Sunday, November 27, 2011

Islamic point of view on OCD

Basically, there are six types of anxiety disorders. They include general anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, specific and social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), acute stress disorder (ASD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The anxiety can be explained through three basic patterns across these six disorders. The first pattern involves fear aroused by an identifiable object or situation as in specific phobia, ASD and PTSD. The second pattern involves an anxiety that is unfocused as can be seen in panic disorder and GAD. Lastly, in OCD, anxiety is seen if the person does not engage in a thought or behavior that otherwise serves no purpose. In Islam, Muslims believe that spiritual elements play a vital role in anxiety disorders. Being away from Creator can be a major reason behind the anxious and scared feelings. Feeling of impurity can lead to development of OCD, or what is called as waswasah which mean unwanted thoughts which are whispered into the minds and the hearts of people by satan. This idea is prove throughout the qur’an and hadith. Allah said in surah An-Nas, “say, I seek refuge with Allah, the Lord of mankind, the King of mankind, the God of mankind, from whispers of the devil, who whispers in the hearts of one of men”. And Prophet ( PBUH) said that, ‘ shaytan comes to one of you and says, ‘who has created so-and-so and so-and-so?’ till he says ‘who has created your Lord?’ so, when he inspire such a question, one should seek refuge with Allah and give up such thought” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim, narrated by Abu Hurayrah). Thus, a Muslims can gain strength and control if he or she lives by his faith according to the guidance provide by the Creator and seek His protection through prayers as well as others good deed and stay away from bad things.

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