Maristāns and Islāmic Psychology

Maristāns and Islāmic Psychology outlines how the novel methods, tools, and approaches for treating psychological illnesses developed in the maristāns (hospitals) of the Muslim world can be utilised today in formulating a practical implementation of Islāmic psychology (IP). As a trademark of the Islāmic Civilisation, the maristāns were institutions of healing that boasted the world’s first treatment centres for treating psychological illnesses. They also served as the centres where theoretical concepts developed by early Muslim scholars—physicians, theologians, and philosophers—who contributed to the creation of IP were translated into practical, clinical applications.

A detailed examination of the treatment modalities within these historical treatment centres provides a promising model for creating a holistic approach to psychological healing that is grounded in Islāmic heritage. This text completes such an examination, highlighting the practical IP treatment methods in fourteen maristāns geographically spread throughout the Muslim world in order to bridge this centuries-long model of psychological care to the modern context.

As part of the Islāmic Psychology and Psychotherapy Focus series, this book provides a foundation for mental health professionals who either directly deliver mental health services or are involved in creating theories, institutions, or spaces of IP and psychotherapeautic practices.