Qur'anic Psychospiritual Healing in Sufi Exegesis: Reading al-Ālūsī through al-Balkhī's Psychology of the Soul

Moehammad Anfa'ul 'Ulum; Alamul Huda Almuzakky; Abdul Kadir Riyadi

doi:10.21580/tos.v15i1.32886

Authors

Moehammad Anfa'ul 'Ulum Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Dakwah dan Komunikasi Islam Arrahmah Surabaya, Indonesia
Alamul Huda Almuzakky Islamic University of Madinah, Saudi Arabia
Abdul Kadir Riyadi Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Ampel Surabaya, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21580/tos.v15i1.32886

Keywords:

Qur’anic healing, Sufi healing, al-Ālūsī, al-Balkhī, psychospiritual healing

Abstract

Contemporary studies of Qur'anic healing have largely emphasized ruqyah, recitation, listening, devotional consolation, and measurable effects on mental health, while the healing mechanisms embedded in classical Sufi exegesis remain underexplored. This article examines Qur'anic psychospiritual healing by reading al-Ālūsī's Rūḥ al-Maʿānī through Abū Zayd al-Balkhī's psychology of the soul. It argues that al-Ālūsī's interpretation of selected passages concerning emotional disturbance does not merely provide moral exhortation or ritual guidance, but articulates a structured cognitive-Sufi model of psychospiritual healing. Methodologically, the study employs qualitative textual analysis by combining thematic Qur'anic interpretation with conceptual analysis of al-Balkhī's psychology of the soul. It focuses on Q 42:37 on anger, Q 20:68 on fear and panic, Q 16:127–128 on grief, and Q 114:1–4 on obsessive whispering. The findings identify four interrelated healing mechanisms: forgiveness-based regulation, cognitive reassurance, graded patience through the vertical ladder of ṣabr, and divine refuge through istiʿādhah and attentional reorientation. These mechanisms converge into a cognitive-Sufi model of Qur'anic psychospiritual healing based on cognitive-spiritual reorientation, God-centered meaning reconstruction, and disciplined psychospiritual formation.

Contribution: This study contributes to Sufi healing studies and Islamic psychology by positioning classical tafsir as a conceptual site of psychospiritual theory. It provides insight into al-Balkhī's psychology of the soul as an analytical lens for reading al-Ālūsī's ishārī exegesis, thereby transforming dispersed Sufi counsels into a structured model of Qur'anic psychospiritual healing.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Abreu Costa, Marianna de, and Alexander Moreira-Almeida. "Religion-Adapted Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Review and Description of Techniques." Journal of Religion and Health 61, no. 1 (2022): 443–66. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-021-01345-z.

Al-Ālūsī, Maḥmūd. Rūḥ Al-Maʿānī Fī Tafsīr Al-Qurʾān Al-ʿAẓīm Wa-l-Sabʿ Al-Mathānī. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 1994.

Al-Balkhī, Abū Zayd. Maṣāliḥ Al-Abdān Wa-l-Anfus. Riyadh: Markaz al-Malik Fayṣal li-l-Buḥūth wa-l-Dirāsāt al-Islāmiyyah, 2004.

Al-Dhahabī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Al-Tafsīr Wa-l-Mufassirūn. Maktabat Wahbah, 2000.

Al-Ḥamīd, Muḥsin ʿAbd. Al-Ālūsī Mufassiran. Bagdad: Maktabat al-Maʿārif, 1968.

Al-Zarqānī, Muḥammad ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm. Manāhil Al-ʿIrfān Fī ʿUlūm Al-Qurʾān. Edited by Aḥmad Shams Al-Dīn. Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 2019.

Anderson, Naomi, Suzanne Heywood-Everett, Najma Siddiqi, Judy Wright, Jodi Meredith, and Dean McMillan. “Faith-Adapted Psychological Therapies for Depression and Anxiety: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis." Journal of Affective Disorders 176 (May 2015): 183–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.01.019.

Arroisi, Jarman, and Novita Najwa Himaya. “Abu Zayd Al-Balkhi's Perspective on Depression: Countering Sadness with Cognitive Theory in the Book of Mashalih Al Abdan Wa Al Anfus.” Tazkiya Journal of Psychology 11, no. 1 (2023): 1–12. https://doi.org/10.15408/tazkiya.v11i1.29913.

Awaad, Rania, and Sara Ali. “A Modern Conceptualization of Phobia in Al-Balkhi's 9th Century Treatise: Sustenance of the Body and Soul.” Journal of Anxiety Disorders 37 (2016): 89–93. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2015.11.003.

———. "Obsessional Disorders in Al-Balkhi′s 9th Century Treatise: Sustenance of the Body and Soul." Journal of Affective Disorders 180 (2015): 185–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.03.003.

Aydın, Fatih. "Does Attachment to God Matter? Role of Spiritual Attachment in Mental Health through Self-Forgiveness: Lessons from Turkish College Sample." Frontiers in Psychology 16 (2025): 1603654. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1603654.

Badri, Malik. Abu Zayd Al-Balkhī's Sustenance of the Soul: The Cognitive Behavior Therapy of a Ninth Century Physician. London - Washington: International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2013.

Beck, Aaron T. Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders. Oxford, England: International Universities Press, 1976.

BöWering, Gerhard. "The Qurʾān Commentary of Al-Sulamī." In Islamic Studies Presented to Charles J. Adams, 41–56. Leiden: BRILL, 1991. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004661523_008.

Casmini, Casmini, Pihasniwati Pihasniwati, Nuristighfari Masri Khaerani, and Aurora Kholiev Nabila. "Patience in the Perspective of Sufism: Spiritual Strategies for Students to Maintain Mental Health." Teosofia: Indonesian Journal of Islamic Mysticism 14, no. 1 (2025): 29–56. https://doi.org/10.21580/tos.v14i1.27087.

Cetinkaya, Merve, and Jo Billings. "Systematic Review of the Relationship between Islamic-Sufi Spirituality and Practice and Mental Well-Being." Mental Health, Religion & Culture 26, no. 10 (November 2023): 1065–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2023.2256265.

Che Wan Mohd Rozali, Wan Nor Atikah, Ismarulyusda Ishak, Arimi Fitri Mat Ludin, Farah Wahida Ibrahim, Nor Malia Abd Warif, and Nur Aishah Che Roos. "The Impact of Listening to, Reciting, or Memorizing the Quran on Physical and Mental Health of Muslims: Evidence From Systematic Review." International Journal of Public Health 67 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2022.1604998.

Elva Wijayanti, Eka Prasetiawati, and Sugiarto Sugiarto. "Interpretasi Ayat-Ayat Ḥuzn (Depresi) Perspektif Psikologi Abu Zayd Al-Balkhi (w. 934 M)." Jurnal Semiotika-Q: Kajian Ilmu Al-Quran Dan Tafsir 5, no. 2 (2025): 667–88. https://doi.org/10.19109/jsq.v5i2.27801.

Elzamzamy, Khalid, Rasha K. Bader, and Fikriye Bilge Bircan. "Contemporary Scholarship on Classical Islamic Psychology: A Scoping Review." Journal of Muslim Mental Health 18, no. 1 (2024): 3–45. https://doi.org/10.3998/jmmh.6025.

Gonçalves, J. P. B., Giancarlo Lucchetti, Paulo Rossi Menezes, and H. Vallada. "Religious and Spiritual Interventions in Mental Health Care: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Clinical Trials." Psychological Medicine 45, no. 14 (2015): 2937–49. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291715001166.

Gondal, Muhammad Usama, Adnan Adil, and Anam Khan. "Tawakkul Mediates Between Personality Traits, Depression, and Anxiety in Pakistani Muslim Adults." Journal of Religion and Health 63, no. 1 (2024): 582–94. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-023-01771-1.

Gross, James J. "Emotion Regulation: Current Status and Future Prospects." Psychological Inquiry 26, no. 1 (January 2015): 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2014.940781.

———. "The Emerging Field of Emotion Regulation: An Integrative Review." Review of General Psychology 2, no. 3 (1998): 271–99. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.2.3.271.

Ihsan, Nur Hadi, Allan Muhammad, Muhammed Nur Kaplan, and Arif Afandi Zarkasyi. "Spiritual Equilibrium: Syaikh Abdurrauf Singkel's Concept of Tazkiyat Al-Nafs." Teosofia: Indonesian Journal of Islamic Mysticism 14, no. 1 (2025): 1–28. https://doi.org/10.21580/tos.v14i1.26301.

Istikhari, Naufil. "Pendekatan Kognitif Dalam Teori Kesehatan Mental Al-Balkhi: Psikologi Positif Di Abad Keemasan Islam." Psikologika: Jurnal Pemikiran Dan Penelitian Psikologi 26, no. 2 (2021): 233–50. https://doi.org/10.20885/psikologika.vol26.iss2.art1.

Keeler, Annabel. Sufi Hermeneutics The Qur'an Commentary of Rashīd Al-Dīn Maybudī. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.

Keshavarzi, Hooman, and Amber Haque. “Outlining a Psychotherapy Model for Enhancing Muslim Mental Health Within an Islamic Context." International Journal for the Psychology of Religion 23, no. 3 (July 2013): 230–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508619.2012.712000.

Khan, Fahad, and Hooman Keshavarzi. "Theoretical Foundations and Clinical Applications of Traditional Islamically Integrated Psychotherapy." In Handbook of Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapies, edited by P. Scott Richards, G. E. Kawika Allen, and Daniel K. Judd, 193–212. Washington: American Psychological Association, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000338-010.

Lazarus, Richard S., and Susan Folkman. Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. New York: Springer Publishing Company, 1984.

Mitha, Karim. "Conceptualising and Addressing Mental Disorders amongst Muslim Communities: Approaches from the Islamic Golden Age." Transcultural Psychiatry 57, no. 6 (2020): 763–74. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461520962603.

Moulaei, Khadijeh, Ali-Akbar Haghdoost, Kambiz Bahaadinbeigy, and Fatemeh Dinari. "The Effect of the Holy Quran Recitation and Listening on Anxiety, Stress, and Depression: A Scoping Review on Outcomes." Health Science Reports 6, no. 12 (2023): e1751. https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.1751.

Nafi, Basheer. "Abu Al-Thana' Al-Alusi: An Alim, Ottoman Mufti, and Exegete of the Qur'an." International Journal of Middle East Studies 34 (2002): 465–94. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020743802003033.

Nizamie, S. Haque, Mohammad Zia Ul Haq Katshu, and N. A Uvais. "Sufism and Mental Health." Indian Journal of Psychiatry 55, no. 6 (2013): 215. https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.105535.

Owens, Janine, G Hussein Rassool, Joshua Bernstein, Sara Latif, and Basil H Aboul-Enein. "Interventions Using the Qur'an to Promote Mental Health: A Systematic Scoping Review." Journal of Mental Health 32, no. 4 (2023): 842–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2023.2232449.

Pargament, Kenneth I., Harold G. Koenig, and Lisa M. Perez. "The Many Methods of Religious Coping: Development and Initial Validation of the RCOPE." Journal of Clinical Psychology 56, no. 4 (2000): 519–43. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4679(200004)56:4<519::AID-JCLP6>3.0.CO;2-1.

Rassool, G. Hussein, and Zuleyha Keskin. "Positioning the Self (Nafs) in Islāmic Psycho-Spirituality." Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health 27, no. 1 (January 2025): 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/19349637.2023.2264848.

Rothman, Abdallah, and Adrian Coyle. "Conceptualizing an Islamic Psychotherapy: A Grounded Theory Study." Spirituality in Clinical Practice 7, no. 3 (September 2020): 197–213. https://doi.org/10.1037/scp0000219.

———. "Toward a Framework for Islamic Psychology and Psychotherapy: An Islamic Model of the Soul." Journal of Religion and Health 57, no. 5 (October 2018): 1731–44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-018-0651-x.

Saeed, Sarhang I, Jaafar O Ahmed, Karwan Kakamad, and Zana Najmadden. "Abu Zayd Ahmed Ibn Sahl Al-Balkhi (850-934): A Pioneer in the Field of Psychotherapy and Mental Health." Cureus 16, no. 8 (2024): e67998. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.67998.

Saged, Ali Ali Gobaili, Mohd Yakub Zulkifli Mohd Yusoff, Faizuri Abdul Latif, Syed Mohammad Hilmi, Waleed Mugahed Al-Rahmi, Ahmed Al-Samman, Norma Alias, and Akram M Zeki. "Impact of Quran in Treatment of the Psychological Disorder and Spiritual Illness." Journal of Religion and Health 59, no. 4 (2020): 1824–37. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-018-0572-8.

Sands, Kristin Zahra. Sufi Commentaries on the Qur'an in Classical Islam. London: Routledge, 2006. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203019566.

Wade, Nathaniel G., William T. Hoyt, Julia E. M. Kidwell, and Everett L. Worthington. "Efficacy of Psychotherapeutic Interventions to Promote Forgiveness: A Meta-Analysis." Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 82, no. 1 (2014): 154–70. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035268.

World Health Organization. "Mental Health Atlas 2024," 2024. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240114487.

———. “World Mental Health Today: Latest Data,” 2025. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240113817.

Zahir, Farah R., and M. Walid Qoronfleh. "Traditional Islamic Spiritual Meditative Practices: Powerful Psychotherapies for Mental Wellbeing." Frontiers in Psychology 16 (2025): 1538865. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1538865.