qur’an, 29:45). At the same time another verse taught her that surely Allah can not change her condition until she changes her own condition:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يُغَيِّرُ ما بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُوا ما بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ
God does not change the condition of a nation unless it changes what is in its heart (Qur’an, 13:11)
This verse helped her to believe that she has to make her own efforts to overcome her suffering. If she does not get motivated internally and spiritually then no one can help her. This readiness and preparation should come up inwardly. With the help of Divine guidance she started to gain confidence on her determination and commitment to overcome her suffering without giving any importance to other people’s behaviour. She hopes that once she reaches the level of self-esteem and inner confidence which enables her to face her challenges and her suffering, then people and especially members of her community will be compelled to treat her respectfully and with dignity.
She realizes that her self-motivation and determination is important to change her life. But how can we, as her community be helpful? How can we step into our responsibility of brotherhood towards a believer who is suffering so much? The Qur’an beautifully says, The believers are but brothers, so make reconciliation between your brothers and fear Allah that you may receive mercy (Qur’an, 49:10)
