What is Islamic Counselling

Many people have asked what is Islamic counselling and we have tried to summarise it here for you.

Different models of Islamic counselling

There is no one model or approach and no governing body for Islamic psychology counselling.There has been minimal material accessible regarding the matter with nobody concurred meaning of how to counsel Muslim and what it includes. There has additionally been a quickly developing populace of Muslims in Western society with a rise in need of spiritual, psychological counselling services

Some approaches that are used today:-

Quran centred – Some believe that everything should be based around the Quran and hence ignore modern psychology

Sufi – Follow a Mystic path healing to get closer to God

No need for counselling – Believe that Imam’s and Sheikhs are enough

What approach is best

The best approach is the inclusion of good aspects of mainstream counselling and incorporating the Quran, sunnah, the hadiths of the Prophet(saw). Muslim physicians and mental health professionals should incorporate the Islamic values and ethics in techniques of psychotherapy.

Mainstream counselling looks at the mental and physical well being but does not include the spiritual aspect which all Muslims regardless of how religious they are would like the incorporation of faith in counselling.

It is highly recommended to choose a professional that offers Islamic counselling with an integrative approach in his or her counselling session. In this approach, the counsellor can apply and suggest strategies that work well with the patient’s religion, culture, and family dynamics. This approach not only benefits the Muslim patients but a well as patients from different religions. It is rooted from the Muslim’s belief that although they have the obligation to pass the message of Allah, they still don’t have the right to force the religion to others.

With this, one can conclude that Islamic counselling is not all about forcing the Islam religion to the patient, rather it is about acceptance and living in harmony despite differences in beliefs.