Reading the therapeutic contract in the Quran

Day # 25

I have explored in these reflections some aspects of the therapeutic depth of Surat Al Fatiha and Surat Al Baqara. By therapeutic depth I mean the establishing of a therapeutic relationship between God and his subjects to attend to the troubles of the heart or psyche.

While Surat Al Fatiha represents a declaration of subjectivity and a demand for guidance. God responds in Surat Al-baqara by offering a methodology of guidance and a psychology of subjectivity.

He talks us through the challenges of subjectivity, the psychic processes that stand in the way of faith and relating to God. The consequences of such defences internally and externally. He teaches us how to reinforces our psychic immune system or our mental health with the five pillars of Islam and that the truth of our internal beliefs and psychic structures are reflected in our way of being in the world, in all aspects of life, marriage, treatment of others, war, commerce etc.

In every stage or every theme addressed in the surah, subjectivity to God is emphasised as the remedy and the path to a healthy heart or psychic state of mind.

But since we are in the blessed month of Ramadan, it is worth thinking about the relevance of Quran and its relation to fasting

In terms of our psyche and our hearts, especially when we think of Surat Al-Qadr, which refers to the night the Quran was revealed:

97:1  We sent it down on the Night of Glory

97:2  What will explain to you what that Night of Glory is

97:3  The Night of Glory is better than a thousand months

97:4  on that night the angels and the Spirit descend again and again with their Lord’s permission on every task

97:5  [there is] peace that night until the break of dawn

And link this surah to the verses of fasting in Surat Al-Baqara:

2:183  You who believe, fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may be mindful of God

2:184  Fast for a specific number of days, but if one of you is ill, or on a journey, on other days later. For those who can fast only with extreme difficulty, there is a way to compensate- feed a needy person. But if anyone does good of his own accord, it is better for him, and fasting is better for you, if only you knew

2:185  It was in the month of Ramadan that the Quran was revealed as guidance for mankind, clear messages giving guidance and distinguishing between right and wrong. So any one of you who is present that month should fast, and anyone who is ill or on a journey should make up for the lost days by fasting on other days later. God wants ease for you, not hardship. He wants you to complete the prescribed period and to glorify Him for having guided you, so that you may be thankful

2:186  [Prophet], if My servants ask you about Me, I am near. I respond to those who call Me, so let them respond to Me, and believe in Me, so that they may be guided

TBC…

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