Reading the therapeutic contract in the Quran

Day # 17

Islamic concepts of the psyche

On Spirit (ruh) and natural disposition (fitrah)

The previous post ended with a question about the nature of ruh or spirit. The answer comes from the Quran, verse 85 of Surat Al-Isra’

[Prophet], they ask you about the Spirit. Say, ‘The Spirit is part of my Lord’s domain. You have only been given a little knowledge.’

According to islamic tradition, Al-ruh, translated as spirit, belongs to the realm of the unconscious under the command of the Lord. We do not know much about it’s nature but it gives us knowledge and gives rise to personal responsibility (Parker et al, 2019). The spirit, may then be understood as the presence of the third at the centre of the psyche. This third is that which allows us the capacity, unlike other mammals, to step back and examine our own mind. A dimension that prevents our world view from being a collapsed dyadic form of relating, between man and fellow man. This dimension of the divine gives in us rise to conscience, a conscience geared to raise consciousness of God.

Freud in his structural model subsumed conscience under superego function. However, as Donald Carveth explains, the two are very different. According to Carveth, the superego is rooted in hate and narcissism while conscience is rooted in love and capacity for concern. I would also suggest that while the superego is the product of internalised culture and environment, conscience is innate internal awareness of what is right and wrong. Going back to the example of the heart as a reservoir, superego comes from the external streams feeding the heart while conscience comes from the innate source of goodness, of which we have a glimpse through this ruh that filters external input. In other worlds, conscience may be thought of as the psychic representation and manifestation of ruh.

This natural disposition to know right from wrong, referred to in islamic terms as Fitrah is not just limited to worldly life, but actually viscerally linked to our consciousness of God, i.e perhaps the higher objective of conscience and consciousness is to turn our hearts towards God, as verse 30 of Surat Al-Roum suggests:

So [Prophet] as a man of pure faith, stand firm and true in your devotion to the religion. This is the natural disposition God instilled in mankind- there is no altering God’s creation- and this is the right religion, though most people do not realize it.

Thus in Surat Al Baqara, as the examples of resistance to faith continue. This resistance located in the heart can be understood as the external stream of influence clouding our internal stream of consciousness. This split from our consciousness of God leads to a vicious cycle of destructiveness fuelled by envy.

So how do we understand Envy and what is the healthy cycle out of it?

2:88  They say, ‘Our hearts are impenetrably wrapped [against whatever you say],’ but God has rejected them for their disbelief: they have little faith

2:89  When a Scripture came to them from God confirming what they already had, and when they had been praying for victory against the disbelievers, even when there came to them something they knew [to be true], they disbelieved in it: God rejects those who disbelieve

2:90  Low indeed is the price for which they have sold their souls by denying the God-sent truth, out of envy that God should send His bounty to any of His servants He pleases. The disbelievers have ended up with wrath upon wrath, and a humiliating torment awaits them

2:91  When it is said to them, ‘Believe in God’s revelations,’ they reply, ‘We believe in what was revealed to us,’ but they do not believe in what came afterwards, though it is the truth confirming what they already have. Say [Muhammad], ‘Why did you kill God’s prophets in the past if you were true believers

2:92  Moses brought you clear signs, but then, while he was away, you chose to worship the calf- you did wrong.’

2:93  Remember when We took your pledge, making the mountain tower above you, and said, ‘Hold on firmly to what We have given you, and listen to [what We say].’ They said, ‘We hear and we disobey,’ and through their disbelief they were made to drink [the love of] the calf deep into their hearts

2:94  Say, ‘How evil are the things your belief commands you to do, if you really are believers!’ Say, ‘If the last home with God is to be for you alone and no one else, then you should long for death, if your claim is true.’

2:95  But they will never long for death, because of what they have stored up with their own hands: God is fully aware of the evildoers

2:96  [Prophet], you are sure to find them clinging to life more eagerly than any other people, even the polytheists. Any of them would wish to be given a life of a thousand years, though even such a long life would not save them from the torment: God sees everything they do

2:97  Say [Prophet], ‘If anyone is an enemy of Gabriel- who by God’s leave brought down the Quran to your heart confirming previous scriptures as a guide and good news for the faithful

2:98  if anyone is an enemy of God, His angels and His messengers, of Gabriel and Michael, then God is certainly the enemy of such disbelievers.’

2:99  For We have sent down clear messages to you and only those who defy [God] would refuse to believe them

2:100  How is it that whenever they make a covenant or a pledge, some of them throw it away? In fact, most of them do not believe

2:101  When God sent them a messenger confirming the Scriptures they already had, some of those who had received the Scripture before threw the Book of God over their shoulders as if they had no knowledge

2:102  and followed what the evil ones had fabricated about the Kingdom of Solomon instead. Not that Solomon himself was a disbeliever; it was the evil ones who were disbelievers. They taught people witchcraft and what was revealed in Babylon to the two angels Harut and Marut. Yet these two never taught anyone without first warning him, ‘We are sent only to tempt- do not disbelieve.’ From these two, they learned what can cause discord between man and wife, although they harm no one with it except by God’s leave. They learned what harmed them, not what benefited them, knowing full well that whoever gained [this knowledge] would lose any share in the Hereafter. Evil indeed is the [price] for which they sold their souls, if only they knew

2:103  If they had believed and been mindful of God, their reward from Him would have been far better, if only they knew

2:104  Believers, do not say [to the Prophet], ‘Raina,’ but say, ‘Unzurna,’ and listen [to him]: an agonizing torment awaits those who ignore [God’s words]

2:105  Neither those People of the Book who disbelieve nor the idolaters would like anything good to be sent down to you from your Lord, but God chooses for His grace whoever He will: His bounty has no limits

2:106  Any revelation We cause to be superseded or forgotten, We replace with something better or similar. Do you [Prophet] not know that God has power over everything

2:107  Do you not know that control of the heavens and the earth belongs to Him? You [believers] have no protector or helper but God

2:108  Do you wish to demand of your messenger something similar to what was demanded of Moses? Whoever exchanges faith for disbelief has strayed far from the right path

2:109  Even after the truth has become clear to them, many of the People of the Book wish they could turn you back to disbelief after you have believed, out of their selfish envy. Forgive and forbear until God gives his command: He has power over all things

2:110  Keep up the prayer and pay the prescribed alms. Whatever good you store up for yourselves, you will find it with God: He sees everything you do

2:111  They also say, ‘No one will enter Paradise unless he is a Jew or a Christian.’ This is their own wishful thinking. [Prophet], say, ‘Produce your evidence, if you are telling the truth.’

2:112  In fact, any who direct themselves wholly to God and do good will have their reward with their Lord: no fear for them, nor will they grieve

2:113 The Jews say, ‘The Christians have no ground whatsoever to stand on,’ and the Christians say, ‘The Jews have no ground whatsoever to stand on,’ though they both read the Scripture, and those who have no knowledge say the same; God will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning their differences

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Reading the therapeutic contract in the Quran

Day # 16

On islamic concepts of the #psyche

I made reference in day # 14 to the symbolic function of the heart (to mean the psyche) but perhaps a bit of Arabic etymology is necessary here. The root verb of the word Qalb (heart) means to change or upturn something from its current state.

Thus, the heart that pumps life through our body and allows it to be in a continuous state of “living” has a parallel symbolic function. If the blood that runs in our veins carries the vitamins and minerals of life, our life impulses are also pumped into our soul through our heart.

Perhaps this is where we part from positivist psychoanalytic views as we do not believe that our life impulses are limited to our survival drives that keep the physical body alive and meet biological needs.

According to Mark Solms, drives are experienced in the mind as feelings, and this is the nature of our suffering. We suffer from feelings, whether they are hunger, thirst or sadness, they are all feelings. These feelings exert pressure on the ego to act to meet these needs. Thus the ego is constantly negotiating the tension between the pressures of the ID and the reality of the external world.

The islamic position introduces a third dimension of the ruh (spirit) which also takes agency on the heart and on governing drives and is a main agent and dimension of our life impulses. It allows the heart to be discerning, to recognise truth from falsehood. It allows us to make altruistic discussion that go against the logic of natural selection. It takes me back to the example of the heart as a reservoir mentioned in a previous reflection. It is a container filled by external streams but that has an internal filter to purify what it takes in. This innate capacity of discernement does not rely purely on our intellectual capacity, it also draws from the ruh and the fitrah that are within us.

We see in many verses that talk about transgressions against God, that they are synthesised in the end by a reference to a turbulence that afflicts the heart, like in verse 2:88 below.

So what exactly is the ruh or spirit, and what is Fitrah?

TBC

2:75  So can you [believers] hope that such people will believe you, when some of them used to hear the words of God and then deliberately twist them, even when they understood them

2:76  When they meet the believers, they say, ‘We too believe.’ But when they are alone with each other they say, ‘How could you tell them about God’s revelation [to us]? They will be able to use it to argue against you before your Lord! Have you no sense?’

2:77  Do they not know that God is well aware of what they conceal and what they reveal

2:78  Some of them are uneducated, and know the Scripture only through wish-ful thinking. They rely on guesswork

2:79  So woe to those who write something down with their own hands and then claim, ‘This is from God,’ in order to make some small gain. Woe to them for what their hands have written! Woe to them for all that they have earned

2:80  They say, ‘The Fire will only touch us for a few days.’ Say to them, ‘Have you received a promise from God- for God never breaks His promise- or are you saying things about Him of which you have no real knowledge?’

2:81  Truly those who do evil and are surrounded by their sins will be the inhabitants of the Fire, there to remain

2:82  while those who believe and do good deeds will be the inhabitants of the Garden, there to remain

2:83  Remember when We took a pledge from the Children of Israel: ‘Worship none but God; be good to your parents and kinsfolk, to orphans and the poor; speak good words to all people; keep up the prayer and pay the prescribed alms.’ Then all but a few of you turned away and paid no heed

2:84  We took a pledge from you, ‘Do not shed one another’s blood or drive one another from your homelands.’ You acknowledged it at the time, and you can testify to this

2:85  Yet here you are, killing one another and driving some of your own people from their homes, helping one another in sin and aggression against them. If they come to you as captives, you still pay to set them free, although you had no right to drive them out. So do you believe in some parts of the Scripture and not in others? The punishment for those of you who do this will be nothing but disgrace in this life, and on the Day of Resurrection they will be condemned to the harshest torment: God is not unaware of what you do

2:86  These are the people who buy the life of this world at the price of the Hereafter: their torment will not be lightened, nor will they be helped

2:87 We gave Moses the Scripture and We sent messengers after him in succession. We gave Jesus, son of Mary, clear signs and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit. So how is it that, whenever a messenger brings you something you do not like, you become arrogant, calling some impostors and killing others

2:88 They say, ‘Our hearts are impenetrably wrapped [against whatever you say],’ but God has rejected them for their disbelief: they have little faith

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Reading the therapeutic contract in the Quran

Day #15

A brief recap

Perhaps before I continue and introduce new concepts, it is worth doing a recap on the ideas I put forward in a simplified way. I set out to map the therapeutic contract in the Quran.

It opens up with a demand from the concerned party: mankind to the acknowledged source of all mercy: God.

The demand for guidance is acknowledged and a pledge is granted to mankind to be guided and safeguarded.

The contract between the two parties follows steps acknowledged in psychoanalytic terms as the foundations of a boundaried therapeutic relationship.

Three axis of relating are noted:

A vertical axis: acknowledgment of separateness from and internalising of the source of goodness, God. (The unconscious?)

An internal dimension of the psychic representation of this relationship, nourished with prayers, mindfulness of God and belief in the hereafter. (Internal reality)

A horizontal axis: applying this mindfulness of God externally through relating to other. (External reality)

The acknowledgment of separateness means a recognition of a state of dependence. Separateness while making room for relational experiences also causes anxiety.

Anxiety triggers psychic defences that can lead to detrimental consequences such as Narcissism and omnipotence, or splitting (seeing the world in black and white).

A by product of this is isolation which leads to depression, thus the second axis proposes a way to prevent depression. We see that two fundamental practices or pillars of Islam have a direct connection with the two major complaints in mental health, anxiety (internal reality) and depression (outwardly expression of our internal reality)

The way to the depressive position is through a constant return to God, through mindfulness and repentance.

This brings to mind these verses in Surat Al-Ma’arij.

70:19  Man was truly created anxious

70:20  he is fretful when misfortune touches him

70:21  but tight-fisted when good fortune comes his way

70:22  Not so those who pray

70:23  and are constant in their prayers

70:24  who give a due share of their wealth

70:25  to beggars and the deprived

70:26  who believe in the Day of Judgement

70:27  and fear the punishment of their Lord–

70:28  none may feel wholly secure from it–

70:29  who guard their chastity

70:30  from all but their spouses or their slave-girls––there is no blame attached to [relations with] these

70:31  but those whose desires exceed this limit are truly transgressors–

70:32  who are faithful to their trusts and their pledges

70:33  who give honest testimony

70:34  and are steadfast in their prayers

70:35  They will be honoured in Gardens of bliss

We see in these verses a direct reference to the antidote to anxiety which is through relatedness to God via prayers and through acts of kindness towards others. While prayers deal with anxiety, acts of kindness towards others fend off depression.

In a sense we all experience the story of creation through our birth experience, where we come into being through separation and go from a state of anxiety and dependence via a process of individuation to reconnect with our creator. The importance of reconnecting with God lies in the nature of imperfection of humans. We may not choose our parents nor our environment and they may cause damage depending on the environment they or broader society provide. As we experience the external world based on our internal realities, this third dimension which is our connection with God, creates a third position, a three dimensional state where we can step back and rethink our choices. It offer a rectifying lens that changes our internal and external realities alike.

Hence reconnecting with The Source purifies one’s heart and allows one to develop a healthy immune psychic system rather than maladaptive psychic defences.

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Reading the therapeutic contract in the Quran

Day # 14

On developing object constancy

The second point I raised in the previous post related to object constancy. We see in the previous verses and the ones that follow, a series of examples of prophet Moses’ followers asking for proof after proof of God, being granted their requests and still refusing to submit to his will. This incapacity to develop an emotional permanence and a constant mindfulness of God despite receiving concrete proofs reminded me of the concept of Object constancy.

In object relations theory, the ability of an infant to maintain an attachment that is relatively independent of gratification or frustration, based on a cognitive capacity to conceive of a mother who exists when she is out of sight and who has positive attributes when she is unsatisfying. Thus, an infant becomes attached to the mother herself rather than to her tension-reducing ministrations; she comes to exist continuously for the infant and not only during instances of need satisfaction. This investment by an infant in a specific libidinal object indicates that he or she no longer finds people to be interchangeable.

(APA definition https://dictionary.apa.org/object-constancy)

There are many verses in the Qur’an that invite us to remember our relationship and bond with God. This demand to remember always puzzled me. Did we know God before we knew ourselves? But there is something in the story of creation that we relive in the process of gestation, birth, and mothering experience that prepares our mind to understand a deeper need to know the Object to whom we subject ourselves or in the language of Islam the creator to whom we are subjects.

If we replace the word mother in this definition with Lord, and infant with mankind, we can understand the real objective of mindfulness of God and faith, which could be understood as the capacity to worship God because He is worthy of worship, not just for what He bestows on us in terms of graces or how He tests us to bring us back to the right path. That is the worship of free men to their Lord. It is then logical that God can only be invisible in his essence, visible through his signs, for us to ponder and make our way back to him, because if He were visible we would not have the free will to believe. But in understanding that he is there even in absence is the true work of faith, and it is not the work of magical believe but that of a mindful cognitive knowing of the ultimate source of goodness.

It is an emphasis on separateness, and perhaps the many requests for proof are a way to feel in control of the internalised object rather to accept submission.

In Islam this capacity for discernment is attributed to the heart, in a symbolic reference to the psychic organ that pumps blood and keeps the body alive, it also pumps life into our soul through discernment and acquisition of knowledge. Verse 72 of Surat Al-Baqara refers to the problem of disbelieve or transgressions against God as located in the hardened hearts.

So one can think of this symbolic heart as the reference of the psyche-soma. But what do we mean by that?

TBC…

Surat Al-Baqara

2:60  Remember when Moses prayed for water for his people and We said to him, ‘Strike the rock with your staff.’ Twelve springs gushed out, and each group knew its drinking place. ‘Eat and drink the sustenance God has provided and do not cause corruption in the land.’

2:61  Remember when you said, ‘Moses, we cannot bear to eat only one kind of food, so pray to your Lord to bring out for us some of the earth’s produce, its herbs and cucumbers, its garlic, lentils, and onions.’ He said, ‘Would you exchange better for worse? Go to Egypt and there you will find what you have asked for.’ They were struck with humiliation and wretchedness, and they incurred the wrath of God because they persistently rejected His messages and killed prophets contrary to all that is right. All this was because they disobeyed and were lawbreakers

2:62  The [Muslim] believers, the Jews, the Christians, and the Sabians- all those who believe in God and the Last Day and do good- will have their rewards with their Lord. No fear for them, nor will they grieve

2:63  Remember when We took your pledge, and made the mountain tower high above you, and said, ‘Hold fast to what We have given you and bear its contents in mind, so that you may be conscious of God.’

2:64  Even after that you turned away. Had it not been for God’s favour and mercy on you, you would certainly have been lost

2:65  You know about those of you who broke the Sabbath, and so We said to them, ‘Be like apes! Be outcasts!’

2:66  We made this an example to those people who were there at the time and to those who came after them, and a lesson to all who are mindful of God

2:67  Remember when Moses said to his people, ‘God commands you to sacrifice a cow.’ They said, ‘Are you making fun of us?’ He answered, ‘God forbid that I should be so ignorant.’

2:68  They said, ‘Call on your Lord for us, to show us what sort of cow it should be.’ He answered, ‘God says it should be neither too old nor too young, but in between, so do as you are commanded.’

2:69  They said, ‘Call on your Lord for us, to show us what colour it should be.’ He answered, ‘God says it should be a bright yellow cow, pleasing to the eye.’

2:70  They said, ‘Call on your Lord for us, to show us [exactly] what it is: all cows are more or less alike to us. With God’s will, we shall be guided.’

2:71  He replied, ‘It is a perfect and unblemished cow, not trained to till the earth or water the fields.’ They said, ‘Now you have brought the truth,’ and so they slaughtered it, though they almost failed to do so

2:72  Then, when you [Israelites] killed someone and started to blame one another- although God was to bring what you had concealed to light

2:73  We said, ‘Strike the [body] with a part of [the cow]’: thus God brings the dead to life and shows His signs so that you may understand

2:74  Even after that, your hearts became as hard as rocks, or even harder, for there are rocks from which streams spring out, and some from which water comes when they split open, and others which fall down in awe of God: He is not unaware of what you do

2:75 So can you [believers] hope that such people will believe you, when some of them used to hear the words of God and then deliberately twist them, even when they understood them

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Reading the therapeutic contract in the Quran

Day # 13

The mind as an object, can science be our religion?

The verses below drew my attention to another form of defence which is taking the mind as an object and another phenomenon which developing object constancy.

Today I will focus on the former.

Winnicott says that “in one extreme case an intellectual overgrowth that is successful in accounting for adaptation to need becomes of itself so important in the child’s economy that it (the mind) becomes the nursemaid that acts as mother-substitute and cares for the baby in the child self.” (Winnicott, 1988)

It made me think of the call for science to be our god and the limitations of a descriptive tool to grasp the Devine but also it being a defence against submission to God.

In the example given in the verses we see how despite the concrete examples given, submission to the Truth is met with resistance. It suggests a superego based stance rather than a conscience based stance.

Donald carveth suggested expanding the structural theory of Id, ego and superego to include ego ideal and conscience. And it is this state of conscientious being that is constantly evoked in remaining mindful of God.

This may suggest that a superego driven personality cannot submit to God and is rooted in the narcissistic wound of separation and inability to accept the vertical relationship of creator and subject.

A conscience driven personality is rooted in the return to the source of goodness and love, which engenders the capacity for concern for others. Thus people who develop a conscience are seen as a threat to the unhealthy organisation which cultivates individualistic or narcissistic tendencies.

Interestingly the Quran maintains that those who are most mindful of God are scientists:

Have you [Prophet] not considered how God sends water down from the sky and that We produce with it fruits of varied colours; that there are in the mountains layers of white and red of various hues, and jet black;

Fatir, Ayah 27

that there are various colours among human beings, wild animals, and livestock too? It is those of His servants who have knowledge who stand in true awe of God. God is almighty, most forgiving.

Fatir, Ayah 28

Thus there is a firm belief in the islamic faith that science and the intellect point to God and make faith easy.

Thus I am inclined to think that science is a secular tool. However it does lead those who awaken their hearts to God. Science or knowledge without mindfulness of God, is a narcissistic project because it ignores the link of subjectivity.

2:44  How can you tell people to do what is right and forget to do it yourselves, even though you recite the Scripture? Have you no sense

2:45  Seek help with steadfastness and prayer- though this is hard indeed for anyone but the humble

2:46  who know that they will meet their Lord and that it is to Him they will return

2:47  Children of Israel, remember how I blessed you and favoured you over other people

2:48  Guard yourselves against a Day when no soul will stand in place of another, no intercession will be accepted for it, nor any ransom; nor will they be helped

2:49  Remember when We saved you from Pharaoh’s people, who subjected you to terrible torment, slaughtering your sons and sparing only your women- this was a great trial from your Lord

2:50  and when We parted the sea for you, so saving you and drowning Pharaoh’s people right before your eyes

2:51  We appointed forty nights for Moses [on Mount Sinai] and then, while he was away, you took to worshipping the calf- a terrible wrong

2:52  Even then We forgave you, so that you might be thankful

2:53  Remember when We gave Moses the Scripture, and the means to distinguish [right and wrong], so that you might be guided

2:54  Moses said to his people, ‘My people, you have wronged yourselves by worshipping the calf, so repent to your Maker and kill [the guilty among] you. That is the best you can do in the eyes of your Maker.’ He accepted your repentance: He is the Ever Relenting and the Most Merciful

2:55  Remember when you said, ‘Moses, we will not believe you until we see God face to face.’ At that, thunderbolts struck you as you looked on

2:56  Then We revived you after your death, so that you might be thankful

2:57  We made the clouds cover you with shade, and sent manna and quails down to you, saying, ‘Eat the good things We have provided for you.’ It was not Us they wronged; they wronged themselves

2:58  Remember when We said, ‘Enter this town and eat freely there as you will, but enter its gate humbly and say, “Relieve us!” Then We shall forgive you your sins and increase the rewards of those who do good.’

2:59 But the wrongdoers substituted a different word from the one they had been given. So, because they persistently disobeyed, We sent a plague down from the heavens upon the wrongdoers

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Reading the therapeutic contract

Day # 12

#organizational theory and the example of the people of Israel

In the previous post I started talking about the organisational perspective in the verses we read, and reflected on the circulatory system necessary for an organisation to function in a healthy way. As the task is handed down, anxiety has to be passed up and held for individuals to carry on with their tasks.

In the following verses the circulatory system is explained through the example of the people of Israel. The verses list psychic defences against being in touch with the truth, like denial, disavowal, misconception, distortion and delusion. But more importantly, they name the internal accountability system that will help deal with the anxiety of the task: being mindful of God and keeping the prayers.

2:38  We said, ‘Get out, all of you! But when guidance comes from Me, as it certainly will, there will be no fear for those who follow My guidance nor will they grieve

2:39  those who disbelieve and deny Our messages shall be the inhabitants of the Fire, and there they will remain.’

2:40  Children of Israel, remember how I blessed you. Honour your pledge to Me and I will honour My pledge to you: I am the One you should fear

2:41  Believe in the message I have sent down confirming what you already possess. Do not be the first to disbelieve in it, and do not sell My messages for a small price: I am the One of whom you should be mindful

2:42  Do not mix truth with falsehood, or hide the truth when you know it

2:43  Keep up the prayer, pay the prescribed alms, and bow your heads [in worship] with those who bow theirs

2:44  How can you tell people to do what is right and forget to do it yourselves, even though you recite the Scripture? Have you no sense

2:45  Seek help with steadfastness and prayer- though this is hard indeed for anyone but the humble

2:46  who know that they will meet their Lord and that it is to Him they will return

2:47  Children of Israel, remember how I blessed you and favoured you over other people

2:48  Guard yourselves against a Day when no soul will stand in place of another, no intercession will be accepted for it, nor any ransom; nor will they be helped

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Reading the therapeutic contract in the Quran

Organisational theory and the story of creation

Day # 11

Organisational theory and the story of creation

We have seen in the previous explorations the intrapsychic relations being internalised or perhaps neural pathways that can exist in one’s mind depending on how they choose to make sense of the external world.

Parallel to that is another realm of realities which operates on an interpersonal level. The psychoanalytic study of groups and organisations looks at how individuals function in groups and organisations and how they unconsciously operate to avoid the anxiety emerging from facing the task assigned to them; which is called the primary task.

People organise themselves around beliefs about what is happening to them, these are called basic assumption groups.

If the organisation does not provide ways to deal with this anxiety, it can lead to rigidity, or burnout amongst other things. (Stokoe, 2021)

In the previous verses, God is about to set up an organisation of people who will succeed one another. Their primary task is to form a successful succession that is not, as the angels predicted, based on corruption and bloodshed.

Surat Al-Baqara

2:30 [Prophet], when your Lord told the angels, ‘I am putting a successor on earth,’ they said, ‘How can You put someone there who will cause damage and bloodshed, when we celebrate Your praise and proclaim Your holiness?’ but He said, ‘I know things you do not.’

Adam and Eve as the first humans face their anxiety for the first time when they are seduced by an enemy and transgress a boundary set by God. They are held to account. According to Stokoe, “It is through the accounting system that the healthy organisation encourages anxiety to be passed up the line.” (Stokoe, 2020, p97)

So the circulatory system, as Stokoe refers to it, is established, a task is handed down and anxiety is passed up the line. The suggestion is that this continuous flow would guarantee the healthy functioning of this new burgeoning society.

So how does this apply to us outside the garden of Eden?

TBC…

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Reading the therapeutic contract in the Quran

Day #10

On reaching the #depressive #position

The depressive position is a concept introduced by Melanie Klein to reflect a psychic maturational process that reflects an infant s capacity to integrate its split experience of the primary carer as two separate part-objects: ideal and loved; persecuting and hated into one integrated object. While at the beginning, the main anxiety is narcissistic and concerned with the survival of the self, in the depressive position, anxiety is also felt on behalf of the object and capacity for concern for the other develops causing guilt and leading to reparation.

In the previous post, I reflected on the psychic meaning of Iblees’ position referring to the narcissistic position. This position belongs to the paranoid schizoid position in Kleinian terms, when one is still split about their internal objects.

Unlike Iblees who is not capable of expressing guilt, Adam does. Thus he works towards the depressive position.

2:37  Then Adam received some words from his Lord and He accepted his repentance: He is the Ever Relenting, the Most Merciful

In his experience of guilt and repentance, there is an acknowledgment of separateness, submission to God, and return to his mercy.

It is in this very act of separation and recognition that our subjectivity as human beings is born, a subjectivity rooted in the duality of the relationship with God, meaning the impossibility of merger. While Iblees fails to assimilate this reality, Adam does. This understanding leads Adam to become God’s subject, a vertical relation with the Devine is established and is the core of the depressive position from an islamic perspective.

In other words the story of creation is also the story of psychic development which can go either way, we are all prone to narcissistic tendencies as well as neurotic anxieties. The mitigating circumstances depend on our relational capacity to reconnect with the source of Goodness, God.

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Reading the therapeutic contact in the Quran

On #Narcissism and #Omnipotence

Day #9

In the following verses we see the seeking drive mentioned earlier being activated. So far Adam and Eve lived in a sublime state where needs were met without the experience of frustration which engenders thought and learning. Now as God has assigned them with a task on earth, they needed to become embodied, situated creatures.

We are also introduced to an antagonist, iblees. The story becomes three dimensional in that we are introduced to a vertical relationship between God and his creatures and a horizontal one between these creatures and a third position where conflict arises and is resolved, and I will try to explain this as we go along.

Two transferential currents can be identified, a neurotic and a narcissistic one.

Iblees represents destructive narcissism. His envy towards Adam and fear of loss of his position of favourite in the eyes of God and the angels leads him to a destructive act, that of severing ties with the source of goodness, God.

While we read this as a story, it equally describes a state of mind and a psychological process emanating from a narcissistic wound. The psychic defence or disease of the heart is narcissism, its symptoms are arrogance and omnipotence.

Interestingly, the root of the word Iblees in Arabic means the one who despairs from God’s mercy. So it is a name that describes the action that leads to narcissism and omnipotence.

2:34  When We told the angels, ‘Bow down before Adam,’ they all bowed. But not Iblis, who refused and was arrogant: he was one of the disobedient

2:35  We said, ‘Adam, live with your wife in this garden. Both of you eat freely there as you will, but do not go near this tree, or you will both become wrongdoers.’

2:36  But Satan made them slip, and removed them from the state they were in. We said, ‘Get out, all of you! You are each other’s enemy. On earth you will have a place to stay and livelihood for a time.’

2:37  Then Adam received some words from his Lord and He accepted his repentance: He is the Ever Relenting, the Most Merciful

2:38 We said, ‘Get out, all of you! But when guidance comes from Me, as it certainly will, there will be no fear for those who follow My guidance nor will they grieve

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Reading the therapeutic contract in the Quran

On the process of #teaching and #learning

Day # 8

I mentioned in the previous post (day # 7) that the life drive seems to go hand in hand with responsibility “I am putting a successor on earth”, relatedness to God “He taught Adam” and knowledge “He taught Adam all the names of things”.

The process of teaching and learning is worth reflecting on at this stage in terms of our own experience as human beings. How does this story relates to us and if God had taught Adam how is that knowledge transmitted to us?

Surat Al-Baqara

2:30  [Prophet], when your Lord told the angels, ‘I am putting a successor on earth,’ they said, ‘How can You put someone there who will cause damage and bloodshed, when we celebrate Your praise and proclaim Your holiness?’ but He said, ‘I know things you do not.’

2:31  He taught Adam all the names [of things], then He showed them to the angels and said, ‘Tell me the names of these if you truly [think you can].&rsquo

2:32  They said, ‘May You be glorified! We have knowledge only of what You have taught us. You are the All Knowing and All Wise.’

2:33  Then He said, ‘Adam, tell them the names of these.’ When he told them their names, God said, ‘Did I not tell you that I know what is hidden in the heavens and the earth, and that I know what you reveal and what you conceal?’

Jaak Panksepp is a neuroscientist and psycho biologist who coined the term “affective neuroscience“, the name for the field that studies the neural mechanisms of emotion. He identified the seeking system which motivates animals and mammals to engage with the external world. Perhaps in psychoanalytic terms this would correspond to the curiosity drive. Our need to engage with the external world to survive produces a by product which is learning (Solms, 2023).

However Islam takes a different view, our need to survive is only to be able to seek and find God. The process of learning is not a by product of the encounter between instinct and environment but an intelligent design that is specific to the human race, endowed with free will; it is the end goal and essence of our human existence. In fact, psychoanalyst and neuropsychologist, Mark Solms in his book, The Hidden Spring, explains that consciousness is a very baffling phenomenon because it is not necessary for our survival which reinforces the idea of a higher objective for our existence.

Hence the capacity to learn which I think these verses refer, is our capacity to understand our environment and decipher its divine laws, something written in our epigenetics

TBC…

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Reading the therapeutic contract in the Quran

Day # 7

The story of creation symbolises a pivotal point in man’s psychic development.

It has so many layers and encompasses many psychoanalytic theories that I hope to be able to break down and lay out in an understandable way.

2:30  [Prophet], when your Lord told the angels, ‘I am putting a successor on earth,’ they said, ‘How can You put someone there who will cause damage and bloodshed, when we celebrate Your praise and proclaim Your holiness?’ but He said, ‘I know things you do not.’

2:31  He taught Adam all the names [of things], then He showed them to the angels and said, ‘Tell me the names of these if you truly [think you can].

2:32  They said, ‘May You be glorified! We have knowledge only of what You have taught us. You are the All Knowing and All Wise.’

2:33  Then He said, ‘Adam, tell them the names of these.’ When he told them their names, God said, ‘Did I not tell you that I know what is hidden in the heavens and the earth, and that I know what you reveal and what you conceal?’

First God tells the angels He is putting successors on earth. They contest and point to man’s destructive propensities. But God says that He knows what they do not know and teaches Adam the names of all things.

There are two perspectives being developed in these verses. One on an individual level and the other on an organisational level.

On an individual level the angels point out the death drive while God reassures them knowing the overriding capacity of the life drive.

Freud suggested in his theory of mind that we are governed by drives that create a sense of need in us. This needs pressures the ego into action to reduce this pressure and meet the need, like eating to reduce the sensation of hunger. He suggested that the life drive is opposed to the self-destructive death instincts or death drives.

In the verses above, both drives are acknowledged. Man’s capacity for love and hate. But the verses also shows a reassurance, that God knows which side will prevail and why.

It also indicates that the life drive goes hand in hand with responsibility, relatedness to God “He taught Adam” and knowledge “He taught Adam all the names of things”

TBC…

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Reading the therapeutic contract in the Quran

Thought of the day

Day # 6

“The term ‘internal object’ means a mental and emotional image of an external object that has been taken inside the self. The character of the internal object is coloured by aspects of the self that have been projected into it. A complex interaction continues throughout life between the world of internalised figures and objects and in the real world (which are obviously also in the mind) via repeated cycles of projection and introjection.”

This definition, from the Melanie Klein trust, is important at this point to understand the psychic process that is being described and developed through the verses we have read and that serve as a preamble to verses 30 to 39.

In Surat Al Fatiha, man identifies and introjects a complete whole Object he can relate to, rely on and submit to. Unlike human internal objects, it is an object that one comes to experience with one’s heart and is guided to with one’s mind.

I wonder if this is a point of divergence between European and Islamic views of the psyche; Islam proposes a heart psyche, while western propensity leans towards a mind psyche. But perhaps this idea will become clearer as we go along.

Internalising God as a complete whole object, that is completely separate from being human, that has no needs, no beginning no end and escapes our human imagination seems to be the task at hand.

The importance of understanding this concept helps then unpick all the projections we as humans direct towards God when we refuse to enter in his peace. Verses 25 to 29 can be viewed as an introduction to this important psychic process that will be symbolised in the story of creation. It reminds us of the separateness and absolute omnipotence of this Object.

To read more on object relations follow this link

Internal objects – Melanie Klein Trust

Surat Al-Baqara

:25  [Prophet], give those who believe and do good the news that they will have Gardens graced with flowing streams. Whenever they are given sustenance from the fruits of these Gardens, they will say, ‘We have been given this before,’ because they were provided with something like it. They will have pure spouses and there they will stay

2:26  God does not shy from drawing comparisons even with something as small as a gnat, or larger: the believers know it is the truth from their Lord, but the disbelievers say, ‘What does God mean by such a comparison?’ Through it He makes many go astray and leads many to the right path. But it is only the rebels He makes go astray

2:27  those who break their covenant with God after it has been confirmed, who sever the bonds that God has commanded to be joined, who spread corruption on the earth- these are the losers

2:28  How can you ignore God when you were lifeless and He gave you life, when He will cause you to die, then resurrect you to be returned to Him

2:29 It was He who created all that is on the earth for you, then turned to the sky and made the seven heavens; it is He who has knowledge of all things

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Reading the therapeutic contract in the Quran

Thought of the day

Day # 5

In psychoanalysis we talk about psychic defences while the Qur’an talks of diseased hearts. So are they the same phenomenon under different labels?

At first I thought they may refer to the same thing. However, in Islam, the foundation of a healthy heart is its connection to God and this is probably where the two concepts part ways.

As mentioned in the previous post, the heart is fed by a stream of external information that comes from its environment. Without the capacity to connect with the purifying source this external flood can sweep us away.

Thus we are introduced to another disease which is arrogance. Equality of men in the eyes of God does not sit well with people who think that they are special. This arrogance corrupts the heart and leads to an interesting phenomenon of turning a blind eye to the truth as reflected in verses 8 to 16.

Verses 17 to 28 of Surat Al Baqara reflect on the impact of the psychological phenomenon of turning a blind eye. Knowing something deep down but deciding against the truth and how misleading this is. Again the antidote to this disease is mindfulness of God and pondering his signs that are all around us.

God in addressing our demand for guidance is listing for us all the diseases our hearts can face and how to cure them.

Surat Al-Abqara

2:8  Some people say, ‘We believe in God and the Last Day,’ when really they do not believe

2:9  They seek to deceive God and the believers but they only deceive themselves, though they do not realize it

2:10  There is a disease in their hearts, to which God has added more: agonizing torment awaits them for their persistent lying

2:11  When it is said to them, ‘Do not cause corruption in the land,’ they say, ‘We are only putting things right,’

2:12  but really they are causing corruption, though they do not realize it

2:13  When it is said to them, ‘Believe, as the others believe,’ they say, ‘Should we believe as the fools do?’ but they are the fools, though they do not know it

2:14  When they meet the believers, they say, ‘We believe,’ but when they are alone with their evil ones, they say, ‘We’re really with you; we were only mocking.’

2:15  God is mocking them, and allowing them more slack to wander blindly in their insolence

2:16  They have bought error in exchange for guidance, so their trade reaps no profit, and they are not rightly guided

2:17  They are like people who [labour to] kindle a fire: when it lights up everything around them, God takes away all their light, leaving them in utter darkness, unable to see

2:18  deaf, dumb, and blind: they will never return

2:19  Or [like people who, under] a cloudburst from the sky, with its darkness, thunder, and lightning, put their fingers into their ears to keep out the thunderclaps for fear of death- God surrounds the disbelievers

2:20  The lightning almost snatches away their sight: whenever it crashes o

2:21  People, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, so that you may be mindful [of Him]

2:22  who spread out the earth for you and built the sky; who sent water down from it and with that water produced things for your sustenance. Do not, knowing this, set up rivals to God

2:23  If you have doubts about the revelation We have sent down to Our servant, then produce a single sura like it- enlist whatever supporters you have other than God- if you truly [think you can]

2:24 If you cannot do this- and you never will- then beware of the Fire prepared for the disbelievers, whose fuel is men and stones

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Reading the therapeutic contract in the Quran

Thought of the day

Day#4

The first five verses detailed the characteristics of those who are mindful of God and who are the guided ones. These characteristics are harnessed and reinforced by the five pillars of Islam which act like a psychological immune booster.

It is then only logical for the verses that follow to address what causes deficiencies and diseases in this immune system. But more importantly what psychic structure is concerned with these efforts.

In verses 6 to 16 we are introduced to the impact of not keeping that relational bond with God on the heart. God speaks of two types of people; those with sealed hearts and those with diseased hearts. Two problems are identified along with two psychic defences: omnipotence and denial.

Al Ghazali, in the Marvels of the Heart, gives a great example of what happens in the heart. He says that if we thought of the heart as a reservoir, it could either be filled by streams pouring into it, or if we dig deep we get to the pure source that feeds it from within.

One may think of disbelief or kufr, as an intent to cover this pure source and not connect with it. Hence the heart becomes sealed to the truth and to the capacity for insight as mentioned in verses 6 and 7.

TBC…

Al Baqara 2:6-16

2:6  As for those who disbelieve, it makes no difference whether you warn them or not: they will not believe

2:7  God has sealed their hearts and their ears, and their eyes are covered. They will have great torment

2:8  Some people say, ‘We believe in God and the Last Day,’ when really they do not believe

2:9  They seek to deceive God and the believers but they only deceive themselves, though they do not realize it

2:10  There is a disease in their hearts, to which God has added more: agonizing torment awaits them for their persistent lying

2:11  When it is said to them, ‘Do not cause corruption in the land,’ they say, ‘We are only putting things right,’

2:12  but really they are causing corruption, though they do not realize it

2:13  When it is said to them, ‘Believe, as the others believe,’ they say, ‘Should we believe as the fools do?’ but they are the fools, though they do not know it

2:14  When they meet the believers, they say, ‘We believe,’ but when they are alone with their evil ones, they say, ‘We’re really with you; we were only mocking.’

2:15  God is mocking them, and allowing them more slack to wander blindly in their insolence

2:16 They have bought error in exchange for guidance, so their trade reaps no profit, and they are not rightly guided

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Reading the therapeutic contract in the Quran

Thought of the day

Day #3

We are not really left hanging… God tells us immediately who are those who are mindful of God

2:3  (those)who believe in the unseen, keep up the prayer, and give out of what We have provided for them

2:4  those who believe in the revelation sent down to you [Muhammad], and in what was sent before you, those who have firm faith in the Hereafter

2:5  Such people are following their Lord’s guidance and it is they who will prosper

We are immediately given the first challenge, we have to believe in the unseen. In the word Ghaib, we also find the meaning of that which is not acquired by the five senses. A challenge to go beyond the mind’s eye. Mindfulness of God requires digging deep but also operates on three relational axis:

⁃ A humbling act of submission to Allah by believing in what He tells us about what is beyond our grasp (an antidote to narcissism)

⁃ A vertical relationship with our lord through prayer that reminds us of the bond with Allah and what each party has contracted for (an antidote to omnipotence)

⁃ A horizontal relationship with others through an act of care: giving out of what they have been given (an antidote to isolation and estrangement)

So the opening guidance works on providing the seeker with an immunological response to internal structures that can lead to deviation from the righteous path.

Hence, the five pillars of Islam, shahadah, zakah, prayer, fasting and pilgrimage, which incorporate this belief in the unseen, work as the foundations and boosters of our psychological immune system and are first and foremost beneficial to us.

So what is this immunological response going to strengthen?

TBC…

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Reading the therapeutic contract in the Quran

Thought of the day

Day 2

Thinking of the Fatiha as the opening of a request and a contracting with God, exalted is He, we can then move to the next chapter Surat Al-Baqara in which there is an immediate acknowledgment of this request, we say “guide us to the straight path” and God responds,

2:1  Alif Lam Mi

2:2  This is the Scripture in which there is no doubt, containing guidance for those who are mindful of God

2:3  who believe in the unseen, keep up the prayer, and give out of what We have provided for them

2:4  those who believe in the revelation sent down to you [Muhammad], and in what was sent before you, those who have firm faith in the Hereafter

2:5  Such people are following their Lord’s guidance and it is they who will prosper

In this response we are immediately introduced to the first hurdle that may prevent from receiving this guidance; namely narcissism and its remedy, mindfulness of God.

I was thinking here about the concept of mindfulness of God as opposed to mindfulness practices today and all the positive psychology that puts man at the centre of the universe.

A mindfulness practice where we put ourself at the centre is a narcissistic practice that boosts one’s ego ideal and makes a person believe that they hold their own answers within and do not need an other.

But what does mindfulness of God mean then?

TBC…

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Ramadan reflections, psychoanalytic perspectives

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Reading the therapeutic contract in the Quran

Thought of the day

Day # 1

Ramadan is the month of Quran and I would like to invite you this month while we seek the benefits of these blessed days and nights to read the therapeutic contract within the verses of the suras that promise us healing, peace of heart and peace of mind. When we engage with therapy, (and to Allah belongs the utmost example of perfection), we go to our therapist with a demand or a problem. We go to someone we know has credentials and expertise to be able to understand our predicaments and help us understand something about them. We tell him our presenting issues and begin therapy.

I invite you to begin your reading with that understanding in mind and note the importance of Surat Al Fatiha. It is our contracting with God Exalted is He. We go to him with that demand. It is then understandable why no prayer is valid without al Fatiha, because every prayer is a reminder of this contract we initiated and an act of engagement that reminds us that God is present for us and we should call upon him at least 5 times a day to remind ourselves.

Surat Al-Fatiha

The Opening

1:1  In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy

1:2  Praise belongs to God, Lord of the Worlds

1:3  the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy

1:4  Master of the Day of Judgement

1:5  It is You we worship; it is You we ask for help

1:6  Guide us to the straight path

1:7 the path of those You have blessed, those who incur no anger and who have not gone astray

So how does God respond?

TBC…

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Ramadan reflections, psychoanalytic perspectives

Subhanallah, I was reading Surat Al-qasas when I came across this sentence in verse 32 When Allah, exhaled is He, is talking to prophet Moses, peace be upon him and He tells him:
.1 And cross your arms tightly to calm your fears.

Watch this video of Peter levine where he explain in minute 2:45 of the video a technique to calm one’s fear in what is considered to be new techniques to work with trauma patients.

It turns out it’s an old technique written hundreds of years ago in the Qur’an 😉

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359540499_Exploring_Object_relations_in_the_Qur’an

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14753634.2021.1916144?journalCode=rpco20