October reading

This project started 5 years ago. As a special interest group, we meet once a month, read a section of the Qur’an and a psychoanalytic paper, and discuss ideas that emerge from the readings

This month’s reading

Surat Al-Anaam: 1-18

1.[All] praise is [due] to Allāh, who created the heavens and the earth and made the darkness and the light. Then those who disbelieve equate [others] with their Lord. 2.It is He who created you from clay and then decreed a term¹ and a specified time [known] to Him;² then [still] you are in dispute. 3.And He is Allāh, [the only deity] in the heavens and the earth. He knows your secret and what you make public, and He knows that which you earn.4.And no sign comes to them from the signs of their Lord except that they turn away therefrom. 5.For they had denied the truth when it came to them, but there is going to reach them the news of what they used to ridicule.¹ 6.Have they not seen how many generations We destroyed before them which We had established upon the earth as We have not established you? And We sent [rain from] the sky upon them in showers and made rivers flow beneath them; then We destroyed them for their sins and brought forth after them a generation of others. 7.And even if We had sent down to you, [O Muḥammad], a written scripture on a page and they touched it with their hands, the disbelievers would say, “This is not but obvious magic.” 8.And they say, “Why was there not sent down to him an angel?”¹ But if We had sent down an angel, the matter would have been decided;² then they would not be reprieved.

9.And if We had made him [i.e., the messenger] an angel, We would have made him [appear as] a man, and We would have covered them with that in which they cover themselves [i.e., confusion and doubt]. 10.And already were messengers ridiculed before you, but those who mocked them were enveloped by that which they used to ridicule. 11.Say, “Travel through the land; then observe how was the end of the deniers.” 12.Say, “To whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and earth?” Say, “To Allāh.” He has decreed upon Himself mercy. He will surely assemble you for the Day of Resurrection, about which there is no doubt. Those who will lose themselves [that Day] do not believe. 13.And to Him belongs that which reposes by night and by day, and He is the Hearing, the Knowing. 14.Say, “Is it other than Allāh I should take as a protector, Creator of the heavens and earth, while it is He who feeds and is not fed?” Say, [O Muḥammad], “Indeed, I have been commanded to be the first [among you] who submit [to Allāh] and [was commanded], ‘Do not ever be of the polytheists.’” 15.Say, “Indeed I fear, if I should disobey my Lord, the punishment of a tremendous Day.” 16.He from whom it is averted that Day – [Allāh] has granted him mercy. And that is the clear attainment. 17.And if Allāh should touch you with adversity, there is no remover of it except Him. And if He touches you with good – then He is over all things competent. 18.And He is the subjugator over His servants. And He is the Wise,¹ the Aware.²

Paper: When is truth relevant, Elisabeth Allison and Peter Fonagy

My contribution to the discussion:

Yesterday, I attended a conference organized by The Psychoanalytic Voices for Palestine.

One of the presenters, David Harrold, talked about the example of a Zionist mind preoccupied with fear of annihilation stating that all Palestinian children should be killed because they represent future threats. In another part of his presentation, he mentioned a conversation with a Palestinian taxi driver. The Palestinian man seemed to be in a cheerful mood going about his day despite knowing that he could be killed at any moment. David asked him why he was so cheerful. The Palestinian man replied that the thought that he could die by the end of the day helps him focus on what is important, being a good Muslim, doing good and being there for others.

This example is very relevant to today’s topic and I will return to it after discussing the verses of Surat Al-Anaam and the paper. By examining Surat Al-Anaam alongside Allison and Fonagy’s paper, we can see how faith, specifically the acts of Tawheed and Hamd function as a psychological anchor that restores epistemic trust, dismantling the hypervigilant defences that lead either to existential terror or desire for total control.

Locating Surat Al-Anaam in the context of what we have been discussing in the previous Surahs and building on what we just thought about in Surat Al-ma’idah in terms of God’s knowledge vs human knowledge (you can read it in this link

This verse drew my attention to the fist surah in the Qur’an, Al-Fatiha, which starts with, “Praise be to God the Lord of the Worlds, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy”

What is the impact of the opening with Praise on the psyche of the Muslim and how does it develop with the maturational process of faith and what is its psychological function?

It is important to emphasize at the beginning, that we recognise today that the psychic space is a contested space that colonial powers want to occupy. The violence against people’s interiority and the race to for its conquest leave man in a real predicament, having to constantly question and disturb the realities of modern life imposed on him.

In their paper, Allison and Fonagy argue that human minds do not acquire knowledge purely through cold, empirical data (historical or objective truth). Instead, knowledge acquisition requires an environment of epistemic trust, where a person feels recognized as an intentional agent by another, lowering their defensive vigilance and allowing true knowledge to modify their internal narrative.  

They define epistemic trust as a person’s willingness to consider communicated knowledge as trustworthy, relevant and generalizable to their social world. When a person lacks epistemic trust, they enter a state of epistemic hypervigilance. They view incoming information as suspicious and rely on non-mentalising defence mechanisms (unhelpful mental shortcuts where they mistake their internal fears for real-life threats, treat deep truths as meaningless theories, or demand constant physical proof before they can trust anyone)

and multiplying rationalization to protect the ego. In Fonagy’s framework of epistemic trust, these shortcuts create a state of chronic mistrust, making a person view reality as dangerous and hostile. 

Applying this framework to the verses at hand and the epistemology of Hamd (praise to God) reveals two ways in which praise serves as a mode of knowing and relating to the Truth.

In Al-Fatiha, the starting point is Tawheed, the absolute belief in the absolute, oneness, uniqueness and sovereignty of God. It asserts that the universe originates from a Single, All Knowing, Just Creator. This guarantees that reality is not an accident or deception but an intentional, ordered, and meaningful system. Establishing a single point of reality provides the mind with an ultimate reference point making genuine trust in an objective truth rationally possible.

In contrast, truth in the beginning of surat Al-An’am acts as a corrective intervention. It presents the concrete, physical realities of creation to break through denial, cognitive dissonance, and epistemic rigidity. It reflects how the Qur’an through and through is aware of the psychic challenges faced by mankind and is designed to help them build their psychic strength to face the challenges of life.

Faith and Praise of God under this lens is the ultimate act or resistance and dismantling of epistemic distrust and epistemic petrification. By opening with Ḥamd (gratitude), the Qur’an anchors the mind in an absolute, objective truth: the universe is purposefully designed and sustained by a caring Creator, completely independent of our personal fears, ego, or desires. 

When human beings accept Tawheed, they no longer equate localized believes (Then those who disbelieve equate [others] with their Lord), human authority or personal desires with the absolute truth.  “Praise be to God” contains in its fold the decentering of the self and the neutralization of distortion.

It should be a waking call, whenever we encounter it, to reflect on our position in an argument and reflect on our defenses. One of the points raised in the discussion was about the nature of the patient and the nature of the messenger. It is an effort of constant remembering that when we read the Qur’an, we are exposing our hearts with all their internal conflicts and defenses to the Truth.  Hence to cleanse our hearts we have to work through the defenses and resistances, the epistemic truth of the Qur’an offers the remedy.

The text then guides the reader in verse 11 to 18, out of the defensive rigidity through three steps

1. it begins by breaking through cognitive defences with hard historical/cosmological facts, (travel through the land…)
2. then moves swiftly to establish Epistemic Trust through Divine Mercy, (14.Say, “Is it other than Allāh I should take as a protector, Creator of the heavens and earth, while it is He who feeds and is not fed?” 16.He from whom it is averted that Day – [Allāh] has granted him mercy. And that is the clear attainment.)
3. and concludes by inviting the human soul to surrender its illusions of control to the One who is both All-Powerful, and All-Wise. (17.And if Allāh should touch you with adversity, there is no remover of it except Him. And if He touches you with good – then He is over all things competent. )

I would like to return now to the two examples from the conference. We see the real-world manifestation of these psychological states; a heart that has opened up to Devine Truth and a heart that completely sealed itself.

Seeking control through total violence reflects a mind dominated by terror that creates an illusion of safety by destroying the Other (a breakdown of epistemic trust).

Surrendering control to the Ultimate Source reflects a mind anchored in faith (epistemic trust in God) that accepts vulnerability, transforms the threat of death into a catalyst for goodness, and finds peace in the relational core of Tawheed and Hamd.