The positive mental health in Qur`anic perspective: its concept and methods of promotion

Introduction: Healthcare professionals are making a considerable effort to deal with impacts of our stressful conditions caused by challenges of our competitive and busy life of the globalized world. The rapid changes in social and environmental conditions are also worsening the situation. Anxiety, stress and depression, which affect the mind, are the common outcomes of such situation. These facts have shifted the attention of medical research and practice towards the notion of “positive mental health”, rather than the theory of “mental illness” which had been dominating this field. The World Health Organization (WHO) is contributing to develop this notion. In her work ‘Current Concepts of Positive Mental Health’, Marie Jahoda (1958) identifies serval approaches in defining the positive mental health. The common factor of all such approaches is having a resilient mind which enables individuals to cope with the normal stresses of life to realize their potentials and work productively to contribute in the community development. The key question, however, is how a resilient mind can be built in a society? Materials and method: This question necessitates the search for methods, mechanisms and the basic factors for mental health promotion. This paper presupposes that the Qur’anic approach on mental health provides insights to deals with such questions. It aims to present the concept and methods of promoting the positive mental health from Islamic point of view. It investigates the Qur`anic approach on building a resilient mind which is able to cope with the various challenges of life. The paper presupposes that the holy Qur`an, adopting the method of prevention and promotion (P&P), manages the question of mental health in more effective manner than the secular scientific approach. Nevertheless, the matter of mental health is mainly related to cultural values and other environmental factors, rather than biological. Results: For that purpose, the Qur`anic verses which related to mental health (about 34 times) will be collected, classifies and analysed. The analytic method of quantitative approach will be adopted. It is expected that the conclusions of the paper will introduce an alternative perspective, which contribute immensely in the development of effective methods for fostering a resilient mind which promotes the mental health