Islamic Counselling: An Introduction to Theory and Practice

297 Pages·2016·8.88 MB·English

by  G. Hussein Rassool

ISLAMIC COUNSELLING
Islamic counselling is a form of counselling which incorporates spirituality into
the therapeutic process. Until now there has been a little material available on the
subject with no one agreed definition of Islamic counselling and what it involves.
There has also been a rapidly growing population of Muslims in Western socie-
ties with a corresponding rise in need of spiritual, psychological and counselling
services. Islamic Counselling: An introduction to theory and practice presents a basic
understanding of Islamic counselling for counsellors and Islamic counsellors, and
provides an understanding of counselling approaches congruent with Islamic beliefs
and practices from a faith-based perspective.
The book is designed as an introduction for counsellors; its goal is to inform the
reader about how the diverse roles of the Islamic counsellor fit together in a com-
prehensive way and to provide the guidelines that can be potentially integrated into
a theoretical framework for use. The book is divided into two parts. Part I: ‘Context
and background’, and Part II: ‘Assessment, models and intervention strategies’.
Islamic Counselling encompasses current theory, research and an awareness of the
practice implications in delivering appropriate and effective counselling interventions
with Muslim clients. It will be essential reading for both professionals and students alike.
G. Hussein Rassool (PhD, University of London) is Head of Department, Faculty
of Psychology, Islamic Online University, and is responsible for the Certificate,
Diploma and BA (Psychology from an Islamic Perspective). He is the Executive
Director and Consultant of Sakina Counselling Institute & Research. He is an inde-
pendent consultant in Addiction and Mental Health. He was Professor of Addiction
and Mental Health at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. His previous experience
was as a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Addictive Behaviour and Psychological
Medicine, Centre for Addiction Studies, St George’s Medical School (University of
London, UK). During his career, he has been awarded a number of honours and
was an editorial member of a number of prestigious international journals. He has
published extensively and is an author/editor of eight books.

ISLAMIC
COUNSELLING
An introduction to theory
and practice
G. Hussein Rassool
First published 2016
by Routledge
27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 2FA
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2016 G. Hussein Rassool
The right of G. Hussein Rassool to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Rassool, G. Hussein.
Islamic counselling : an introduction to theory and practice / G. Hussein
Rassool.
pages cm
1. Counseling—Religious aspects—Islam. 2. Cross-cultural counseling.
I. Title.
BP190.5.C68R37 2015
297.6′1—dc23
2015000969
ISBN: 978-0-415-74264-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-74268-9 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-69499-3 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon, UK
Dedicated to Idrees Khattab, Isra Oya, Asiyah Maryam, Adam Ibn
Hussein Ibn Hassim Ibn Sahaduth Ibn Rosool Ibn Olee Al Mauritiusy,
Reshad Hassan, Yasmin Soraya, Leyla, Mariam, Safian and Hassim.
• Prophet Muhammad ( ) said: ‘If anyone fulfils his brother’s
needs, Allah will fulfil his needs; if one relieves a Muslim of his
troubles, Allah will relieve his troubles on the Day of Resurrection’
(Sahih Bukhaˆrˆı and Muslim).

CONTENTS
List of illustrations ix
Preface x
Acknowledgements xii
PART I
Context and background 1
1 Islam and Muslims 3
2 Counselling and Islamic counselling: an overview 13
3 Spirituality and Islamic counselling 25
4 Understanding human nature and personality development
in the Islamic context 34
5 Psychological health: cultural and religious influences 51
6 Understanding the Muslim client 64
7 Islamic ethics related to counselling 83
PART II
Assessment, models and intervention strategies 95
8 General guidelines for the assessment of Muslim clients 97
9 Psychoanalytic therapy and counselling 107
viii Contents
10 Humanistic approach: client-centred therapy 122
11 Cognitive behavioural therapy: an Islamic perspective 137
12 Solution-focused brief therapy 151
13 Pre-marital and marital counselling 165
14 Religious coping strategy and spiritual interventions 187
15 Towards an Islamic counselling practice model 205
16 Counselling and addiction 223
17 Counselling for alcohol problems 241
18 The role of the Imam in counselling 253
19 Challenges, strategies and competence 259
Index 270
ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure
15.1 Islamic counselling practice model 210
Tables
2.1 Differences between counselling and Islamic counselling 19
4.1 Characteristics of healthy, dead and sick heart 43
13.1 100 pre-marital questions 174
16.1 A decisional balance matrix 229