Baseer Maroof, LCSW · Raleigh, NC · Adults 21+

علم النفس الإسلامي

Immersive experience

Step inside: the four parts of the soul

Scroll through the four parts, climb the stages of the nafs, see what dims the heart, and polish it as a mirror.

Enter →
4 aspectsnafs · qalb · ‘aql · rūḥ: one soul, seen whole
1,000+ yearsof writing on the soul, the heart and change
9th centuryal-Balkhī’s treatments that look like modern CBT
You leadfaith comes into therapy only if you want it
رحلة القلب

The heart journey

One sequence, in order: what the heart is, what dims it, and how it is polished.

  1. IThe four partsrūḥ, qalb, ‘aql, nafs, and its stages
  2. IIWhat dims itclogged arteries, black spots
  3. IIIPolishingremembrance, care, and seams of gold
Imam al-Ghazālī · الغزالي

The appetites cloud the mirror

مرآة القلب

For al-Ghazālī the heart is a mirror, made to reflect the realities of things. Wrongdoing tarnishes it; remembrance and obedience polish it.

The two great appetites, of the stomach and of sex, matter here. A full stomach, he writes, brings dullness and a kind of blindness in the heart, while hunger in measure purifies it and sharpens insight (baṣīra). Desire has real goods, but out of balance it can ruin faith and worldly life. His counsel is the middle way.

On this site the same truth gets a second picture: appetites as clogged arteries, wounds as black spots. Those images are this site’s, not his; and a wound, unlike a sin, is never your fault.

Paraphrased from al-Ghazālī, Iḥyā’ ‘Ulūm ad-Dīn: Book 21, The Marvels of the Heart, trans. W. J. Skellie (Fons Vitae, 2010); Books 22–23, trans. T. J. Winter (Cambridge, 1995). See it in the heart →

Explore the map

Eight pages in three clusters. Tap one.

Foundations

3 pages
The model of the soulNafs, qalb, ‘aql and rūḥInteractiveClassical scholarsAl-Balkhī to Ibn al-QayyimTimelineThe field todayBadri, Rothman, Khalil CenterTimeline

Healing

4 pages
Faith and therapyCBT, ACT and DBT bridgesInteractiveWaswas and OCDDoubt, loops, scrupulositySorterGrief and qadrTears, decree, what to sayInteractiveShame and tawbahGuilt that repairsSorter

Getting help

1 page
Clinician or imam?Who helps with what, stigma, crisis numbersGuide

Not sure where to start?

A quick pick

Choose the one that fits right now.

How strong is the evidence?

Bars show how much good research exists. Tap a row for details.

Core therapies: CBT, ACT, DBTStrongWell tested on their own.

The core therapies (CBT, ACT, DBT) have strong evidence on their own. Faith-integration is best thought of as making good therapy fit you better.

Faith-adapted CBTPilot trialAbout as good as standard CBT for depression.

In a pilot trial, religious CBT worked about as well as standard CBT for depression, and slightly better for more religious people (Koenig 2015).

Integrated models like TIIPPreliminaryEarly outcome data from 107 outpatients.

Early outcome data from 107 outpatients; the authors call it preliminary (Khan 2025).

Therapy for depression in this communityFew studiesFew studies, mostly low quality.

A 2013 review found few studies, mostly low quality, and noted that studies rarely separate religion from culture (Walpole 2013).

The classical scholarsHistoryInsight, not trials.

History, not trials. Their ideas are striking, but they are a source of insight, not proof.

“Early” means not enough good studies yet, not “doesn’t work.”

How I use it

In my practice

I studied Sufi Psychology at Cambridge مسلم College and trained in the Dar Al Shifa Method (Level 2; a page on it is coming soon). My work draws on CBT, ACT and DBT. Faith comes in only if you want it. You lead.

Read more

For clients who want it, I can weave in ideas from this tradition; for clients who don’t, therapy stays fully evidence-based and faith never comes up unless you raise it.

Get in touchAbout me

What it is

One person, seen whole.

Old rootsA science of the self, now a clinical field
Whole personHeart, self, intellect and spirit
Open to allRead it as philosophy, history or psychology
Clear linesNot a ruling, not instead of medical care
Read more: what it is, and isn’t
A science of the selfOld roots, new field

The phrase علم النفس (‘ilm al-nafs) is used today for psychology in general, and it literally means “knowledge of the self.” Long before modern psychology, scholars in this tradition wrote about the heart, habits, emotions and how people change. The modern field brings that inheritance into conversation with clinical psychology.

More than therapy with a prayer addedA different picture of a person

Integration means the view of the person shapes the work. Instead of only thoughts, feelings and behaviors, the person is also a soul with a heart that can be clouded or clear, a self with drives that can be trained, and a spirit that longs for meaning. Models like Dr. Abdallah Rothman’s model of the soul and Khalil Center’s TIIP try to build therapy on that picture. (Rothman & Coyle 2018; Keshavarzi et al. 2021)

Welcome if you don’t share the faithFor the curious

Many of these ideas are human ones: that habits can be retrained, that meaning heals, that the body and the soul affect each other, that a heart can be hardened or softened. You can read these pages as philosophy, history or psychology. Nothing here asks you to believe anything.

What it is notClear lines

It is not a replacement for medical care, not a religious ruling, and not a way to spiritualize real illness. The scholars themselves were physicians who treated the body too. As the Prophet ﷺ said, “There is no disease that Allah has created, except that He also has created its treatment” (al-Bukhārī 5678).

A gentle note: education, not rulings or diagnosis

These pages are education, written to be welcoming whether you practice, are questioning, or simply curious. They are not religious rulings (fatwas) and not a diagnosis. For questions of what is permitted or required, ask a qualified scholar. For your health, see a licensed clinician. Often the best care involves both.

Sources

All sources, linked8 references⌄
  1. Rothman A, Coyle A. Toward a framework for علم النفس الإسلامي and psychotherapy: an إسلامي model of the soul. Journal of Religion and Health 2018;57:1731–1744. doi.org/10.1007/s10943-018-0651-x
  2. Rothman A. Developing a Model of علم النفس الإسلامي and Psychotherapy: إسلامي Theology and Contemporary Understandings of Psychology. Routledge, 2021. doi.org/10.4324/9781003104377
  3. Keshavarzi H, Khan F, Ali B, Awaad R (eds). Applying إسلامي Principles to Clinical Mental Health Care: Introducing Traditional إسلاميًا Integrated Psychotherapy. Routledge, 2021. doi.org/10.4324/9781003043331
  4. Khan F, Keshavarzi H, Ahmad H, Ashai S, Sanders P. Application of Traditional إسلاميًا Integrated Psychotherapy (TIIP) and its clinical outcome on psychological distress … Spirituality in Clinical Practice 2025;12(2):147–160. doi.org/10.1037/scp0000350
  5. Koenig HG et al. Religious vs. conventional cognitive behavioral therapy for major depression in persons with chronic medical illness: a pilot randomized trial. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 2015;203:243–251. doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0000000000000273
  6. Walpole SC, McMillan D, House A, Cottrell D, Mir G. Interventions for treating depression in مسلم patients: a systematic review. Journal of Affective Disorders 2013;145:11–20. doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2012.06.035
  7. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 5678 (from Abu Hurayra). sunnah.com
  8. Haque A. Psychology from an إسلامي perspective: contributions of early مسلم scholars and challenges to contemporary مسلم psychologists. Journal of Religion and Health 2004;43:357–377. doi.org/10.1007/s10943-004-4302-z

Related on this site

‘Ilm al-NafsSpiritualityOCDCBTACTDBTDepressionAbout Baseer
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