Islamic psychology, explained.
A growing, evidence-based encyclopedia of the concepts at the heart of the Islamic understanding of the mind and soul, each set beside modern psychology and neuroscience.
Islamic psychology is the study of the human mind, soul and behaviour through the framework of the Islamic tradition, the stages of the nafs, the life of the qalb, and the long work of tazkiyah, read in dialogue with modern psychology and neuroscience. It is not a rejection of science, nor a replacement for it, but an integration: two ways of describing the same human being, brought into one conversation.
This encyclopedia is a living reference. Each entry defines a concept, traces its meaning in the Qur’an and classical scholarship, sets it beside the relevant modern science, and asks what it means for how we actually live and heal. Begin anywhere.
What is the nafs?
The striving self at the heart of it all.
The seven selves
The stages of the nafs, mapped.
Tazkiyah
The purification of the self.
The fitrah
Our innate, original disposition.
The qalb
The heart, seat of feeling and knowing.
The ruh
The spirit, the divine breath within.
The aql
The intellect, and its bond with the heart.
Taqwa
God-consciousness, not fear.
Muraqaba
Self-watchfulness, the inner observer.
Ihsan
Excellence and full presence.
Dhikr
Remembrance, and rest for the heart.
Ghaflah
Heedlessness and the autopilot mind.
Tawakkul
Trust, control, and the anxious mind.
Rida
Contentment with the decree.
Qadar
The decree and the psychology of acceptance.
Tawba
Repentance, return and self-forgiveness.
Sabr and shukr
Patience and gratitude, paired.
Ikhlas
Sincerity of intention, and freedom from approval.
Khushu
Presence and focus in prayer.
Sakinah
The tranquillity that descends on the heart.
Hawa
The pull of desire, and self-regulation.
The sound heart
Qalb saleem, the goal of it all.
Islam and anxiety
Faith, worry, and the anxious mind.
Islam and depression
Why depression is not weak faith.