Grief and Depression Management in Islam

291 Pages·2022·3.792 MB·English

by  Tahir Ridha Jaffer

Grief &
Depression
Management
in Islam

Tahir Ridha Jaffer
Grief & Depression Management in Islam
Author: Tahir Ridha Jaffer
Publisher: Ansariyan Publications
First Print: 2022 - 1444 - 1402
Quds Press
Pages: 290
Quantity: 1000
Size: 176 x 250 mm
ISBN: 978-964-219-778-1
´
CONTENTS

Transliteration Table ................................................................................ i
Introduction ............................................................................................ iii
1. Understanding Grief and Melancholy as Part of the Human Condition
................................................................................................................ .1
Causes of Grief and Depression .............................................................. 2
Identifying Depression in Individuals: The Signs .................................. 11
Types of Depression .............................................................................. 17
Modern Science and Remedies for Depression ...................................... 19
Generally Accepted Methods for Alleviation of Depression ................... 23
2. Grief, Depression and Religion .......................................................... 32
Grief and Melancholy in the Abrahamic Traditions .............................. 38
Judaism ............................................................................................. 38
Christianity ....................................................................................... 43
Other Religious Traditions ................................................................... 47
3. Islam and Management of Grief and Depression ............................... 52
The Typology of Tears .......................................................................... 53
Factors that Cause or Compound Grief and Sadness ............................. 56
Reflection on Verses of the Qurʾān ........................................................ 61
Grief and its Causes in the Traditions of the Infallibles ......................... 69
Islam and the Permissibility of Weeping for the Dead ........................... 73
Mourning for the Ahl al-Bayt (a) .......................................................... 75
Condoling the Bereaved ........................................................................ 77
Patience and its Rewards ....................................................................... 81
Islamic Teachings for Managing and Alleviating Depression ................. 86
General Islamic Guidelines to Counter Depression ............................... 92
The Importance of Smiling ................................................................... 97
Positive Thinking (Ḥusn al-Ẓann) ....................................................... 101
Trusting in Allah (Tawakkul) .............................................................. 106
Being Satisfied with Allah’s Decree (Riḍā) ........................................... 110
The Seven Realizations that Rescue from Depression .......................... 112
When the Shoe is on the Other Foot – How to Help the Depressed ... 124
Islam and Modern Psychotherapy & Counselling ............................... 126
Some Topics for Further Research ...................................................... 133
4. The Question of Suicide .................................................................. 135
Defining Suicide ................................................................................. 135
Causes of Suicide ................................................................................ 138
World Cultures and Suicide ................................................................ 147
Suicide and Western Philosophy ......................................................... 151
Suicide versus Self-sacrifice in Battle ................................................... 160
Consequences of Suicide ..................................................................... 163
Islam and Suicide ................................................................................ 169
What other Religious Traditions say about Suicide ............................. 182
Suicide Prevention .............................................................................. 191
5. Supplications in Times of Grief ....................................................... 205
Appendix: Traditions ........................................................................... 227
Bibliography ........................................................................................ 269

TRANSLITERATION TABLE
ʾ ṭ
ء ط
a ẓ
ا ظ
b ʿ
ب ع
t gh
ت غ
th f
ث ف
j q
ج ق
ḥ k
ح ك
kh l
خ ل
d m
د م
dh n
ذ ن
r w
ر و
z y
ز ي
s h
س ه
sh h (or not
ش ة
transliterated)
ṣ
ص
ḍ
ض
Long Vowels Short Vowels
ā َ a
ا ــــــ
ū ُ u
و ــــــ
ī i
ي ــــِــ
(ṣ) :  - Peace and blessings be upon him and his family
(a) :  - Peace be upon him (or her, or them)
(atf) :  May Allah hasten his reappearance
i
We dedicate this work to all the oppressed believers around the world.
May their tears and grief turn into joy and happiness, and may Allah bless
them all.

ii
INTRODUCTION
Grief and depression are common experiences in the lives of many
individuals in the world, with the former often being the primary cause
of the latter. While grief is somewhat easy to spot, with tearing eyes,
sulky frowns and sad faces being a sure give-away that someone is
unhappy about something, depression is more obscure. People usually
keep their depression a secret, perhaps because they think it may be
regarded by others as a weakness of mind. However, the primary
symptoms of depression, namely: low mood, reduced energy, and loss
of interest or enjoyment, cannot go unnoticed for long by those who
are close to a person suffering from depression.
Depression can be an overwhelming burden, especially when it is
recurrent. Recurrent depression is very debilitating. It is also a cause of
other common problems among the youth such as substance abuse, and
studies have shown that there is a link between depression and cigarette
smoking as well. Of course, the most adverse sequela of depression is
suicide, which has been named the second leading cause of death among
adolescents. While there are numerous books on the subject of
depression and grief, most of them are written by psychologists or those
who have suffered from the condition. Few, if any at all, have been
written from the Islamic perspective by a Muslim seminarian with a
qualification in psychology or a related field. There are some works of
this kind in Farsi, but we have yet to come across one in English.
By the grace of the Almighty, we have been fortunate enough to
have studied psychology for a while at university, and also completed a
diploma course from the Institute of Counselling (Glasgow) a few
decades ago. That, along with close to two decades in the ḥawzah, gave
iii