How to Overcome Addiction through Faith: Ibn Al-Qayyim’s Rehabilitation Program
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
Preface
A flurry of highly curated images, sounds, videos, lights and colors designed to captivate our minds flood our consciousness on a daily basis. Mass production of food products engineered in labs to tease our taste buds fill our pantries and satiate our appetites. Intoxicants have never been more widely available with the decriminalization of recreational drugs in a number of countries and the pharmacological use of illicit drugs for pain relief and mental illness. The opioid epidemic has surged onto public concern as middle-upper class populations in developed nations are in the grips of a drug crisis. The spirit of modernity seems to allure humanity to an endless pursuit of instant gratification by using the most advanced technologies. Even the color of the notification icons on our phones are designed to keep us coming back for more.
It is not an overstatement to declare that we are living in a dopaminergic society. This means that society is structured in a way that aims to maximize the release of dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with pleasure in our brains. The consequences of this reality is that our hearts can become captive to the various forces that seek to dominate our minds. Addictions to devices,
1
social media, video gaming, films, Netflix, sexual content, and illicit substances have gripped all levels of society. One study in 2011 found that 59% of the 313 study participants self-reported feeling ‘addicted’ to social media.
2
In 2014, Griffiths et al. published a paper with international data warning of an impending epidemic of internet addiction. The data suggested that young people experienced symptoms found in addiction, including withdrawal and relapse.
3
A recent study in Türkiye found that 16% of university students met the criteria for an internet addiction.
4
Arguably the modern online addiction that seems to be the most disastrous in terms of its consequences is addiction to sexual content.
5
Statistics show alarming usage with an increase during the COVID-19 pandemic.
6
While there is debate in the literature regarding the formal diagnosis of ‘pornography addiction,’ there are multiple studies that have demonstrated that problematic use as defined in the field correlates with mental illness.
7
The International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision (ICD-11), a diagnostic manual used in mental health research, includes a category called compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD) and lists problematic online pornography use as a symptom.
8
There is a strong role that society plays in generating, maintaining, and exacerbating the problem of addiction. Poverty, broken homes, abuse and other chronic social stressors can make subpopulations in a society particularly vulnerable to becoming addicted to substances or behaviors.
9
This problem becomes magnified when these vulnerabilities are exploited by multi-million dollar industries that promote alcohol,
10
tobacco,
11
gambling,
12
pornography,
13
,
14
and opioids.
15
It is encouraging to see these problems recognized and under investigation in various academic disciplines including medicine, psychology, neuroscience, social studies, and the humanities. But there are problems with society’s tendency to medicalize social problems and limit analysis to exclusively empirical paradigms. This methodology produces gaping blind spots that ignore important spiritual factors in the genesis, prevention, and therapy of all these problematic addictions. As Muslims, we must recognize the role of the spirit (rūḥ), the ego (nafs), demonic entities (shayāṭīn), angelic entities (malāʾika), faith (imānīyyāt), guidance (hidāyah), and divine aid (tawfīq).
This shortcoming of the field of psychology, particularly in regards to addiction was recognized by Carl Jung in his letter to the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, William Wilson, “I am strongly convinced that the evil principle prevailing in this world leads the unrecognized spiritual need into perdition if it is not counteracted either by real religious insight or by the protective wall of human community.”
16
Muslims should recognize the advantage we have in possessing a revealed framework for understanding the spiritual realities that can deeply impact our mind, souls, and bodies. It is in reflection with this revelation that an entire tradition of dealing with problematic cravings and desires emerged within the field of tazkiyat al-nafs (purification of the self). In this vast tradition we discover insights into addiction that did not exist in the Western tradition of addiction science until centuries later. Suffice it to say, the Islamic tradition is an important arena of research for Muslims who are interested in appreciating a more realistic conception of addiction beyond material reductionism. It also contains great wisdom that can provide preventative and therapeutic strategies for believers to aid them in their journey through the dark worlds of addiction. This augments existing scientific research in addiction treatment and enables us to take an integrative approach that is rooted in the Islamic worldview.
About The Author
