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Bismillah ir Rahman ir Rahim

In the Name of Allah, the Infinitely Compassionate,

The Infinitely Merciful

“Towards an Integral Psychology of Islam,

From Al-Fatiha, ‘The Opening’ to the Gardens of Paradise”

Presentation at the

Conference of the International Association for the Psychology of Religion,

Lausanne, Switzerland, August 2013,

by Jalaledin Ebrahim, Ph.D, LMFT.

Emerging in the 7th century, Islam once inspired the dominant global empire and

ascendant world civilization for over 800 years. It is now at the epicenter of world

turbulence and turmoil. It has been the source of political terrorism and extremism,

attitudes of religious and cultural supremacy as well as movements for social justice and

personal spiritual transformation. It has served as a model for a utopian society and city-

state based on the initial visionary governance of the nascent community in Medina by

the Prophet Muhammad. Today, as a worldview or weltanschauung, Islam inspires

profound levels of devotion and mysticism, as well as Islamophobia, sectarian strife,

discrimination by gender and sexual orientation, and religious bigotry. Islam is clearly a

faith in crisis.

Perhaps, it is now opportune that a contemporary psychological hermeneutic study of

the Qur’an is needed to reclaim the essence of the faith. A critical examination of the

Opening chapter of the Qur’an, considered by Muslims to be a direct revelation of the

Divine Will is one particularly significant place to begin this enterprise. Comprised of

seven verses known as al-Fatiha, ‘The Opening’, it is thought to contain the quintessence
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and DNA of the entire revelation. Muslims recite al-Fatiha multiple times in daily

canonical prayers, which guide and inspire the psyche of millions of believers through its

psychology of gratitude and its psychology of ultimate concerns (Emmons, 2003-2004).

Using the eco-archetypal image of the Gardens of Paradise, the soul’s ultimate

destination, a semiotic process can be used to decode the sacred text using the principles

of depth and transpersonal psychology. Within that context, an exploration of the

psychological contents of al-Fatiha serves to formulate an Integral Psychology of Islam,

inspired by Ken Wilber’s four quadrant model of psychology. The Qur’anic Gardens of

Paradise, al-Janna, (Q 47:15) are fed by the four rivers of water, milk, honey and wine

(Asad, 2003). At its center is a fountain named Salsabil. This paper attempts to uncover

the psychological implications of al-Fatiha within the context of the four rivers of self

psychology, social and political psychology, cultural psychology, transpersonal

psychology and the fountain of feminine psychology, in pursuit of a future of peace and

equilibrium through an enlightened Islam.

Muslims and non-Muslims alike often forget that Islam is not a monolith. It has

multiple cultural expressions and diverse interpretations. The historical evolution of the

world-view of Islam, its weltanschauung, has in the past been based on the false premise

of a bipolar world. The abode of peace was known as the Dar al-Islam. The abode of war

was known as the Dar al-Harb. The essential tenet of Islam is the Unity of God.

Everything in existence is therefore encompassed in this Unity. Hence, there is no real

division between the earth and the heavens and all of the imaginal realms. Humanity, the

Qur’an tells us, is one single soul. Even the Creation myth in Islam explains that the

forces of the dark shadow, which arise out of unconsciousness, are contained in this
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mono-reality. Islam lays claim to a theocentric weltanschauung. Islam also means peace

through a surrendered state of consciousness in relationship to an “Infinitely

Compassionate and Infinitely Merciful” deity (Q 1:1 and Q 1:3). The focus of life in

Islam is this profound relationship with the Divine, “the Sustainer of all the worlds,” as

identified in the second verse (Q 1:2). Thus all life is sacred.

So, the early distortion of conceiving and perpetuating a bipolar world was clearly out

of alignment with its own essential principle of Unity. In contrast, a psychological

inquiry pursued in the spirit of affirming the unity of knowledge avoids repeating such a

bipolar approach in the psychology of religion.

Three important points bear critical examination:

1) The psychological implications of the daily canonical prayer of al-Fatiha,

2) The potential architecture for an Integral Psychology of Islam obtained from the

psychological components of the prayer -- assessing its potential for self-

integration, emotional balance and psycho-spiritual well being, and

3) The clinical direction for a potential therapeutic treatment of Muslims informed

by this prayer. (Ebrahim, 2012)

Embedded in the sixth verse of al-Fatiha is the strong implication that a clinical

direction for therapeutic treatment can be found in the goal of the Straight Path, as a path

of self-cultivation to the Gardens of Paradise -- the ultimate destination of the soul. This

assertion is based on several references in the Qur’an (Q 2:25, Q 47:15, Q 55: 46-75) as

well the Prophet’s ascension narratives. The famous jurist-theologian of the late 11th
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century al-Ghazzali wrote that these verses contain the keys to all the doors of Paradise

(1983).

Applying Wilber’s four quadrant model of Integral Psychology (2000) and utilizing a

semiotic process, the Qur’anic eco-archetypal image of the Gardens of Paradise, and its

four rivers, can provide the architecture for formulating an Integral Psychology of Islam.

Wilber’s model includes an interior and exterior perspective, as well as an individual and

a collective perspective: the left quadrants representing the interior perspective of two

different lines of development and the right quadrants representing the exterior

perspective:

1) A personal line of development representing the behavioral aspects of the

individual,

2) A social line of development representing the organization of the collective

through its social systems,

3) A cultural evolutionary line of development representing the values and

worldviews of the collective, and

4) An intentional line of development to higher levels of consciousness and

individual spirituality

What Wilber does not include in his four quadrant model is a center. However, in

the Qur’anic image of the Gardens of Paradise, there is a central fountain identified as

Salsabil.
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The Gardens of Paradise

Wine has always been a symbol of the mystics in Islam in their quest for gnosis or

ma’rifa. Hence, the spiritual or transpersonal quadrant was clearly fed by the river of

wine. The river of water represents the essential nature of the self, hence the domain of

self-psychology. The river of milk signifies nutrition and nurturance. It symbolizes the

need to create a collective environment of nurturance so that the essential self can thrive.

It is the quadrant of the umma, representing the intentional global community and its

social and political psychology. The root of the word for umma is umm, meaning Mother.

The umma needs a system of organization based on the sacred laws of Islam, the shari’a.

In the Qur’an, honey is described as having healing properties. The quality and color

of honey varies with the habitat in which the bees have hived. This quadrant pertains to a

line of development in the diverse cultures of the umma. The word in Arabic for

refinement and etiquette is adab. This then is the quadrant of the cultural psychology of

the Dar al-Islam.

Hence, applying the image of the Gardens of Paradise, one can begin to formulate an

Integral Psychology. However, the essential symbol that connects all of the quadrants is

the central fountain of Salsabil, representing Divine Wisdom, or Sophia and Sakina in

Arabic.

This is the feminine principle of connectivity, which feeds the four rivers of Paradise

and which -- from a psychological perspective -- is both the source and agent of

equilibrium. In order to attain the surrendered state of consciousness of Islam, then, all

four quadrants must co-exist inter-dependently and in harmony, promoting the evolution
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of each line of development in balanced measure in order to attain what Q 2:143 refers to

as the ummatan wasatan – a society of balance. Imbalances can lead to distress, cognitive

dissonance, dysfunction and pathology as we are witnessing in those nations that are

forging a new Arab awakening.

An Integral Psychology of Islam

The working model for an integral psychology of Islam is depicted in the following

diagram. Each quadrant aspires to the imaginal or full potential of each Garden of

Paradise: The Garden of Paradise fed by the river of water aspires to a line of

development of the Imaginal Self (that is -- all that we can imagine we might become).
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The Garden of Paradise fed by the river of milk aspires to a line of development of an

imaginal umma striving for social justice and equality -- the highest potential for an

intentional community. The Garden of Paradise fed by the river of honey aspires to the

evolution of culture and its imaginal fields -- inspired through ethnic and cultural

diversity, languages and the arts, music and dance. The Garden of Paradise fed by the

river of wine aspires to take us as spiritual beings into new and undiscovered imaginal

realms of the highest levels of consciousness. And finally, the central fountain of Salsabil

engages the feminine relational principle to uncover the Imaginal Eve in each soul or

community by allowing it to flow through and inter-connect all four Gardens of Paradise.

The Imaginal Self

The literature in Islam on the psychology of the self, as an individual being -- whose

teleological journey is to self-actualize -- is very limited. Based on the second verse

enjoining all believers to affirm that “All Praise is due to Allah,” (Q 1:2) one can

hypothesize that this is to avoid any risk of narcissism and self-inflation which could

prevent a Muslim from offering anything less than a full surrender to the Divine Will. But

this approach has also led to a projection of the shadow of human behavior and

unconsciousness onto the archetypal figure of Satan. The affective existential binary

invoked by notions of the Day of Judgment and the Divine Wrath then becomes one

between the fear of God or taqwa, and the fear of the whispers of Satan. Both states of

fear are completely antithetical to any true surrendered state of consciousness.

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The philosophy and theology of Islam is also plagued by a bipolar view. The

Ashariyya asserted that nothing can occur outside the Divine Will. The Mutazila argued

that we have been given an intellect and reason to pursue a deeper understanding of

reality. Over the centuries, despite Islam’s dominance as a world civilization for eight

centuries, the Ashariyya appear to have won this argument. The rationalists and the

advocates of free will have been sidelined to the point that for some Muslims, a deep

fatalism has set in and become a way of life. The question of human agency and selfhood

has been minimized, if not marginalized. Everything is due to the Divine Will. “All

praise is due to Allah, the Sustainer of all the worlds.” (Q 1:2) Based on this theology

and the debilitating shadow of a spiritual bypass, humanity cannot claim credit for

anything in creation, or for any improvement in the human condition. How this way of

thinking has taken hold in the face of the legacy of Islamic civilization requires further

psychological research.

One interpretation of al-Fatiha which mediated this bipolar view was the 12th century

commentary proposed by Shahrastani (2008), who said that the domain of human agency

was specifically in the act of worship. “Thee alone we worship and Thee alone we seek

for help.” (Q 1: 5) So, humans can in fact engage in co-creative action with the Divine

through acts of worship in one’s way of being and one’s engagement in the world.

Based on this notion of co-creativity, a self psychology can be formulated identifying

the categories of human agency that motivate the self. It is based on the Qur’anic concept

of the primordial nature of the self, the fitra Q 30:30, which asserts that we all have a

transcendent primordial nature or the divine spark of the essential self. This is the domain

of the Garden fed by the River of Water. Drawing on the first verse of al-Fatiha, and
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Allah’s infinite compassionate and mercy – at our core, humans are a source of infinite

compassion and mercy. That is our essential self, endorsing the Rogerian approach of

extending unconditional positive regard in psychotherapy. The ones who have been

“blessed with favors and Grace” (Q 1:7) are thus those who are in touch with their fitra.

The Sufis representing the esoteric dimension of Islam formulated a system of the self

which acknowledges the presence of drives and instincts, defense mechanisms and

complexes, referred to as the nafs. These drives and instincts were known as the

tyrannical nafs (Q 12:53). The Sufis subdue these nafs through spiritual and alchemical

practices of self-purification in order to attain the next level of consciousness, described

as the reproachful or regretful nafs (Q 75:2), hence the emergence of conscience. In the

context of an integral model of psychology, the emergence of conscience is the result of

the restoration and retrieval of the fitra. Unfortunately, no thoughtful consideration has

been given to the etiology of these lower nafs or the regressive states of consciousness

rooted in the powerful influences of prenatal and neonatal care, neurobiology, genetic

predisposition, dysfunctional family systems, childhood trauma and deficient parenting,

not to mention external factors such as malnutrition from ultra-poverty to the lack of

early childhood education in unstable social, political and economic environments.

Denial of the shadow is a classic aspect of spiritual bypass in the psychology of a

theocentric weltanschauung.

Ten key concepts of self psychology in Islam can be identified in discussing the

clinical implications for treatment and questions about personal agency. These concepts

include the fitra and the nafs, taqlid, or emulation of the Prophets, Imams and saints of

Islam (it is to be noted that Islam emphasizes a theory of character over a theory of
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personality), khalifa or stewardship and the ecological self, khayal or imagination of the

mind, himma or imagination of the heart, niyya or intention, iradah or personal will, ‘aql

or intellect and nur or light. Since the concept of a healthy ego has questionable

application in Islam because it potentially raises the specter of narcissism, and self-

inflation, it is more effective to approach the Muslim client without reference to concepts

such as the development of the ego. The terminology proposed above would be more

familiar and culturally competent as these concepts all contribute in some measure to the

development of personal agency and a healthy sense of self, without compromising

humility. The proposed ten key concepts of self-psychology can enhance this

development of the self on the path of individuation towards self-actualization and the

imaginal self.

The Imaginal Umma

Research on the social and political psychology of Islam shows that historically, the

power for social organization of the umma – Islam’s global community -- flowed from

the seat of political and religious authority, the Caliphate or the Shia Imamate. Between

the 8th and the 10th century, the jurists engaged in a legal hermeneutic to create the corpus

of sacred laws known as the shari’a, to keep both society and the Caliphate contained.

Their aim was to create a safe social order based on two sources: the Qur’an and the

example of the Prophet through his sayings and actions. For most Muslims, shari’a has

become synonymous with the Straight Path of following a rigid set of ritual practices.

The purpose of the shari’a is twofold: 1) to establish the correct forms of worship

such as the five pillars of Islam, thus legislating acts of worship and fostering an ethos of
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obedience and 2) to establish a set of sacred moral laws so that the collective can be self-

sustaining and thrive.

The shari’a thus became front and center of the Islamic weltanschauung. The key

concept of shari’a law is the principle of maslaha which means formulating laws in the

public interest, arguably to prevent believers from living their lives in existential dread of

the “Day of Judgment” invoked in the fourth verse (Q 1:4) or to avoid the Divine Wrath

invoked in the seventh verse (Q 1:7) which, from a depth psychological and alchemical

perspective, may be rendered respectively as the Day of Resurrection and conscious or

unconscious immersion in Sacred Chaos. The cause for much of what has been called

Islamophobia has to do with the harsh penal code of Islam, which was developed as

deterrence for moral misconduct. These laws were established to prevent social chaos,

absent a powerful system of law enforcement and the resources for incarceration. Limb

amputations and stoning for adultery served to remind the populace that there would be

hellish, visible consequences for deviant behaviors, reinforcing the very existential dread

that shari’a is supposed to quell.

But the dark shadow of these deterrents is what Bowenian theorists have called

societal emotional cut off. If Muslims choose to live their God-centered lives according

to an authoritarian system of harsh laws, there is no need for love, compassion and

mercy, which is at the very core of human nature. Societal emotional cut-off results in

collective by-standing and apathy, leaving present day extremists to take the

unconscionable view, based on a perverse reading of the seventh verse, that the violators

of the law are all unbelievers who can be killed for their disbelief. This further amplifies

existential dread and terror for all concerned.

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Unfortunately for the umma, this line of development was arrested when the jurists

decided that the legal hermeneutic project was complete. There was no further need to

consider new forms of law, resulting in an ossification of the sacred laws governing

society. Hence Islam, in many parts of the world, has become stuck in a 10th century

medieval paradigm, incapacitated by dictators, monarchs and sheikhs with Caliphal

ambitions, pitting religious tradition against secular modernity in yet another binary.

Moreover, shari’a’s over-emphasis on ritual praxis often serves to promote the idolatry

and exclusionary politics of religious identity, constellating sectarian and religious

bigotry, and its attendant superiority/inferiority complexes. This is in stark contrast to the

Medina charter formulated by the Prophet of Islam, who sought to foster common

ground, good will and mutual respect amongst Muslims (15%), Jews (40%) and pagan

animists (45%) alike, (Bulac 1998).

Based on that precedent alone, if the social psychology of Islam is a Garden fed by the

River of Milk, it must evolve a system of laws to create an enlightened and inclusive

society that provides social justice, equality and an enabling environment for all its

citizens to thrive. In a truly theocentric paradigm, society would instead serve to protect

and nurture the human and civil rights of the individual to achieve a truly God-centered

life based on the principle that all of humankind, if not all of creation, is made of one

soul. With shari’a’s negligence of these rights of personhood and citizenship, especially

for women, the evolutionary line of development for both the individual and the

collective becomes stunted in all spheres of human activity. If Islam is to remain true to

its founding message, it is imperative that the principle of laws in the public interest is

replaced by a principle of laws for the highest good of all humanity and all creation.
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Imaginal Fields

The most disturbing aspects of Islam are in the cultural psychology of its diverse

peoples. Given that 80% of Muslims do not read or write classical Arabic, one can

readily observe the impact of the cultural hegemony of language in Islam, and its Arab-

centric expressions of Islam within the diverse cultures of the umma. Any quest for an

understanding of the various groups and communities that make up the global community

with its social and cultural diversity is a staggering proposition.

One approach to consider is the theory of Spiral Dynamics which maps the cultural

evolution of societies. Formulated by Beck and Cowan (2006), it shows the evolution of

culture from archaic clan societies to tribal societies and feudal societies, from conformist

societies with legal absolutist thinking, to more evolved cultures. Many of the practices

that may - on the surface - appear associated with Islam are in fact part of the cultural

psychology and collective unconscious of its diverse people who have embraced -- or

inherited -- Islam over the centuries. Based on the cultural evolution of these societies,

Islam is expressed in myriad ways, like the different hues and viscosity in a River of

Honey. Its line of development is one of cultural refinement or adab. But many peoples

of the umma are fixated on rites and rituals that do not really conform to the

compassionate spirit of Islam. These rites and rituals often comply with the honor codes

of the diverse patriarchal cultures, where female genital mutilation, honor killings and

domestic violence are gruesome signs that these societies are consciously or

unconsciously immersed in sacred chaos, and may well have “gone astray” or “lost their

way” (Q 1:7) through an evolutionary interruption, due to fixations on cultural norms.

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In the context of spiral dynamics theory, 9/11 was the Mother of all Honor Killings

constellated by a regression to the lower levels of cultural evolution representing clan and

tribal organization. It is important to note that Islam has actually been a catalyst in

transforming culture as in the prohibition of female infanticide, and the protection of the

rights of orphans and inheritance for women.

Many of the 80% of non-Arab Muslims have lost touch with their own cultures of

origin, spiritual traditions and sacred spaces. This deep loss of cultural symbols often

remains unconscious and is never grieved. The diversity in the cultures of the umma can

be thought of as the imaginal field. To render an appropriate level of clinical treatment,

psychotherapy can explore this very rich interplay and nexus of cultures and help clients

to uncover what Singer & Kimbles have identified as an unconscious cultural complex

(2004). Appropriate grief counseling also has a powerful role to play in facilitating the

mourning of these unconscious losses.

Imaginal Realms

The mystics of Islam, the Sufis, formulated a hierarchical system of the evolution of

spiritual consciousness. The Garden fed by the River of Wine is the garden of religious

experience where one learns to drop the mask of religious identity and aspire to higher

and purer – and even ecstatic or blissful -- states of consciousness (Q 24:21, Q 89:27), to

replicate the Prophet’s own ascension experience (Q 17:1, Q 24:35). A truly moderate

Islam requires a shift in the consciousness of the umma which is attainable through the

contribution of various alchemical and spiritual practices and expressions of Islam in

tandem with a healthy self psychology, a progressive social psychology, and a rich

cultural psychology of refinement.

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The Imaginal Eve

At the center of the Gardens of Paradise, there is a fountain -- representing the eternal

fountain of Sophia, the fountain of wisdom. Almost no attention has been paid to the fact

that there is an entire chapter named after Mary in the Qur’an. “The path of favors,

blessings and Grace” must of necessity include Mary. It was Carl Jung who remarked

that the anima mundi is the motor of the heavens (1978). It is conceivable that Salsabil

also represents the anima mundi – the dynamic force that intertwines, interweaves and

inter-connects all life, all beings, all Creation.

One way to refer to these aspects of the Feminine is the Imaginal Eve. The feminine

principle is the relational principle. The fountain at the center of the Gardens of Paradise

connects the four gardens and its four rivers. It is this neglect of the feminine principle

that explains the imbalance in all the patriarchal representations of Islam, resulting in

psychological fragmentation, anxiety and aggression. It also explains the societal

emotional cut off that seems so pervasive in the global community of Islam.

Conclusion

Islam needs a theoretical model of psychology reflecting its own weltanschauung in

order for an effective psychotherapy to evolve. An integral psychology of Islam can and

does provide the theoretical framework for its rich cultural diversity by drawing on

Qur’anic concepts to advance appropriate clinical models of treatment and to foster the

physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being of the umma. The cause of Islam

can only begin to flourish again by embodying the highest expressions of civilization.
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