Did you set any goals for yourself to achieve in the month of Ramadan?
Ramadan is a beautiful month full of blessings, mercy, and forgiveness. It’s also a month of sacrifice, learning, understanding, and love. The days and nights of this month are different and better than other months.1 Families and friends usually enjoy getting together to break their fast and share their meals either at their homes or Mosques. We all know how cherished memories can be made around the dinner table, Ramadan gives Muslims the unique opportunity to gather around the Iftar (breaking fast) table each night for a month. Many long-lasting friendships are built during this Holy Month. Spending more hours at the Mosque seeing other believers and having more gatherings all make this month very sentimental and one of the most beloved months of the year for Muslims.
Ramadan is a great month that gives you a chance to improve yourself to be a better person by helping those who are in need. In this month Muslims not only abstain themselves from eating and drinking but they are supposed to keep themselves away from any negative behavior or habits. We can think of it as a total cleanse body, heart, and soul.
Due to the spiritual awareness in this month, you have a unique chance to focus more on different aspects of “yourself” such as behavioral and mental improvement.
Let me start with this question: have you paid attention to your mental health during Ramadan and how you can improve it?
In this article, you will learn about mental health improvement in Ramadan. How to use this month to have a healthier mind and better behavior.
According to Islam, your physical body is one aspect of your existence and the other side is your soul (nafs). If you delve deeper into the meaning of these two (soul and nafs) they have different meanings but for our purpose, we can use the more popular translation. If you want to have a healthy mind you need to have a healthy soul. This is what has been rejected in modern psychology. They tried to deny the spiritual factors and only relate your health to the physical dimensions of your body. They believe you are only what you can perceive with your five senses.
Traditionally, the name of this major “psychology” was the knowledge of soul (Ilm-ul -nafs). In Arabic, it is still called علم النفس
According to Al-Balkhi (850-934), the body and soul both can be either healthy or sick. This happens when they are either “balanced or imbalanced”. Signs of imbalance in the body are different ailments such as aches and pains, while an imbalance in the soul results in related symptoms such as anxiety, depression or anger. 2
Therefore, when we talk about our mental health we are not only referring to our brain and mind, which are only one side of our existence but also about our soul and nafs. In order to achieve the mental health, you need to look for a healthier soul. Your soul should become better.
If these two crucial aspects of one’s self (physical body and soul) are not in balance the person might struggle with finding the peace in life.
Now let’s talk about mental health in Ramadan:
Ramadan provides a great opportunity for you to build a good balance between your physical body and your soul. Also, to make the balance between your soul and your mind.
People pay hundreds of dollars for cleanses and boot camps annually. Here we have Ramadan a very unique, comprehensive, and motivationally driven “program” that should be followed correctly in order to reap its full benefits. These benefits include but are not limited to spiritual, physical, social, and also mental health.
First, let’s define mental health:
Mental health is a status that is achieved once the soul is practicing to reach its full potential (salvation) and being away from any factors that disturb its peace.
Therefore, those factors that can hurt and disturb your mind are originally those factors which hurt your soul.
Once you achieve a healthier soul you will have a healthier mind.
We will now have a deeper look at mental health and those factors which disturb it:
Let’s review those factors that can threaten your mental health. According to Quran and traditions:
1- Following the desires of your ego 3
2- Arrogance 4
3- Jealousy 5
4- Animosity 6
5- Lying 7
6- Backbiting 8
7- Accusation 9
8- Mockery10
9- Anger 11
10- Addiction to sins 12
11- Hard heartedness 13
Islam believes these factors are the most dangerous factors that can threaten your spiritual health. Once it disturbs your spiritual health it will certainly threaten your mental health as well.
If someone’s soul, is infected by any of these factors, he or she cannot reach ultimate salvation and peace.
Those who suffer from mental issues know that any mental issue is like a layer over their healthy self which covers that mirror and doesn’t let it reflect the light. These factors have the same effect of your soul, they cover your heart with layers which prevent your heart from absorbing and reflecting the light it receives.
How to deal with it?
You have two ways to fix these issues:
1- Prevention
2-Treatment
Of course, treatment is much more difficult than prevention.
Prevention can start all the way from birth and last throughout your lifespan. A constant observation of your soul and updates on a regular base. One should always be ahead of any issues they may face when it comes to their soul and make sure it is in line with their spirituality. Although this is a tedious job is less complicated than treatment.
For treatment, we have different factors that can help you. (If you are reading this article like most of us you are looking for answers to help you overcome some of the factors mentioned earlier.)
Hadith narrated from Imam Ali (PBUH) says: “Fasting of the heart is better than fasting of the tongue, and fasting of the tongue is better than fasting of the stomach.”14.
Abstaining your stomach from eating and drinking for certain hours a day for a month has a lot of physical benefits for your body such decrease blood pressure, promote heart health, etc. Therefore, the fasting of the heart (soul) should be able to benefit your mind and psychological well-being. Blocking your soul from the effects of those factors can cleanse it and bring you a healthier state of mind.
Steps towards treatment:
1- Diagnosis:
First, you should be able to diagnose what factors you may be facing before you look for any treatment. Many people have difficulty with this step and do not know or do not believe they are infected by any of these factors. In psychology, we call it denial stage, “Anosognosia”, from the Greek meaning “to not know a disease.
Okay, let’s get more practical:
Which of these factors do you think you possess or have had people tell you that you have?
Make a list of your deficiencies. Any possible threat you find. Think about what people usually criticize you about? Or a certain behavior you usually feel guilty about? Be diligent and truthful with yourself.
Now prioritize them, which one is more vital to be worked on? Which one is affecting your life more? Which one have you had difficulties to overcome in the past? Which is hurting you?
Warning: Many people who fail to work and cleanse their soul from these factors tend to ignore them finally or avoid anyone or anything that might remind them of their issues. This sources can be a good friend, a good advisor, or even the mosque where they hear more about these factors.
Matter of fact this step has been recommended a lot in Islam. Self-calculation (محاسبه), by observing your behaviors and actions to make sure you are aware of your own deficiencies.
الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ) : مَن حاسَبَ نفسَهُ وقَفَ على عُيوبِهِ، وأحاطَ بذُنوبِهِ ، واسْتَقالَ الذُّنوبَ ، وأصْلَحَ العُيوبَ
Imam Ali (a.s.) said, ‘He who takes account of his soul will understand his defects and know his sins. He will repent for the sins and amend the defects. 15
2- Self-Cognitive therapy:
Use cognitive strategies to learn more about your issues. If your doctor diagnoses you with something, what will you do first? Start researching about it, learning more about it, what causes it, what triggers it, what are the things that you should do or not do to maximize your health. You take it very seriously.
Why should we not be the same when it comes to our mental and spiritual health? Once you realize that your primary issue is anger the first step is to gain more information about this issue. For instance, what is anger? When do you usually become angry? What are the triggers? What are your symptoms?
The more you study your behavior and your soul the more self-awareness you will build. And ultimately you will become more aware of what factors you are facing.
3- Self-Behavioral therapy:
Be mindful of your issue (especially during the days of Ramadan).
The whole day try to remind yourself about this issue. Keep observing your behavior and keep track of any suspicious behavior you show that reminds you of your issue. You have to be fully aware of your behavior at this level.
Remember you don’t have that much time, Ramadan is only a month long. But don’t let that discourage you, you will set yourself up for the rest of the year.
You can even take notes or set a reminder on your phone to remind yourself of it at the beginning of each hour “Are you controlling your anger?” “Haste makes waste! Being patient?”
4- Ask others; spouse, parents, friends to remind you about your goal in Ramadan. You can ask your spouse or your friend to remind you that you are working on this project once they feel you are showing the symptoms.
5- Keep track of your progress. If today you had 3 episodes of anger tomorrow you should try to reduce it to 2 and so forth.
6- Keep a journal, record how your day went each night.
7- Exposure therapy:
Test your progress in an easy situation. For instance, Purposely put yourself in similar situations that you would normally lose your temper. This will ensure that if you have truly mastered it and you can control yourself.
“Make sure that this is a situation that you have confidence that you will be able to test yourself”
8- Reward yourself: You can also set your reward before you start the whole project and know what you will be rewarding yourself in the case you successfully achieve your goal.
You can use the same template for any of the factors that we mentioned.
Yes, it is a challenge to be able to achieve mental health in Ramadan. But this month is all about proving to ourselves just how strong our self-control can be.
Once you are working on these steps you should know that you are now working on improving your piety and virtue. This is what we call in Islam Taqwa (God-Consciousnesses) the most important action in Ramadan.
How Ramadan can improve my mental well-being:
1- Boosts your self-esteem:
Fasting in Ramadan alone can boost your self-esteem and confidence. Imagine during this month you are able to will yourself to abstain from eating and drinking which are among our basic needs. The fact that someone has this much strength and control over their nafs they naturally will have higher self-esteem because of it. This will bring more confidence and hope for the individual to be able to accomplish any goal during this month.
Just remember many people who are not used to fasting consider it to be impossible to deprive themselves of eating and drinking for even a day.
The statistics show that in Muslim countries we have less crime, less social issues, and fewer suicide rates during this month compared to the whole year.
2- Time for thinking:
Make sure you use your free time during this month to spend on thinking and pondering.
The more you think the better you will get in mental awareness. Think about your behavior, how many people usually complaint against you, about your behavior. Are people comfortable around you?
3- Patience:
Since you practice your patience with food and drink and you don’t get close to them, try to have more patience with your behavior as well. It’s the same act of self-control you just need more practice.
استعینوا بالصبر والصلوه
Seek help through patience and prayer. 16
4- Be aware of the distractions:
Phone, Social media, TV, friends, can be a big distraction to kill your opportunities in this month. Just be aware of it.
There might be some other distractions or obstacles which can distract or totally block you from using this opportunity such as “high expectations”.
Once again I congratulate you for being blessed with this great month and also for your interest in improving your mental health during this month.
Ramadan comes and goes very fast take advantage of it before you miss it…
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References:
1- Khutba Shabania, prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
2- Deuraseh, Nurdeen; Abu Talib, Mansor (2005). “Mental health in Islamic medical tradition”. The International Medical Journal. 4 (2): 76–79.
3- Holy Quran 45:3
4- Holy Quran 31:18
5- Holy Quran 113:5
6- Holy Quran 49:10, Kanz al-Ummal, 3/58/5481
7- Holy Quran 10:69
8- Holy Quran 49:12
9- Holy Quran 4:112, Usul al-Kafi, 7/19
10- Holy Quran 49:11
11- Holy Quran 3:134
12- Holy Quran 30:10, 2:7
13- Holy Quran 5:13, 39:22
14- Ghurar al-Hikam, 1/417/80
15- Ghurar al-Hikam, 2/409/ 8927
16- Holy Quran 2:45