Islamic Psychology: a Philosophical and Critical Appraisal

This paper attempts a philosophical and critical appraisal of "Islamic Psychology". The claim of the article is that the so-called Islamic psychology in Iran is too comprehensive, ambiguous, and blended. The paper aims to distinguish relatively separate areas under it. Some people infer a kind of religious science from this title and call it "Islamic psychology" in the same sense as "Islamic economics". In the article, this perception of Islamic psychology is criticized. Others have a different understanding of this concept and consider the psychological study of Islam, which can be better included under the "psychology of religion" and called the "psychology of Islam". In the article, some suggestions for work in this field are presented. Another group also refers to the technological aspect of Islamic psychology, and considers it as a kind of religious psychology. This article introduces five different meanings of "Islamic psychology". Failure to pay attention to these distinctions is among the main causes of ambiguities in Islamic psychology.