PSYCHOLOGY OF CONSCIOUSNESS FROM AN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE
Alizi Alias (Asst. Prof. Dr.)
Department of Psychology
International Islamic University Malaysia
Jalan Gombak
53100 Kuala Lumpur
03-20565096
alizi@iiu.edu.my
ABSTRACT
The objective of this paper is to provide an Islamic perspective on consciousness. This is
a theoretical paper based on reviews of past secondary sources of Islamic and psychology
literature. First, the paper will provide a philosophical overview on the concept of
consciousness and the Islamic evaluation of secular philosophical approach to
understanding consciousness. Second, the paper will analyse and evaluate selected topics
in consciousness namely, biological rhythms, sleep, dream, psychoactive drugs, and
alternate state of consciousness from Islamic perspective separating between facts and
theories. The Islamic perspective will include Qur’anic verses, Prophetic Hadiths, stories
of the Prophets and Companions, and the work of early Muslim scholars using terms
familiar to contemporary psychology. Third, the paper will suggest an integrated model
of consciousness from an Islamic perspective which includes the element of soul as an
important variable. Finally, based on the integrated model, the paper will give suggestion
future research in consciousness that can further reinforce the idea of Islamic psychology
of consciousness. In the end, the paper intends to show that understanding the principles
of consciousness can leads us to appreciate more the oneness and greatness of Allah and
helps us fulfil our role as his servant (`ibadah role) in a better way. Throughout the
paper, it is highlighted that applying the principles of consciousness can help us fulfil our
role as the vicegerent of Allah (khilafah role) by improving the effectiveness of our
da`wah (propagating Islam) and tarbiyyah (educational training).
Alias, A. (2008). Psychology of consciousness from an Islamic perspective.
Unpublished manuscript. Department of Psychology, International Islamic
University Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Note that this is an unedited first draft as of August 19, 2008 and used for teaching
purpose only. Therefore, it may have a lot of grammatical, punctuation, and spelling
mistakes.
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INTRODUCTION
The objectives of this paper are: (1) to provide an Islamic overview on the concept of
consciousness, (2) to evaluate secular psychology of consciousness from an Islamic
perspective, (3) to integrate various theories and research in consciousness to form an
Islamic model of psychology of consciousness, and (4) to give suggestion for future
research in consciousness that can strengthen the idea of Islamic psychology of
consciousness. The paper presupposes that the audiences have a working knowledge of
consciousness including familiarity with the concept of biological rhythms, sleep,
dreams, psychoactive drug, and alternate state of consciousness. Therefore, this paper
will focus more on evaluation of contemporary secular psychology of consciousness as
opposed to description of it. But, before that, the paper will first discuss on the idea of
Islamisation of the psychology of consciousness itself.
ISLAMISATION OF CONSCIOUSNESS: IS IT POSSIBLE?
There are elements in the psychology of consciousness which are in the realm of exact
sciences (e.g. biological rhythms and drug abuse) and there are elements in it which have
several theories. Therefore, using Badri’s (2003) as guide, it can be said that there is no
need to Islamise the biological rhythms and psychoactive drug. On the other hand, the
topics of sleeps and dreams which contain various theories may need a lot of Islamisation
work.
However, some degree of Islamisation work is still needed in all aspects of
consciousness in terms of rulings on going against the natural biological rhythms and
abusing drugs, integration between what has been found by contemporary scientific
psychology and what has been said by Islam (in the Qur’an and Hadith and early Muslim
scholars) on various issues in consciousness, promotion on the beauty and the wisdom
(hikmah) of Allah’s creation, promotion of the concept of soul when studying sleep,
dreams, and alternate state of consciousness, and application of principles of
consciousness to fulfil the role of `abid and khalifah.
ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHICAL OVERVIEW OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Islam requires Muslims to believe in the dual nature of man (body and spirit). The
conscious elements of human nature come from the fact that the body is created from
clay (Qur’an, 18: 37; 22: 5; 30: 20; 35: 11; 40: 67; 38: 71; 6: 2, 7: 12, 23: 12; 32: 7; 37:
11; 38: 71, 76) whereas the unconscious elements of human nature originates from the
spirit breathed unto it (Qur’an, 32: 9; 15: 29; 38: 72), showing that human behaviour and
mental process are products of both conscious and unconscious factors.
The issue of consciousness (and unconsciousness) are embedded in all basic areas
of Islam namely `aqidah (Islamic creed), `ibadah (Islamic worship) and akhlaq (Islamic
morality) which are actually a form of mental processes, behaviour, and affective state.
In terms of `aqidah, Islam believes that all human being has an unconscious motive to
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profess a true religion, while the effort to find one is considered a conscious activity. In
terms of `ibadah, Islam believes that those who are unconscious (sleep, crazy, and minor)
are exempted from performing `ibadah, but the effort to perform it in a perfect way is
considered a conscious activity. Finally, in terms of akhlaq, Islam believes that the mind
can reach an “unconscious” state when you’re near to Allah, whereas the effort to be near
to Him is considered as a conscious activity.
Usually, we are aware of our own behaviour and the reasons behind it (Qur’an 10:
41; 5: 105; 6: 60; 9:94, 105) as well as our mental processes and the reasons underlying
them (Qur’an, 34: 46; 2: 219, 266; 6: 50; 3: 191). Sometimes, however, we think or do
things without much awareness or reason (Qur’an, 2: 80, 169; 3: 66; 16: 74), which may
include being influenced by the devil (Qur’an, 114: 4-5; 7: 27; 35: 6; 17: 62; 2: 169; 5:
91; 7: 16-17) or our own lust (hawa) (Qur’an 4: 135; 37: 26; 7: 176; 18: 28; 20: 16;
28:50). In fact, Islam even acknowledges the unconscious sexual motives (which would
be of interest to psychodynamic perspective) as illustrated by the wife of Al-`Aziz who
wanted to seduce Joseph (PBUH) but eventually the soul triumphed over the base sexual
desires (Qur’an, 12: 23, 32; see also 24: 33). Thus, despite our behaviour and mental
processes being influenced by conscious or unconscious factors, ultimately, our
behaviour and thoughts are guided by the soul (Qur’an, 16: 93; 27: 84, 90; 29: 8-9, 55;
31: 15; 32: 13-15; 36: 54; 37: 39; 39: 7; 43: 72; 45: 28; 66: 7; 77: 43-44).
In most of the Qur’anic verses mentioned, it is the iman or faith (closely related to
the soul) that plays a stronger role leading to conscious behaviour and mental processes.
In most of the Qur’anic verses too, Allah has reminded human beings to be aware of
conscious and unconscious influences. There are several hadiths in the book of Sahih
Muslim that encourage us to ask for Allah’s forgiveness for the sins that we have done,
consciously or unconsciously, and that Allah knows better what is in our unconscious
(e.g., Book 4, No. 0980, No. 1691, No. 1695, No. 6563). Eventually, it is the conscious
effort of performing supplication (du`a’), to ask for forgiveness, and to seek divine
guidance (hidayah) is what matters. In a famous hadith, the Prophet (PBUH) said:
“There are three (persons) whose actions are not recorded: a sleeper till he awakes, a boy
till he reaches puberty, and a lunatic till he comes to reason” (narrated by Abu Dawud,
Book 3, No. 4389), implying that Islam acknowledges the unconscious factors when
assigning rewards and punishment to behaviours.
Islam gives a balanced view of the factors that we are aware of (self,
environmental factors, and some cognitive factors) and unaware of (unconscious motives,
biological, and some cognitive factors), and also introduces the element of the soul as a
factor that can moderate these influences for better understanding.
CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS
Circadian rhythms refer to biological changes occurring on a 24-hour cycle where our
energy level, mood, learning, and alertness all vary throughout the day. The most
obvious product of circadian rhythms is sleep-wake cycle.
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Al-Qur’an mentioned that Allah has created night for rest and daylight for objects to be
visible to people (See Al-Qur’an, 10: 67, 27: 86, 40: 61, 78: 9-11, 25: 47, 28: 72-72).
And in most of these verses, Allah reminds us that these are signs of Allah in this world
or reminds us to be thankful to Him.
SLEEP
Sleep is one of the signs of Allah that can be used to gain hidayah (divine guidance). AlQur’an (30: 23) mentioned that: “And among His signs is your sleep by night and by day,
and your seeking of His bounty. Verily, in that are indeed signs for a people who listen.”
Al-Qur’an (78: 9) further mentioned that: “And We have made sleep as the thing for
rest.” Sleep is also important for security, physical, and psychological reasons (AlQur’an 8: 11). Sleep is even being compared to death (Al-Qur’an, 6: 60) whereas waking
up is compared to resurrection (Al-Qur’an, 25: 47).
It is amazing that Allah made people always need to sleep and scientists and
psychologists are still wondering why people go to sleep. They have put forward at least
three theories to explain it: (1) repair/restoration theory, (2) memory consolidation
theory, and (3) evolutionary theory.
According to the repair/restoration theory, people sleep to restore bodily energy
reserves, repair the condition of muscles and cells and to allow growth to occur. This
supports various Qur’anic verses mentioned before about the function of sleeps (or
nights) for rest or to reserve energy. The problem with this theory is it does not highlight
that there are other functions of sleep (as will be stated later) apart from reserving energy.
In fact, restoration theory cannot explain why the Prophet (PBUH) and Sahabah (RAA)
were able to reduce their sleeping time to perform `ibadah and when involved in jihad.
This shows that soul may play an important role in defining the needs to get sleep for
rest.
In memory consolidation theory, sleep is said to facilitate the reinforcement of
information in memory. This idea may support the Qur’anic verse mentioned before (8:
11) which was revealed during the Badr war that sleep is required to strengthen the
Muslims physically (“to make your feet firm”) and psychologically (“to strengthen your
heart”) where memory is a type of psychological (or even spiritual) functioning. AlKindi, an early Muslim scholar, had a relatively similar idea that said that sleep is a
cognitive process in the absence of external sensory stimulation (Al-Najati, 1993). In
other words, it may be that whatever has been stored in the memory during the wakeful
state may be reinforced further during sleep time even though there is no sensory
stimulation take place. However, Islam also, at the same time, discourages too much
sleeping which needs further explanation why certain people oversleep. Furthermore, the
Qur’anic verse and also Al-Kindi’s ideas do not limit the functions of sleep to memory
only, but also cognition in general, plus physical and psychological functioning. In other
words, memory consolidation theory cannot explain other beneficial things about sleep
except for reinforcement of memory, including not be able to explain why prayers are
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better than sleep, as mentioned in the adhan (the call to prayer) at fajr (dawn). This
shows that soul factor needs to be considered to understand when sleep is beneficial and
when it is not.
Finally, evolutionary theory believes that the function of sleep evolved from our
ancestors need to conserve energy when food gathering is completed (or is more
difficult), and to avoid damage from nocturnal predators or accidents by remaining
motionless. This theory may be indirectly related to a Qur’anic verse (113: 3) where
human beings are asked to ask protection from the darkness of the night (which may
include predators, nocturnal animals, criminals, and sihr or black magic). However, as a
whole, the concept of evolution itself is questionable scientifically and Islamically (see
another of the author’s article on ‘Biological Psychology’). Including the soul variable
may lead us to broaden the concept of damage and also avoid us from believing in the
evolution concepts that reject the idea of God and divine intervention.
In general, Al-Qur’an mentioned that sleep is for resting (which may include
restoring energy, facilitating memory processes, or even protection). But, the secular
theories of sleep failed to highlight that night time (esp. the last one-third of it) is better
used for personal one-to-one prayer to Allah. Imam al-Bukhari had set aside a specific
chapter in his book ‘Sahih Bukhari’ to compile various hadiths on night prayer (Vol. 3,
Book 32). `Ulama (Islamic scholars) had also reported the adab (manners) of sleeping to
maximise the benefits of sleep which are still a mystery to modern science, if soul factor
is to be rejected.
DREAM
The topic of dream has received considerable attention in Islam. Al-Qur’an had
mentioned the dreams of Prophet Joseph (AS) in a single chapter (12: 4-6, 36, 43-44, 99109), the dream of Moses’ (AS) mother (20: 39), and even the dreams of Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH) (8: 44-46, 48: 27). Imam Bukhari had compiled nearly 100 hadiths
on dreams (and their interpretations) in his book ‘Sahih Bukhari’ in a single chapter (Vol.
9, Book 87) and most of the same hadiths are also reported by Imam Muslim in single
chapter too in his book ‘Sahih Muslim’ (Book 29). This shows how important this topic
is in Islamic traditions.
Islam, as stated in a hadith, classifies dreams into three (Al-Bukhari, Vol. 9, Book
87, No. 144): (a) good dreams, (b) evil dreams, and (c) dreams that originated from the
nafs/self. The first is interpreted as glad-tidings from Allah, the second is suggested by
the devil to frighten the dreamer, whereas the third is a reflection of one’s thoughts and
experiences which one has during wakeful state. Obviously, if psychology were to
incorporate all these three types of dream, it has to accept the concept of soul because it
involves believing in the existence of God and supernatural beings like the devils.
As with the phenomenon of sleep, scientists and psychologists are still puzzled
over the reason people dream. They have put forward at least five theories to explain it:
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(1) reverse learning theory, (2) activation synthesis theory, (3) reprogramming theory, (4)
problem-solving theory, and (5) wish fulfilment theory.
According to reverse learning theory, dream is just a random and meaningless byproduct and it acts to “clean” the brain. This idea may support the Islamic idea of dreams
that come from self where it is only a by-product based on what has been experienced
during the wakeful state. However, the theory is useless in explaining the other two types
of dreams i.e. good dreams and evil dreams. In fact, in may be dangerous to `aqidah if it
interprets all dreams (including good and bad dreams) are by-products which are
meaningless and need to be cleaned, and thus rejecting the concept of God and devils.
The second theory i.e. activation synthesis theory believes that dreams are just
meaningless results of random brain activity (without perceiving it as a by-product). This
too may support the Islamic idea of dreams that come from self where it is only a random
brain activities influenced by experiences encountered during wakefulness. This idea is
even supported by two early Muslim scholars, Ibn Hazm and Ibn Miskawayh who said
that dreams are influenced by what we sense and stored in the memory (Al-Najati, 1993).
However, it still lacks description of Islamic concept of good and evil dreams.
Interpreting those two dreams as meaningless reinforces the secular ideas of rejecting the
soul or spiritual factors like God and devils.
Another theory is the reprogramming theory which postulates that dreams are
interpretation of assimilation of new information received during the day. Again, this
theory may support Islamic idea of dreams that come from self. Even and early Muslim
scholar by the name of Al-Kindi have the same idea when he said that dreams are pure
spiritual learning processes in the absence of sensory learning processes (Al-Najati,
1993). However, this theory may reject the other two types of dreams mentioned in
Islam. This is because good dreams come from Allah and are not based on information
received during the day. Similarly, evil dreams come from the devils which are not
exactly based information received during the wakeful state. As expected, soul factor has
to be accepted to explain the concept of dream comprehensively.
The fourth theory is the problem-solving theory. It theorises that dreams are
meaningful way of considering worries or problems from conscious everyday life and it
may use metaphors and may provide solutions for problems. Similarly, this theory may
support the Islamic idea of dreams that come self. In fact, it may also support the concept
of good dreams (although superficially) that provide solutions for problems in the form of
glad-tidings from Allah. However, interpreting that the evil dreams as possible solutions
to problems can be dangerous to human being. That is why extending the types of
dreams to include evil dreams that come from the devils is necessary to explain the
phenomenon better. However, this requires soul factor to be accepted in psychology.
Finally, wish fulfilment theory believes that dreams are disguised expressions of
unconscious desires and impulses. Obviously, this type of dream can only explain the
Islamic idea of dreams that come from self. It is not totally wrong however because AlFarabi and Al-Ghazali, two early Muslim scholars, also said that dreams are fantasy
processes (between rational and sensory empirical processes) and can be, surprisingly
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similar to Freud’s idea, a type of defense mechanism. However, this theory may interpret
that true dreams that come from Allah are only unconscious desires and impulses. This
will make human being missed the opportunity for spiritual guidance. In addition, this
theory may interpret bad dreams as come from the innocent self (and has to be
psychoanalysed) when in fact, they come from the devils.
In short, current theories can be accepted insofar as normal dreams are concerned,
not the good dream (except problem solving theory) and the bad dreams. The secular
theories neglect the influence of the soul (spiritual soul, not just self) and also
supernatural factors like God and devils.
REFERENCES
Al-Najati, M. U. (1989). Al-hadith al-nabawiyy wa `ilm al-nafs. Beirut:
Dar al-Shuruq.
Al-Najati, M. U. (1987). Al-Qur’an wa `ilm al-nafs. Beirut: Dar alShuruq.
Al-Najati, M. U. (1993). Al-dirasat al-nafsaniyyah `inda `ulama’ almuslimin Beirut Dar: al-Shuruq.
Taha, Z. B. (1995). `Ilm al-nafs fi al-turath al-`arabiyy al-Islamiyy.
Khartoum, Sudan: Matba`ah Jami`ah al-Khartum.
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