Introduction

The so-called "Golden Age" of Islam, spanning approximately from the 8th to 14th centuries CE, was not merely a flourishing of material sciences but a profound re-centering of human understanding itself, including the realms of psyche, soul, and spirit. During this era, the fields now labeled as "psychology," "psychiatry," and "mental health" found vibrant, sophisticated expression within Islamic civilization, centuries before similar ideas would reemerge in the West. Far from being an incidental development, Islamic psychology arose from a unique integration of Qur'anic anthropology, prophetic teachings, Hellenistic philosophy, and deeply spiritual understandings of the human being.

Over the past few years—through my own journey into Islam, my clinical work with patients, and my study of both Jungian depth psychology and the Islamic sciences—I began to sense that something essential had been lost in the way we approach the human soul. I felt it first in myself: an ache that modern psychological models could describe, but not truly speak to. And then I saw it in the men and women who came into my practice, carrying wounds that were never just cognitive or behavioral, but spiritual, ontological, and deeply existential. As I learned more about the classical Islamic scholars—al-Ghazālī, Ibn Sīnā, al-Rāzī, Ibn al-Qayyim— I saw echoes of what Jung was pointing toward, but rendered with a spiritual precision and sacred vocabulary that modern psychology had nearly forgotten. These encounters, both personal and clinical, are what compelled me to write this piece: to reclaim a tradition that never separated psyche from spirit, and to explore how this integrated understanding can help us rehumanize mental health care today.

This paper aims to explore the major contributions of Islamic scholars to psychological thought during the Golden Age, situating their insights not only as historical curiosities but as profound resources for contemporary psychology, psychotherapy, and the rehumanization of mental health care today.

The Qur’anic Anthropology: A Foundation for the Science of the Self

At the heart of Islamic psychology (Ilm al-Nafs, "the science of the soul") lies a divinely revealed anthropology: an understanding of the human being rooted in the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). This view is holistic, regarding the human as composed of:

• Nafs: the self or soul, existing on a continuum from base desires to purified states
• Ruh: the divine spirit breathed into every human by Allah SWT (Qur'an 15:29)
• Qalb: the heart, the seat of spiritual perception
• Aql: the intellect, associated with moral reasoning and discernment

Rather than partitioning the human being into disjointed parts, Islamic thought sees these faculties in dynamic interrelationship, influencing one another toward balance or imbalance. This sophisticated anthropology laid a theological and philosophical groundwork that allowed Muslim scholars to explore psychological disorders, personal development, and therapeutic techniques centuries ahead of their time.

Early Pioneers: Al-Razi and the Compassionate Model of Care

One of the most notable early figures was Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (d. 925 CE), a physician, philosopher, and proto-psychotherapist. Al-Razi wrote extensively on mental health, distinguishing psychological illnesses from purely physical ones—a radical idea in his time.

In his Kitab al-Tibb al-Ruhani ("The Book of Spiritual Medicine"), Al-Razi emphasized the role of rational thinking, behavioral practices, and emotional regulation as therapeutic tools. He argued that emotional disturbances could be treated through dialogue, counseling, and rational correction—methods that strikingly prefigure aspects of modern cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).

Importantly, Al-Razi championed compassion in treatment. His hospital wards separated patients with mental illness to ensure peace and specialized care, at a time when Europe was largely treating such individuals as demonic or criminal.

Ibn Sina and the Inner World: Toward a Science of the Psyche

If Al-Razi laid the foundations, it was Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn Sina (d. 1037 CE) who built a towering edifice of psychological insight. His Kitab al-Shifa ("The Book of Healing") and Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb ("The Canon of Medicine") introduced systematic observations on inner life, including what we would now call psychosomatic disorders, mood disorders, and phobias.

Ibn Sina’s understanding of the interconnection of body and soul was sophisticated: he described how emotional distress could cause physical illness and vice versa. His clinical observations included early descriptions of conditions resembling modern anxiety and depression.

Moreover, he proposed treatments rooted not only in medication but in talk therapy, behavior modification, and spiritual practice, highlighting an integrated model of care that harmonized the body, mind, and soul.

Al-Ghazali: Healing the Heart Through Knowledge and Remembrance

Among the towering figures of the Islamic Golden Age stands Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111 CE), whose contributions to psychology, spirituality, and human flourishing are unparalleled. Known as Hujjat al-Islam ("The Proof of Islam"), Al-Ghazali wove together theology, philosophy, and Sufism into a unified vision of the human soul’s journey toward its Creator.

For Al-Ghazali, true knowledge ('ilm) was not an abstract pursuit but a deeply transformative force—a healing of the soul’s maladies and a return to the primordial covenant with Allah. In his magnum opus, Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din ("The Revival of the Religious Sciences"), Al-Ghazali laid out a comprehensive psychology rooted in Qur'anic anthropology. He described the heart (qalb) as the seat of consciousness, the mirror of divine light, capable of clarity and reflection when polished through remembrance (dhikr) and acts of devotion.

Yet the heart could also become diseased through heedlessness, arrogance, envy, and attachment to the world. Al-Ghazali diagnosed these spiritual illnesses with clinical precision, describing how they distort perception, corrupt intention, and sever the soul from its Source. His "psychotherapy" was one of moral and spiritual purification: recognizing one's inner illnesses, sincerely repenting, and cultivating virtues through disciplined practice.

In contrast to purely rationalistic models, Al-Ghazali emphasized that transformation required more than intellectual assent. It demanded embodied remembrance, self-awareness, and the grace of Allah. Knowledge was important— but remembrance (dhikr) and vigilance (muraqaba) were the tools that could bring knowledge to life within the soul.

Through his profound integration of theory and practice, Al-Ghazali anticipated many themes that modern psychology would only begin to explore centuries later: the impact of unconscious desires, the fragmentation of the self, and the necessity of a healing journey toward wholeness. His legacy remains a living testament that the path to psychological well-being is inseparable from the path to spiritual awakening.

The Bimaristans: Hospitals of Healing — and Dignity

One of the most overlooked triumphs of Islamic civilization was the bimaristan, hospitals that incorporated care for the mentally ill within a dignified, compassionate, and public health system. Beginning in Baghdad and spreading throughout the Muslim world, bimaristans offered:

• Separate wards for mental health patients
• Music therapy, occupational therapy, and hydrotherapy
• Medical and psychological treatments without stigmatization
• Charity-based funding to ensure accessibility

While medieval Europe chained and imprisoned the mentally ill, Muslim societies were providing comprehensive, humane, and by today’s standards, remarkably progressive care.

The Naqshbandi Framework: Depth Psychology Before Depth Psychology

Emerging in the later centuries of the Islamic Golden Age, Sufi orders such as the Naqshbandiyya developed sophisticated systems of inner purification (tazkiyat al-nafs) that can rightly be seen as a form of depth psychology. Through structured practices like dhikr (remembrance), muraqaba (spiritual contemplation), and suhba (companionship with the wise), the Sufis explored:

• Uncovering unconscious motives (wasawis, whisperings)
• Recognizing and transforming shadow aspects of the self (nafs al-ammarah, commanding self)
• Cultivating awareness and integration through spiritual exercises

This interior journey bears striking parallels to Jungian notions of individuation, though rooted in a distinctly theocentric, rather than ego-centric, vision of wholeness.

Contemporary Relevance: Reintegrating the Spiritual in Psychology

Modern psychology, especially in its biomedical and cognitive-behavioral models, often suffers from a reductionist view of the human being, treating symptoms without addressing the soul. In contrast, the Islamic model offers a holistic, sacred understanding that refuses to amputate mental health from spiritual health. The Golden Age teaches us that:

• Mental health care can be deeply compassionate and spiritually informed
• Integration of the heart (qalb), intellect (aql), and soul (nafs) is necessary for true healing
• Human dignity must remain central to therapeutic practices
• Knowledge of the unseen aspects of the self (nafs, ruh) is not superstition, but essential for comprehensive care

By revisiting and reintegrating the wisdom of Islamic psychology, contemporary practitioners, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, can find richer, more humane paradigms for mental health, grounded in reverence for the full human being.

Conclusion: Reviving the Sacred Science of the Soul

The Golden Age of Islamic psychology offers not merely a glimpse into a distant, romanticized past but a compelling vision for the future. In an age where the human being is increasingly reduced to diagnostic codes, pharmaceutical interventions, and behavioral algorithms, the Islamic tradition reminds us that true healing is not simply the elimination of symptoms. It is the return to wholeness.

The scholars, physicians, and spiritual masters of Islam’s flourishing centuries refused to amputate the intellect from the heart, the body from the soul, or the individual from the Divine. Their psychology was deeply theocentric, centered on the reality that the human being is not merely a thinking animal but a spiritual traveler (salik) on a sacred journey toward Allah.

This understanding demands more than academic acknowledgment; it calls for a renewal of sacred psychology today—one that honors the unseen dimensions of the human self, recognizes the reality of spiritual affliction and healing, and situates mental health within the ultimate horizon of meaning, mercy, and transcendence.

The revival of these insights, not as nostalgia but as necessary corrective, may be one of the greatest contributions Islam can offer to the modern world, and one of the greatest healings the modern world could receive.

Afterword: The Heart Remembers

There is a memory deeper than thought, older than the mind. It is a remembrance etched into the heart of every soul. Before the birth of the world, Allah asked, “Am I not your Lord?” and every soul answered, “Yes, we bear witness” (Qur'an 7:172).

The scholars of Islam’s Golden Age did not invent psychology; they unveiled what the heart already knew. They wrote not merely with ink but with awe, mapping the contours of a human being destined not merely to survive, but to return. To study the soul is not an academic pursuit. It is a homecoming. The traditions they left behind are not relics to be admired at a distance; they are keys to a door that still waits to be opened, calling every generation back to what was never lost.

References

• The Qur'an. Translated by M.A.S. Abdel Haleem. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
• Al-Razi, Muhammad ibn Zakariya. Kitab al-Tibb al-Ruhani ("The Book of Spiritual Medicine").
• Ibn Sina (Avicenna). The Canon of Medicine. Translated by Laleh Bakhtiar. Kazi Publications, 1999.
• Al-Ghazali, Abu Hamid. The Revival of the Religious Sciences (“Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din”). Translated by T.J. Winter (Abdul Hakim Murad). Islamic Texts Society, 1999.
• Haque, Amber. “Psychology from an Islamic Perspective.” Journal of Religion and Health 43, no. 1 (2004): 45–58.
• Rizvi, Sajjad H. Avicenna and the Visionary Recital. London: Routledge, 2009.
• Gutas, Dimitri. Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition: Introduction to Reading Avicenna's Philosophical Works. Leiden: Brill, 2001.