Muslim philosophers in psychology

Muslim philosophers in the history of psychology

1. Muslim philosophers:
Islamic psychology refers to the study of psychology, psychiatry and the
neurosciences in the Islamic world, particularly during the Islamic Golden Age
(8th–15th centuries) and to a lesser extent in modern times (20th–21st
centuries). The psychological and psychiatric study of mental health and human
behavior was considered a distinct field of Islamic science or Islamic medicine,
and was variously known as "diseases of the mind" (which encompassed
neurology and psychiatry),al-‘ilaj al-nafs ("psychotherapy"),al-tibb al-ruhani
("spiritual and psychological health") and tibb al-qalb ("mental
medicine").Some of the most important advances in medieval Islamic
psychology include the establishment of the first psychiatric hospitals, the
development of a humanist approach to mental illness, and the development of a
clinical and experimental approach to psychology, among a number of other
advances.
"Muslim physicians did not specialize in a single subject, but conducted studies
in a wide range of fields, including pharmacology, surgery, ophthalmology,
gynecology, physiology, bacteriology and hygiene. One of the most noted
Andalusia physicians was Ibn Juljul (?-992), who conducted extensive studies
on medical herbs, and produced works on the history of medicine and medical
herbs. Another distinguished physician of the time was Abu Ja'far Ibn al-Jazzar
(?-1009) from Tunisia, who mastered the science of drug therapy for the
treatment of specific symptoms and diseases, and authored more than 30 books.
Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi (1162-1231) is known for his studies in anatomye.t.c.
Islamic psychology is based on 'Ilm un-Nafs.”
“And indeed We have created man, and We know, what his nafs (soul/self)
whispers to him; and We are nearer to him [by knowledge] than [his]
jugular vein.” [Qur’an 50:16]

2. Islamic psychology reflects the values of Islam and has some important
difference to psychology as developed in the western world. We will discuss
contributions of some of the Muslim philosophers.
1. Abu Rayyan al Biruni

 Born in Khwarizm on 4
th
September 973 and died in Ghazni on 13
th

December 1048.
 Persian Muslim scholar polymath and a psychologist.
 He is regarded as one of greatest scholar of medieval Islamic era .
 He was also earliest leading exponents of “experimental scientific
method”
 George Sarton, the father of the history of science, described Biruni as:
"One of the very greatest scientists of Islam, and, all considered, one of the
greatest of all the times”
 Unlike his contemporary Avicenna's scientific method where
"general and universal questions came first and led to
experimental work", Biruni developed scientific methods where
"universals came out of practical, experimental work" and "theories
are formulated after discoveries.”
 In his debate with Avicenna, Biruni made the first real distinction
between a scientist and a philosopher, referring to Avicenna as a
philosopher and considering himself to be a mathematical scientist
latest of all times”

3.  In Islamic psychology, al-Biruni was a pioneer of experimental
psychology, for his use of empirical observation and
experimentation in his discovery of the concept of reaction time.
 He said that:
“Not only is every sensation attended by a corresponding change
localized in the sense-organ, which demands a certain time, but also,
between the stimulation of the organ and consciousness of the perception
an interval of time must elapse, corresponding to the transmission of
stimulus for some distance along the nerves."

2. Ali ibn Sahl Rabban Al Tabari

 830 CE – 870 CE.
 He was a Muslim Hakeem, Scholar, physician and a psychologist.
 He gave one of the first encyclopedias of Medicine.
 He was a pioneer of pediatrics and child development.
 He emphasized the strong ties between psychology and medicine.
 He was in favor of psychotherapy and counseling.
 He wrote that patients frequently feel sick due to delusion or
imagination and these illnesses are treated through wise counseling
by smart and witty psychologist.
 His books include FIRDOUS-UL-HIKMA and KITAB-UL-RUQA.
 Firdous al-Hikmah written in the 9th century was the first work to
study psychotherapy in the treatment of patients

4.  He also clearly highlighted mental illness as a specialty of its own,
and in the chapter on mental illness, he first described thirteen types
of mental disorders, including madness, delirium, and Fasad Al-
Khayal Wal-Aqo ("damage to the imagination, intelligence and
thought")
 His ideas were primarily influenced by early Islamic thought and
ancient Indian physicians such as Sushruta and Charaka.

3. Abu-al-Walid-Muhammad-Ibn – Rushd

 1146-1198
 Known as AVERROES in west (word derived from Latin).
 His view was that the study of Psyche is a part of physics.
 He discussed his most of point of views in his book “Talkbis
kitab-al-Nafs” where he divided soul into five faculties:
Nutritive, Sensitive, Imaginative, Rational and Appetitive.
 He said that faculty of plants and animals are only Nutritive
and Vegetative one. And higher faculties are dependent upon
Nutritive faculty.
 Ibn Rushd's thought on the intellect, notably in his Middle
Commentary on De Anima where he combines the positions of
Alexander and Themistius for his doctrine on the material
intellect and in his Long Commentary.

5.  He said, the human soul is a separate substance ontologically
identical with the active intellect; and when this active intellect
is embodied in an individual human it is the material intellect.
 Ibn Rushd’s theory of the material intellect was something
foreign to Aristotle.
 Ibn Rushd speaks of the soul as “a faculty that comes to
resemble the focus of its intention, and when its attention
focuses more upon eternal and universal knowledge, it become
more like the eternal and universal. As such, when the soul
perfects itself, it becomes like our intellect."
 This opposed the explanations of human soul and intellect
found among the Neo-Platonists, allowing a further argument
for rejecting of Neo-Platonist discharge theories.

4. Al Tirmidhi

 750 CE-869CE.
 He classified knowledge as of two kinds ILM-E-WAHBI (which is
given) and ILM-E-IKTISABI (which is acquired).
 The former is inspired by the God and the latter is acquired through
ordinary means.
 He also used the words of ILM-BATIN and ILM-ZAHIR.
 Al tirmidhi’s psychological system, as given in Bayan al-farq is
primarily concerned with description of heart (qalb) and self (nafs).

6.  Al tirmidhi divides Heart into four parts: breast (sadr), the heart
proper (qalb), the inner heart (fu’sd) and the intellect (lubb).
 He was in view that starting from breast, the outer most part is
followed by inside proper heart and then inner heart and at last the
intellect.
 Wisdom is the lost property of the believer; he takes it from wherever
he finds". Prophet Muhammad. (Narrated by at-Tirmidhi).

5. Muhammad bin Yakub ibn Miskawayh

 941-1030
 He was a contemporary of Ibn-e-sina and Al-biruni.
 He used the Platonic concepts of nature of soul that it
apprehends the great variety of immaterial and abstract entities.
 He said that soul is not an accident. It is immortal and
independent substance that controls the body.
 Ibn-Miskawayh considered religious rituals in their functional
aspects only; to help in adapting religious life.
 He said that our happiness arises through upwards movements,
our misfortune through movement in opposite directions.
 He also distinguished between human justice and divine
justice.

7.  Human justice is variable and divine justice is what to be done
everywhere and at every time.
 Ibn Miskawayh wrote the books Tahdhib al-Akhlaq
(Cultivation of Morals) and Al-Fauz al-Asgar (The Lesser
Victory), in which he gives psychological advice on certain
issues, such as the fear of death, the need to develop traits to
restrain oneself from faults, and the concept of morality.
 He also introduced the concepts of "self-reinforcement" and
response cost, where he advises Muslims who feel guilt to
learn to punish them physically or psychologically through
charity, fasting, etc.

6. Ibn Khaldun
 1332–1406
 Considered a father of sociology and the social sciences.
 He was another Muslim scholar who significant contributions
to the area of social psychology.
 His book Muqaddimah (known as Prolegomena in the West)
was a classic on the social psychology of the peoples of the
Arabian Peninsula, particularly the Bedouins.

7. Muhammad ibn Zakariya Al- Razi

8.  854CE-925CE
 He was a Persian polymath, philosopher and important figure
in the history of medicine.
 He was the pioneer of experimental medicine.
 He was among the first to use Hu moralism to distinguish one
contagious disease from another.
 In the early 10th century, Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi
reported a psychotherapeutic case study from a contemporary
Muslim physician who treated a woman suffering from severe
cramps in her joints which made her unable to rise. The
physician cured who by lifting her skirt, putting her to shame.
 He wrote: "A flush of heat was produced within her who
dissolved the rheumatic humor.
 He believed that mental illnesses were caused by the demons.
Demons were believed to entered to the body and possess the
body.
 He promoted psycho-therapy just like his mentor At-tabari.
 He believed that unexpected high emotional outburst has a
quick healing effect on psychological, psychosomatic and
organic disorders.
 He was master of Prognosis and Psychosomatic medicine.
 He wrote a treatise on how to measure intelligence.
 His book hawi fit-tibb is the largest work ever done in Islamic
medicine.
 Al-Razi include MUJARABBAT, a book of hospital
experiences, tibb-al-mansuri- a book on medicinal healing art
and al tibb-al-ruhaniwhere he discussed ways to treat moral
and psychological ills of human spirit.
 He also wrote that sound medical practice depends on
independent thinking and treated soul as substance and brain
as instrument.

9.  On professional level Al-Razi introduced many useful,
progressive, medical and psychological ideas.
 While he paid attention to cure body ills, he also worked on
weaknesses of soul.
 His concerns for and penetration into human nature, its
complexities and directions leading to it confirms his
appreciations for importance of psychotherapy and psychology
as two important parts of healing arts.
 He also wrote that religious pressures can be overcome by
reason for better mental health.

8. Al Ash’ath bin Qais Al Kindi

 801-873
 Al Kindi (Latin Alchendius) from Baghdad is considered as first Muslim
philosopher.
 He wrote more than 239 books and short treatises.
 Some of his treatises were related to psychology like “sleep and dream”,
“first philosophy” and “eradication of sorrow”.
 He was the first one to use Experimental methods in psychology.
 He used cognitive strategies to combat depression and discussed
functions of soul and intellectual operations in human beings.
 He reminded that souls through the act of will develop a good structure.
 Kindi write in “Epistle on the soul” that it is basically synopsis of larger
work of both Aristotle and Plato.
 He also, distinguished between upper and lower worlds.

10.  Upper world: uncreated beings like intellect, nature and the soul.
 Lower world: created beings like body, creation, matter and form that
are finite.
 He argued that GOD cannot be understood by intellect that actually led to
negative theology.
 Islamic theology greatly influenced Al-Kindi’s ideas.
 He believed that soul might only find contentment when it no longer lusts
for world and seeks intellectual treasure.
 He was idealistic who believed that human senses are sometimes
deceptive and what we gain through our senses can be easily lost.
 He defined soul through free will.
 Al-Kindi was the first to realize the therapeutic value of music.
 He was the first to experiment with music therapy, and he attempted to
cure a quadriplegic boy using this method.
 He discussed the intellectual operations of human beings.
 He also stated that "sorrow is not within us we bring it upon
ourselves.”
 He also added: "If causes of pain are discernable, the cures can be
found."
 He described sorrow as "a spiritual (Nafsani) grief caused by loss of
loved ones or personal belongings, or by failure in obtaining what one
lusts after"

9. Abu Ali Al Husayn Ibn Sina:


 Known as Avicenna in west.
 980-1037
 He integrated Aristotelian and platonic philosophy with Islamic theology
and further divided the knowledge into theoretical (meta-physics) and
practical (ethics and politics).

11.  He was interested in soul. He adopted Aristotle’s idea of three types of
soul namely Vegetative, Animal and Rational souls.
 He also believed that human and animals share five senses that bound to
earth.
 He developed basic fear, shock and musical therapies to cure mental
illnesses caused by demons.
 He also learnt importance of connection between body and mind and
suggested that humans have ability to overcome physical illnesses
through convincing one that can get better.
 He was pioneer of neuropsychology.
 He also earned a term “ psychosomatic illness”
 He established a basis of mental disorders and his excessive work on
memory disorders, hallucination, paralysis, stroke, vertigo etc.
 He also discovered a relationship between pulse rate and emotions.
 He also devised a method known as Love sickness.
 Avicenna often used psychological methods to treat his patients. One
such example is when a prince of Persia had melancholia and suffered
from the delusion that he is a cow, and who would low like a cow crying
"Kill me so that a good stew may be made of my flesh" and would never
eat anything.
Avicenna was persuaded to the case and sent a message to the patient,
asking him to be happy as the butcher was coming to slaughter him, and
the sick man rejoiced. When Avicenna approached the prince with a knife
in his hand, he asked "where is the cow so I may kill it." The patient then
lowed like a cow to indicate where he was. "By order of the butcher, the
patient was also laid on the ground for slaughter." When Avicenna
approached the patient pretending to slaughter him, he said, "the cow is
too lean and not ready to be killed. He must be fed properly and I will kill
it when it becomes healthy and fat." The patient was then offered food
which he ate eagerly and gradually "gained strength, got rid of his
delusion, and was completely cured.
 Avicenna was the first to recognize "physiological psychology" in the
treatment of "illnesses involving emotions" and develop "a system for
associating changes in the pulse rate with inner feelings" which is seen as
an anticipation of "the word association test of Jung.
 Avicenna identified love sickness (Ishq) when he was treating a very ill
patient by "feeling the patient's pulse and reciting aloud to him the names
of provinces, districts, towns, streets, and people." He noticed how the
patient's pulse increased when certain names were mentioned, from
which Avicenna deduced that the patient was in love with a girl whose
home Avicenna was "able to locate by the digital examination." Avicenna

12. advised the patient to marry the girl he is in love with, and the patient
soon recovered from his illness after his marriage.
 He described melancholia (depression) as a type of mood disorder in
which the person may become doubtful and develop certain types of
phobias. He stated that anger indicated the transition of melancholia to
mania, and explained that moisture inside the head can contribute to
mood disorders. He recognized that this occurs when the amount of
breath changes: happiness increases the breath etc.
 He dedicated three chapters of The Canon of Medicine (1020s) to
neuropsychiatry, in which he defined madness (Junun) as a mental
condition in which reality is replaced by fantasy, and discovered that it is
a disorder of reason with its origin in the middle part of the brain.
 Avicenna also discovered a condition resembling schizophrenia which he
described as JununMufrit (severe madness), which he clearly
distinguished from other forms of madness such as mania, rabies, and
manic depressive psychosis.
 Avicenna's contributions in neurology and neuropathology include his
diagnosis of facial nerve paralysis, his distinction between brain paralysis
and hyperaemia, and most importantly his discovery of meningitis.
 In The Canon of Medicine, Avicenna extended the theory of
temperaments to encompass "emotional aspects, mental capacity, moral
attitudes, self-awareness, movements and dreams." Avicenna's work is
considered by some to be a "forerunner of twentieth century
psychoanalysis”.

10. Ashraf Ali Thanvi:

 1863-1943
 He gave reading therapy which contained psychological factors, based on
free association techniques.
 Basic and most important thing of his therapies was “Believe in ALLAH”

13.  He reformed and trained masses.
 His famous books include BehistiZaiver, bayanul Quran
andTarbiyyat-ul-Shalik.
 He gave causes and classification of diseases.
 He argued that when person deviated from right path, he becomes
vulnerable to mental illnesses.
 He said that early age of children is also important in which mother plays
a great role in his training.
 He also gave personality theory.
 He was in view that everyone is innocent by nature; it’s the environment
that has its influence.
 According to him personality is of three types.
 NAFS-AMMARAH: That easily turns to evil.
 NAFS-LAWWAMAH: that directs towards right or wrong and curses
after sin..
 NAFS-MUTMAINNAH: That follows divine path.
 He divided diseases as functional and organic.
 Organic can be cured by medicines but functional are to be cured by
individual or group therapies.
 Thanvi retired from teaching and devoted himself to reestablish spiritual
Centre (khanqah) of his sheikh in Than Bhawan.
 He devised a method of individual and group therapy.
 According to him there are two kinds of therapy
 Reading Therapy: it’s an individual therapy in which patient must be
conscious about his trouble. Thanvi used to guide his clients to write
down their problems and then read them aloud or exchange of letters was
also there.
 Communication therapy: it’s usually group therapy. He used to call
clients to his Khanqah known as IMDADIA. Where people always gather
to listen his sermon. Then they were asked to reproduce what they
remember, again and again.

14. 11. Abu Nasr Mohammad Ibn Al-Farakh (Al-
Farabi)

 (870–950)
 Al Farabi, also known as Alpharabius, Avenasser, or Abynazar was
Turkish.
 In psychology, al-Farabi's Social Psychology and Model City were the
first treatises to deal with social psychology.
 He stated that "an isolated individual could not achieve all the perfections
by himself, without the aid of other individuals."
 He wrote that it is the "innate disposition of every man to join another
human being or other men in the labor he ought to perform."
 He concluded that in order to "achieve what he can of that perfection;
every man needs to stay in the neighborhood of others and associate with
them.
 His work on the Cause of Dreams, was a treatise on dreams, in which he
was the first to distinguish between dream interpretation and the nature
and causes of dreams.
 Al-Farabi wrote more than 80 books on different topics.
 According to him man is composed of two principles: Body and soul.
 His theory of human nature is dualistic. Body and soul have no essential
connections with each other.
 Al Farabi also wrote a treatise on the Meanings of the Intellect and the
therapeutic effects of music on the soul.
 Like other Muslim philosophers of his time, al-Farabi wrote
commentaries on the Greeks, independent treatises, and refutations on the
works of both philosophers and theologians.
 Many of his treatises on meta-physics are considered the crown of his
intellectual works, e.g., Treatise on the Aims of Aristotle’s Metaphysics,

15. Bezels of Wisdom, The Book on the One and the Unity, Explanatory
remarks on Wisdom, etc.

12. Abu Zaid Al-Balkhi

 (850-934)
 A Persian Muslim physician, mathematician, geographer and scientist
 who was the first to define the medical psychology
 first to distinguish between neuroses and psychoses.
 categorized neurotic disorders
 demonstrated in detail the importance of using rational and spiritual
therapies to cure specific disorders
 categorized neuroses into four emotional disorders: anxiety, fear,
aggression and anger, depression and sadness, and obsessions
 believed that there was an interaction between physical and psychological
disorders
 demonstrated in his writings that these interactions result in
psychosomatic disorders
 suggested, the best way to maintain good health is to have balance
between the mind and body.
 developed the idea of treatment of the body and reciprocal approaches
with respect to the imbalance.
 categorized depression into sadness—normal depression—reactive
depression and endogenous depression

16. 13. Al Zahravi

 936-1013 C.E
 Abul Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas al-Zahrawi
 known in the west as Abulcasis
 born in Zahra in the neighborhood of Cordova.
 became one of the most renowned surgeons of the Muslim era and was
physician to King Al-Hakam-II of Spain.
 best known for his early and original breakthroughs in surgery as well as
for his famous Medical Ecyclopaedia called Al-Tasrif, which is
composed of thirty volumes covering different aspects of medical
science.
 The more important part of this series comprises three books on surgery,
which describe in detail various aspects of surgical treatment as based on
the operations performed by him, including cauterization, removal of
stone from the bladder, dissection of animals, midwifery, stypics, and
surgery of eye, ear and throat.
 He perfected several delicate operations, including removal of the dead
foetus and amputation.
 Al-Tasrif contains numerous diagrams and illustrations of surgical
instruments, in use or developed by him, and comprised a part of the
medical curriculum in European countries for many centuries.
 Al-Zahrawi was the inventor of several surgical instruments, of which
three are notable: (i) an instrument for internal examina- tion of the ear,
(ii) an instrument for internal inspection of the urethra, and (iii) and
instrument for applying or removing foreign bodies from the throat.
 He specialized in curing disease by cauterization and applied the
technique to as many as 50 different operations.

17.  In his book Al-Tasrif, Al-Zahrawi has also discussed the preparation of
various medicines, in addition to a comprehensive account of surgical
treatment in specialized branches, whose modern counterparts are E.N.T.,
Ophthalmology, etc.
 In connection with the preparation of medicines, he has also described in
detail the application of such techniques as sublimation and decantation.
 Al-Zahrawi was also an expert in dentistry, and his book contains
sketches of various instruments used thereof, in addition to a description
of various important dental operations.
 He discussed the problem of non-aligned or deformed teeth and how to
rectify these defects.
 He developed the technique of preparing artificial teeth and of
replacement of defective teeth by these.
 In medicine, he was the first to describe in detail the unusual disease,
haemophelia.
 According to Dr. Cambell (History of Arab Medicine), his principles of
medical science surpassed those of Galen in the European medical
curriculum.

14. Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali

 1058–1111
 A Persian Muslim theologian and philosopher whose ideas significantly
shaped the Muslim world and the Western medieval world.
 Al-Ghazali discussed the concept of the self and the causes of its misery
and happiness.
 He described the self using four terms: Qalb (heart), Ruh (spirit), Nafs
(soul) and 'Aql (intellect).
 He stated that "the self has an inherent yearning for an ideal, which it
strives to realize and it is endowed with qualities to help realize it."

18.  He stated that the self has motor and sensory motives for fulfilling its
bodily needs.
 He wrote that the motor motives comprise of propensities and impulses,
and further divided the propensities into two types: appetite and anger.
 He wrote that appetite urges hunger, thirst, and sexual craving, while
anger takes the form of rage, indignation and revenge.
 He further wrote that impulse resides in the muscles, nerves, and tissues,
and moves the organs to "fulfill the propensities."
 Al-Ghazali was one of the first to divide the sensory motives
(apprehension) into five external senses (the classical senses of hearing,
sight, smell, taste and touch) and five internal senses:
a. common sense (Hiss Mushtarik) which synthesizes sensuous
impressions carried to the brain while giving meaning to them;
b. imagination (Takhayyul) which enables someone to retain mental
images from experience;
c. reflection (Tafakkur) which brings together relevant thoughts and
associates or dissociates them as it considers fit but has no power
to create anything new which is not already present in the mind;
d. recollection (Tadhakkur) which remembers the outer form of
objects in memory and recollects the meaning;
e. memory (Hafiza) where impressions received through the senses
are stored.

He wrote that, while the external senses occur through specific organs,
the internal senses are located in different regions of the brain,
 He discovered that the memory is located in the hinder lobe, imagination
is located in the frontal lobe, and reflection is located in the middle folds
of the brain.
 He stated that these inner senses allow people to predict future situations
based on what they learn from past experiences.
 He writes that "the self carries two additional qualities, which
distinguishes man from animals enabling man to attain spiritual
perfection", which are 'Aql (intellect) and Irada (will).
 He argues that the intellect is "the fundamental rational faculty, which
enables man to generalize and form concepts and gain knowledge."
 He also argues that human will and animal will are both different.
 He writes that human will is "conditioned by the intellect" while animal
will is "conditioned by anger and appetite" and that "all these powers
control and regulate the body."

19.  He further writes that the Qalb (heart) "controls and rules over them" and
that it has six powers: appetite, anger, impulse, apprehension, intellect,
and will.
 He states that humans have all six of these traits, while animals only have
three (appetite, anger, and impulse).
 Al-Ghazali writes that knowledge can either be innate or acquired.
 He divides acquired knowledge into phenomenal (material world) and
spiritual (related to God and soul),
 he divides acquired knowledge into imitation, logical reasoning,
contemplation and intuition.
 He also argues that there are four elements in human nature: the sage
(intellect and reason), the pig (lust and gluttony), the dog (anger), and the
devil (brutality).
 He argues that the latter three elements are in conflict with the former
element and that "different people have such powers in different
proportions."
 Al-Ghazali divides the Nafs into three categories based on the Qur’an:
a. Nafs Ammarah (12:53) which "exhorts one to freely indulge in
gratifying passions and instigates to do evil",
b. Nafs Lawammah (75:2) which is "the conscience that directs man
towards right or wrong", and
c. Nafs Mutmainnah (89:27) which is "a self that reaches the ultimate
peace."
 As an analogy between psychology and politics, he compares the soul to
that of a king running a kingdom, arguing that the bodily organs are like
the artisans and workers, intellect is like a wise vizier, desire is like a
wicked servant, and anger is like the police force.
 He argues that a king can correctly run the state of affairs by turning to
the wise vizier, turns away from the wicked servant, and regulating the
workers and the police;
 in the same way, the soul is balanced if it "keeps anger under control and
makes the intellect dominate desire."
 He argues that for a soul to reach perfection, it needs to evolve through
several stages:
a. sensuous (like a moth which has no memory),
b. imaginative (lower animal),
c. instinctive (higher animal),
d. rational ("transcends animal stage and apprehends objects beyond
the scope of his senses")

20. e. divine ("apprehends reality of spiritual things").

He stated that there are two types of diseases: physical and spiritual.
 He considered the latter to be more dangerous, resulting from "ignorance
and deviation from God",
 he listed the spiritual diseases as: self-centeredness; addiction to wealth,
fame and social status; and ignorance, cowardice, cruelty, lust, waswas
(doubt), malevolence, calumny, envy, deception, and greed.
 To overcome these spiritual weaknesses, al-Ghazali suggested the therapy
of opposites ("use of imagination in pursuing the opposite"), such as
ignorance & learning, or hate & love.
 He described the personality as an "integration of spiritual and bodily
forces" and believed that "closeness to God is equivalent to normality
whereas distance from God leads to abnormality."
 Al-Ghazali argued that human beings occupy a position "midway
between animals and angels and his distinguishing quality is knowledge."
 He argues that a human can either rise to "the level of the angels with the
help of knowledge" or fall to "the levels of animals by letting his anger
and lust dominate him."
 He also argued that Ilm al-Batin (esotericism) is fard (incumbent) and
advised Tazkiya Nafs (self-purification).
 He also noted that "good conduct can only develop from within and does
not need total destruction of natural propensities".

15. Ibn Bajjah

 (1095–1138)
 Ibn Bajjah or Avempace was from Spain.
 He was a physician, philosopher and scientist.
 His psychological theories were based on physics

21.  Ibn Bajjah’s writings focused on active intelligence and believed it was
the most important ability humans possessed
 He was also interested in sensations and imaginations
 he believed that knowledge cannot be obtained by both senses and active
intelligence, which is the governing intelligence of nature
 He believed that matter, form and intelligence are important components
that make-up the “soul.”
 He believed sound knowledge could only be acquired through
intelligence, which permits humans to acquire success and construct
characters
 His writings also emphasized on the connection of the rational soul and
the individuals identity with the virtue of its contact with the active
intelligence become one of those lights that gives glory to God
 Moreover, Ibn Bajjah believed that with spiritual knowledge, Active
intelligence and Divine intervention humans could acquire freedom
 He begins his discussion of the soul with the definition that bodies are
composed of matter and form and intelligenceis the most important part
of man—sound knowledge is obtained through intelligence, which alone
enables one to attain prosperity and build character.
 He writes on the unity of the rational soul as the principle of the
individual identity, yet, by virtue of its contact with the Active
Intelligence ‘‘becomes one of those lights that gives glory to God.’’
 His definition of freedom is that when one can think and act rationally
and the aim of life should be to seek spiritual knowledge and make
contact with Active Intelligence and thus with the Divine.

16. Abu Bakar Ibn Tufail

22.  (1110-1185)
 Ibn Tufail was a known in the West as Abubacer,
 a Spanish physician and scholar whose work emphasized the concept
of human’s spiritual and philosophical abilities and treatment of the
soul
 He wrote Pococke later translated Ibn Tufail’s famous book “The
Living, Son of the Awake” into Latin “Philosophicus Autodidactus”
(Ockely, 1989).
 Ibn Tufail’s book inspired many Western philosophers and writers
such as Daniel Defoe, who later wrote Robinson Crusoe.
 Ibn Tufail emphasized on the mind and believed in Active intellect
that is guided by divine intervention.
 He suggested that culture; language and religion are unnecessary and
could hinder the development of the mind



17. Muhyid-Din Muhammad Ibn Ali (Ibn
Arabi)

 (1164–1240)
 Ibn Ali influenced the field of psychology with his writings on the soul,
perception, imagination, dreams and the nature of desire
 He believed the human heart is connected with the body and mind
however it is also an independent mechanism that reveals esoteric
knowledge.

23.  He described the heart as a rational symbol and has the ability to perceive
reality.
 He was influenced by Aristotelian ideas and believed the human soul has
three aspects—rational soul, animal soul and vegetative soul.

REFERENCES
http://psychologyoftheeast.umwblogs.org/timeline/
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/arabic-islamic-mind/
http://islamandpsychology.blogspot.com/2009/02/muslims-in-psychology.html
http://www.academia.edu/848056/Psychology_from_Islamic_perspective_Contr
ibutions_of_early_Muslim_scholars_and_challenges_to_contemporary_Muslim
_psychologists
https://explorable.com/islamic-psychology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_al-Qasim_al-Zahrawi
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