Dr. Murtaza Hameer is a medical doctor turned teacher. He pursued his medical degree in India and did the United States medical licensing exams in the USA. He also has a postgraduate diploma in education from the University of Dar es Salaam. He is the author of the book, “Learning How To Learn: Doing well in school, college and beyond”. He is passionate about education and teaching with interests also in philosophy, science, theology and spirituality.
T
he Quran is for Muslims a revelation from God. It is a book of guidance, shining light amidst the darkness of the times; it is a book of hope, reassuring the believers of what is unknown but sure to come for each and every one of us once we shed off our mortal forms; it is a book of laws and regulations, of morals and ethics, of right versus wrong, of truth against falsehood. It is, by its own account, a reminder to the world.
All of the above being true, does the Quran have psychological insights as well? In other words, can it be read as a psychological book in addition to a book of laws, ethics and morality?
The spiritual teacher Neville Goddard believed that the Bible was the greatest psychological book ever written. Reading the ancient stories of the Bible in a psychological way allowed him to uncover great depths of understanding from the scripture that is not apparent on a surface reading of the text. I got to appreciate this when I read many of the books by Neville.
In more recent times, the clinical psychologist and author Dr. Jordan Peterson conducted a series of lectures on the Bible and the biblical stories. The lectures became quite popular among his Christian as well as Muslim audiences. I have listened to some of those lectures and his insights, for example into the story of Abel (Habil) and Cain (Qabil), are quite refreshing. Since many of the stories of the Old Testament are repeated in the Quran, this discussion is relevant for Muslims as much as it is for Jews and Christians.
Traditionally the story of Abel and Cain, the sons of Adam and Hawa, are read as one son being obedient and offering generous and sincere offerings to God (which are accepted) and the other making offerings in a miserly and insincere manner, thus being rejected by God. This leads to intense jealousy resulting in one killing his own brother. But is there anything else here? A deeper and more profound understanding of the story perhaps? One that captures the human predicament and the nature of things? Dr. Peterson seems to think so. He explains that life is about making sacrifices, and true wisdom and maturity is about sacrificing the short-term pleasures for the long-term goals. You make a sacrifice today and focus on your goals, the fruits will bear in due time. It is how the world works. That is Abel’s sacrifice that is accepted by God as evidenced by the results of one’s efforts. Cain’s approach of insincerity, dishonesty, cutting corners and not putting in the hard work will only lead to failure, lack of results, a rejection of the sacrifice by God. In other words, the story of Abel and Cain, Habil and Qabil for us Muslims, is not merely a story of what happened in the distant past. Rather it is a story of every moment of our lives, of the kinds of choices we make on a daily basis, as we make our individual sacrifices on the altar of existence.
As another example, let us consider the story of God, Adam and Shaitan in the Quran. Most Muslims usually read it as a literal historical event of what took place at the beginning of Adam’s creation. But we can also allow ourselves the possibility of reading that story psychologically and metaphorically. God represents truth, goodness and beauty. Shaitan is the opposite of that, representing deception, jealous scheming, and ugliness. Adam (the human being) has both God and Shaitan inside him, being continuously whispered at by the voice of righteousness on the one hand, and the temptations of the mundane on the other. The choice he makes, on which voice to listen to, is entirely up to Adam. God and Shaitan are within the nature of the human soul.
Adam and Hawa eating from the forbidden tree against God’s better judgement represents the impulsive and short-sighted nature of us humans when making decisions, many a times hastily without due consideration of the consequences. Their redemption by God tells us that no matter how many times we fall, we can always pick ourselves up, and find our way back by making wiser and better choices, for the mercy and love of God is eternal.
The Quran calls the Torah (Taurat, the five books of Moses from the Old Testament) a Light and Guidance. The Quran references itself in a similar manner. I am of the opinion that if we open ourselves to reading the Quran via a psychological and metaphorical lens, we will uncover a treasure trove of wisdom and understanding that will illuminate and guide our very hearts and take us from the darkness and into the light.
Dr. Murtaza Hameer is a medical doctor turned teacher. He pursued his medical degree in India and did the United States medical licensing exams in the USA. He also has a postgraduate diploma in education from the University of Dar es Salaam. He is the author of the book, “Learning How To Learn: Doing well in school, college and beyond”. He is passionate about education and teaching with interests also in philosophy, science, theology and spirituality.
