Psychology in the medieval Islamic world

People who practice Islam thought it was necessary to maintain positive mental health in order to partake in prayer and other religious obligations.

However, due to the nuanced nature of individual cases, the treatment of the mentally ill could not be generalized as it was in medieval Europe [7] This term was gradually redefined among the educated, and was defined by Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā) as "one who suffers from a condition in which reality is replaced with fantasy".

A prominent philosopher during this time was al-Ghazali(1058–1111),[3] who proposed that maintaining a balanced connection between the spiritual and psychological conditions within the body was vital in order to sustain a close relationship with God.

[3] Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (865–925), known as Rhazes in the western tradition, was an influential Persian physician, philosopher, and scientist during the Golden Age of Islam, and among the first in the world to write on mental illness and psychotherapy.

[8] Abu-Ali al-Husayn ibn Abdalah ibn-Sina (980–1030), known to the west as Avicenna, was a Persian polymath who is widely regarded for his writings on such diverse subjects as philosophy, physics, medicine, mathematics, geology, Islamic theology, and poetry.

In his most widely celebrated work, the Canon of Medicine (Al-Qanun-fi-il-Tabb), he provided descriptions and treatments for such conditions as insomnia, mania, vertigo, paralysis, stroke, epilepsy, and depression as well as male sexual dysfunction.

In al-Balkhi’s writings, he explains that the soul experiences an array of emotions such as distress, sadness, and fear when the body undergoes physical illnesses.

Islamic scholars described melancholia as a condition the principal symptom of which was a state of constant sadness, the cause of which was believed to be an excess of black bile in the body.

Scholars and physicians of this time period were some of the first to emphasize psychosomatic medicine, the emphasis placed on the relationship between illness of the mind and problems in the body.