Thread by @imanmbadawi

Insightful article and a subject I’ll be covering in my upcoming book, not just from the perspective of statistics, but from the Islamic perspective & my experience in counseling.

Another topic of exploration is the effect of the same parameters on the spousal relationship.

https://twitter.com/FarazRabbani/status/1456609754072199168

I’ve often made reference to causes of mental health issues in the Muslim Community.

Once again, reporting statistics is important to alert to the problem, but doesn’t offer a solution.

That’s the next step and is a major theme throughout my book.

*Religious experience* is strongly impacting the mental health of Muslims.

Healing our Community is less about the intersection of Islam & Psychology, an after-the-fact approach, as it is about rectifying the core elements of religious experience. Family is a major element.

Studies like these should also point to the stark difference between academia and real solutions.

Not only do statistics only (possibly) mirror reality when the chosen parameters happen to hit the target, but furthermore, those parameters were chosen based on a set of values.

Accepting statistical research amounts to implicit approval of its underlying values, pre or post.

In my book, I won’t adopt statistics. I’ll delineate Islamic values, then show the disconnect in their shaping of religious experience, a disconnect that’s fundamentally harming us

Family. Family. Family. That’s the topic of my book. It’s the #1 element of religious experience, especially in Muslim-minority countries.

Parents and children
Children and siblings
Pre-marriage and suitors
Husband and wife
Emotional abuse
Fitra and mental health
more…

وبالله التوفيق

Btw, if anyone is interested in a *statistical* analysis of the prevalence & impact of familial/marriage problems and their effect on religious experience, they might survey my #DMs…that’s why I opened it up….I know…

Any scholar who has served the community knows what I mean

Literally, just now, my daughter handed me this….

Yes, the honey symbolizes sweetness and love. Alhamdulillāh.

Islamic family law is also my fiqh sub-specialization. It baffles me that so much attention is given to financial law, Islamic bioethics & other (albeit important) fields, while minimal research is allotted to family law and its very real applications.

Still, the role of law is often intervention, not prevention.

This is a general problem in the way our Community approaches problems. We’re often 3+ steps behind in recognizing, diagnosing & addressing core issues.

Marriage isn’t a problem of colonialism. It’s our own earning

I made family my life’s work. Medicine, even scholarship, was 2nd to my family. That’s not an affront to feminism. It’s a divine imperative for BOTH mothers and fathers. If ever there was a time when we need to give our families our all, it is NOW.

People are losing their Dīn.