Islamic Humanism

Spiritual abuse occurs when a person in religious authority or a person with a unique spiritual practice misleads and maltreats another person in the name of God or church or in the mystery of any spiritual concept. Spiritual abuse often refers to an abuser using spiritual or religious rank in taking advantage of the victim’s spirituality (mentality and passion on spiritual matters) by putting the victim in a state of unquestioning obedience to an abusive authority.

In Islamic texts one may find statements supportive of individual autonomy, and other statements stressing the need to respect religious authority. Many leaders are not able to reconcile these two notions very well, which results in mixed messages and excessive coercion. Most of the spiritual abuse that I’ve witnessed happened at the hands of right-wing authoritarians who display less integrative complexity in their thoughts.

From what I could tell, these leaders were well-meaning but highly dysfunctional. It is ironic for someone to give lessons on the proper relationship between teacher and student, and then go on to abuse authority by interfering in marriages and other family relationships. Many spiritual educators point out that this is highly irregular and problematic.

With Spiritual abuse it is often very difficult to find any evidence of abuse. Victims often fail to realize what is happening due to peer pressure or the use of guilt feelings in relation to obedience towards the leaders of a church/group/fellowship or cult, etc. which can be masked as obedience towards God.

Since spirituality is about sincerity, a spiritual educator should aim for voluntary and enthusiastic compliance. It is possible to break down the selfish and base ego while carefully preserving the psyche. Remember that the Sahaba were not obedient like robots; they were full of vitality and initiative, and sometimes they questioned authorities and were vindicated. They showed good mental health and functioning because they were handled with care by a highly empathetic leader and guide, who instilled transcendent values in them as the basis for action.

Virtue and Vice in a Therapeutic Culture

One of the benefits of morality is that a clear conscience helps us feel well mentally. This drives us to study ethics or otherwise seek guidance on what is good or right for us to do, and how to strengthen our character so that we can follow through on this knowledge. 

Moral advice is now sought primarily from psychologists and therapists rather than philosophers or theologians. This book asks: are we replacing morality with therapy, in potentially confused and dangerous ways, or are we creatively integrating morality and mental health? According to the book, it’s a little bit of both. It surveys the ways in which morality and mental health are related, touching on practical concerns like love and work, self-respect and self-fulfillment, guilt and depression, crime and violence, and addictions. Terming this integrative development “the therapeutic trend in ethics,” the book uses examples from popular culture, various moral controversies, and draws on line of thought that includes Plato, the Stoics, Freud, Nietzsche, and contemporary psychotherapeutic theories. The book develops some interesting conclusions, among them that sound morality is indeed healthy, and that moral values are inevitably embedded in our conceptions of mental health. In the end, the book shows how both morality and mental health are inextricably intertwined in our pursuit of a meaningful life.

People often struggle to practice what they believe, and there is a trend to avoid judging these people as bad, because they may already feel paralyzing levels of guilt that stand in the way of change and improvement. Instead there is an effort to understand their difficulties and what steps might be useful. But guilt does have value when it is not overwhelming, thus we do not repudiate it entirely. This review of Martin’s text further discusses the complex matter of personal responsibility, and how people may be helped or hindered from taking constructive action and moving forward in their lives.

Many people defend religion by claiming that morality is impossible without it. But humans have moral instincts, and even non-believers try to follow them - though not all to the same degree. Muslims recognize this innate good nature of people through a doctrine called ‘fitrah’.

Islam encourages moral reasoning, but also offers guidance on matters that are morally ambiguous. Take for instance the problem of abortion and its permissibility. Muslims believe that the soul is breathed into the body 120 days after conception, and this is when the fetus becomes human. Abortion before this point is generally allowed but not afterward, except in rare cases such as if the mother’s life is at risk.

This is not the only position that can be defended through reason, but it is the one that Muslims are expected to follow, while seeking transcendence - meaning that this decision is part of one’s relationship with God. The result is spiritual growth and the satisfaction that derives from a working relationship with God. 

Another benefit of religious traditions is that they offer icons who integrate a system of morality into exemplary lives. Ethicists who attempt to start from a blank slate can have difficulty balancing and reconciling different imperatives in this way. For example, Peter Singer has been faulted for putting so much stress on the obligation to save lives selflessly that his prescriptions might not result in a life worth living.

We should be mindful of the critique of religion that it can detach from ethics and reason, becoming inhumane and superstitious. Some would use this as a reason to abandon religion altogether. But consider what is lost when moving from Islamic humanism to secular humanism.  Or look at the people that have tried this already and see how they are faring, spiritually. Morality is possible without God, but some people want the morality that brings them to God.

Religious belief and certitude are influenced by the health of the soul, because religion is not a purely mental phenomenon. Spiritual educators sometimes talk about the “degrees of the soul”, which describe the different levels of spiritual health.

A healthy soul is sensitive, savouring worship and other spiritual work, and it can feel healthy and unhealthy vibes coming from others. This is comparable to the sensitivity and empathy of an emotionally healthy person. 

There is also a spiritual equivalent to conscience, and self-destructive actions lead to pain and distress. But if they are continued long enough, the soul adapts by losing feeling. It is possible for enough scarring and damage to occur in this way that religious belief becomes difficult to sustain. 

Someone who has known only spiritual numbness might doubt that the soul exists at all, and they could be a religious skeptic. Their opinion might change upon meeting someone who shows signs of spiritual health - such as tranquility and good character - and who makes them wonder how they can taste these fruits themselves. Or they may remain skeptical and maintain that what they are witnessing is merely psychological health - not evidence of the soul and that it can be cultivated.

It is also possible to recognize someone’s spiritual transformation without agreeing entirely with their spiritual path. We can find Buddhists and others whose practices lead to verifiable improvements in their functioning and mental well-being, as determined by neuroscientists. Many elements of Buddhist philosophy are also quite reasonable; the practice of compassion will indeed change a person, and spiritual non-attachment does help one embrace reality without suffering. But I don’t believe in Buddhist metaphysics, and my appreciation of Buddhists is primarily for their humanitarian efforts.

An authentic person will not have their politics determined entirely by their membership in ethnic, religious and other types of groups because political psychology is influenced by genetics. Thus we will always have conservatives among us, because there are circumstances in which such views are adaptive. But some aspects of conservative thought might be less influential when, for example, technological progress alleviates the scarcity of food and other resources.

People should be free to contribute their political perspectives to a discourse that is civil and based on mutual respect. There is wisdom in having legislation and policy determined by discussion, debate and compromise.

Kwame Anthony Appiah challenges the mindset of Us vs. Them, and the prognosis that different cultures are destined to clash. There are differences between societies, but their significance should not be exaggerated because we still share basic human values. This common ground allows us to engage with and learn from one another, and history shows countless examples of people finding ways to cooperate and become friends.

Chivalry as a cultural phenomenon is unusual in that it is possible to pinpoint its origins with considerable accuracy. In the 11^th century, the medieval knights who had once protected Europe against Viking invasion jeopardized the social order through continuous warfare among themselves. In an effort to control the knights, the Roman Catholic Church reconstructed the knight’s role to include the protection of women, the weak, and the oppressed.

This role for men originated in the 11th century? Dude, you have no Quran.

Matthew Kelly says that the highest aim for relationships is to help people become the best versions of themselves. In this book he describes seven levels at which people can connect, and what happens at the deeper levels.

Marshall Rosenberg warns us not to label people or use other types of coercive language, because this leads to bad reactions and isn’t very effective. He has developed NVC as a more skillful and humane alternative for people to get their own needs met and facilitate the lives of others at the same time. The Wikipedia entry on Non-Violent Communication is helpful, and there are many clips of Rosenberg on Youtube.