Religious Beliefs as a Practical Therapeutic Tool — Part 3 of 3

This is Part 3 of a three-part series on religious beliefs as a cognitive strategy in psychotherapy.

Part 1: Religious Beliefs and Human Nature

Part 2: Psychology Theories and the Islamic Perspective

Religious Beliefs: A Preventive and Therapeutic Foundation

Religious beliefs are, in essence, a complete and safe system of life — preventive and therapeutic. They provide continuity, reduce anxiety, tension, and depression, and help a person accept illness and hardship. The religious conscience is a protection system for human beings: it reduces the space for conflict and problems and stands as a barrier against psychological disorder, addiction, and self-harm.

In this regard, Dr. Mohammad Mehaidat provided a number of patients with a file containing texts from Quranic verses and hadith related to health and illness, along with wise sayings and proverbs. The response was notably positive: some photographed many of the pages, some requested complete copies, and some reported that this material had a significant effect — approximately 90% — in improving their psychological state. Family members of patients also expressed relief and gratitude.

How to Approach Illness

As noted earlier, people instinctively turn to God when misfortune strikes, because the faith foundation exists — particularly belief in divine decree — and this itself provides a degree of natural psychological self-healing.

When a patient says "Alhamdulillah — this is from God," this signals an opening: the therapist can build on this to deepen the patient's engagement with the concept of divine decree, strengthening their connection with God. This helps achieve psychological balance and relief from tension, anxiety, and depression.

The therapist can remind the patient of Quranic verses relevant to their situation and encourage them to reflect on the words. This lifts the patient toward elevated meanings beyond the illness and its difficulties — and is itself a cognitive-behavioral intervention.

Equally, the therapist can encourage the patient to strengthen their connection with God, drawing on how the prophets maintained their relationship with the Creator — trusting completely — and how their prayers were answered, and how problems that seemed unsolvable to human eyes were resolved by God's power.

Stories of the Prophets as a Therapeutic Tool

When we present patients with stories or examples of faith, reliance on God, and patience — accounts of connection with the Creator through supplication and remembrance — we are in effect presenting a set of events, thoughts, and behaviors. These thoughts interact with the patient's cognitive functions and must affect their feelings and then their behavior, opening horizons of optimism, peace, and problem-solving.

The story of Prophet Yusuf contains many trials for him and for his father Yaqub — lasting forty years. Yet the ending was joyful.

The story of Prophet Ibrahim: he began life searching for God by instinct, opposing his father and people in their worship of idols and destroying the idols. They sentenced him to be burned. They spent four months preparing the fire for him, and he was launched into it by catapult — yet God's care protected him.

The story of Prophet Musa: trials began in his infancy when God commanded his mother to place him in the river. God said: "We will return him to you and make him one of the messengers." When commanded to deliver his mission, he said: "My Lord, expand for me my chest and ease for me my task."

These stories serve a dual function: they reshape the patient's thinking, and they serve as a source of psychological support. When stories of others who have experienced similar hardship are presented, the patient gains a sense of reassurance and calm, reducing tension and anxiety. The human being is the same in every era — the same problems, the same suffering, the same feelings.

God highlighted the importance of these stories: "And all that We relate to you of the stories of the messengers — with it We strengthen your heart. And in these stories came the truth and an exhortation and a reminder for the believers" (Hud, 120).

Supplication and Maintaining Connection with God

Supplication is communication with the Creator — establishing reliance on Him and good faith in Him.

God says: "Call upon Me — I will respond to you." And: "When My servants ask you about Me, I am indeed near. I respond to the supplication of the one who calls upon Me."

The daily supplications of the morning and evening function as a behavioral program for the person's daily life — a behavioral modification that provides psychological and preventive protection.

God says in a Hadith Qudsi: "I am as My servant thinks of Me. I am with him when he remembers Me. If he remembers Me within himself, I remember him within Myself; if he remembers Me in an assembly, I remember him in an assembly better than it. If he draws near to Me by a hand's span, I draw near to him by a forearm's length; if he draws near to Me by a forearm's length, I draw near to him by an arm's length; and if he comes to Me walking, I come to him at speed" (Al-Bukhari and Muslim).

Belief in Divine Decree

Belief in divine decree is closely connected to the concept of patience. Patience involves the stabilization of the self and the management of emotions and feelings. It leads to an increased capacity to bear responsibility.

The therapist can help the patient reframe the experience of illness or disability. Instead of "you are disabled," one might say: "You are in a test of faith and patience — God has temporarily taken from you the ability to move in order to test you, and then will show you the result. In reality, you can live your life like others — you live with your family, you sleep safely in your home — while there are physically healthy people who cannot find food or shelter."

God says: "And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger..." The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "When God loves a servant, He tests them" and "Whoever loses their sight and bears it with patience — I find no reward for them but Paradise."

Prayer and Nourishing the Soul

The human being is made of body and soul. The body has needs that require satisfaction — and so does the soul. We feel psychological comfort and peace when the spiritual needs are met. This spiritual nourishment is the most elevated form of satisfaction, achieved through the soul's connection with its Creator.

The Prophet, peace be upon him, would say at the time of the call to prayer: "Give us rest through it, Bilal" — meaning: let us pray to nourish our souls. Prayer is a form of connection with the great Creator.

Listening to the Quran

A comparative study was conducted on two groups of patients — one that listened to the Quran, and one that did not. The group that listened to the word of God showed faster improvement than the second group. Positive effects were also observed among non-Muslim patients when listening to the Quran.

Summary

Religious beliefs exist within every Muslim person regardless of the level of their faith. This creates a shared foundation for the therapeutic relationship.

Other therapeutic approaches require explanation and clarification before the patient understands the concept of treatment and its steps. By contrast, when Quranic verses and hadith are used, the patient welcomes this faith-based material readily — expressing comfort and relief in their feelings.

"Verily, in the remembrance of God do hearts find rest." (Ar-Ra'd, 28)