Perspectives on Drug Addiction in Islamic History and Theology

Journal Title: Religions - Year 2014, Vol 5, Issue 3

Abstract

How does Islam view substance addiction? What happens to the soul of the person suffering from addictive disorder? What happens to their relationship with God? These are some of the questions that this article tries to answer. Three models on drug addiction from an Islamic theological perspective will be explored here. Two of them are preventative models based on an understanding of society rooted in shame-culture, while the third model, called Millati Islami, practiced in the USA, is founded on the Islamic understanding of tawba (repentance). Furthermore, drugs and addiction in scripture, as well as medieval Muslim society’s attitude towards them, are explored. As a whole, the models discussed in the article demonstrate that Islamic theology possesses the intellectual and theoretical tools to develop fully-fledged theological models of addiction. This paper concludes by suggesting that one model should be explored.

Authors and Affiliations

Mansur Ali

Keywords

Related Articles

Constituting Canon and Community in Eleventh Century Tibet: The Extant Writings of Rongzom and His Charter of Mantrins (sngags pa’i bca’ yig)

This paper explores some of the work of Rongzom Chökyi Zangpo (hereafter Rongzom) and attempts to situate his pedagogical influence within the “Old School” or Nyingma (rnying ma) tradition of Tibetan Buddhism1. A surve...

Suicidal Ideation and Sense of Community in Faith Communities

Previous studies have found that religion and spirituality (R/S) are related to less suicidal ideation (SI), fewer suicide attempts and fewer suicide deaths and that an absence of social support is associated with SI,...

Faith, Food and Fettle: Is Individual and Neighborhood Religiosity/Spirituality Associated with a Better Diet?

Diet is an important contributor to many non-communicable diseases. Religion and spirituality (R/S) has a salutary effect on physical health, and one of the possible links between R/S and positive health outcomes is a...

Romantism, Amazement, Imagination—A trias religiosa

To wonder is a gift of the romanticist in particular. Wonder seeks explanation. If reason doesn’t provide that, imagination provides a way out. One imagines a transcendental world of which the God-idea may become the c...

The Spirit of Logotherapy

The aim of this paper is to adduce the meaning of Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy and existential analysis—the spirit of logotherapy—in the two-fold sense of its core teachings, as well as its emphasis on the spiritual dim...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP25389
  • DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/rel5030912
  • Views 306
  • Downloads 9

How To Cite

Mansur Ali (2014). Perspectives on Drug Addiction in Islamic History and Theology. Religions, 5(3), -. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-25389