Islam and Mental Health

Book excerpt: This book is for mental health professionals, clergy, researchers, and laypersons interested in the relationship between religion, spirituality and mental health in Muslims. A description of Islamic beliefs, practices, and values is followed by a systematic review of research conducted in Muslim populations, and then by recommendations for practice based on research, clinical experience, and common sense. The authors are physician researchers who have spent over 30 years practicing medicine and investigating the relationship between religion and health in Muslim populations. Dr. Koenig directs Duke University's Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health, and Dr. Al Shohaib is a professor of medicine and nephrologist at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Both are clinicians who for decades have treated patients with a wide range of physical and emotional disorders using a faith-based approach. In this volume, which is well-documented and highly cited, they bring together over 50 years of research that has examined how religious faith impacts the mental health of Muslims, including original research on well-being and happiness in Muslims that has not been reported elsewhere. The authors explain what these findings mean for those who are seeking to provide hope, meaning, and healing to members of this faith tradition.