I had a question about mental health in Islam. Obviously it is just as important as physical health and there are many ahadith given by the holy Imams about Physical health, but I have not noticed very many about how to keep up with mental health an the importance of it. If you could provide some example of such an instance that would be great.

Secondly, I used to suffer from Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and it mainly manifested in Obsessive religious thoughts (i.e if something was halal or not). Alhamdullah I have gotten a lot better but still find it difficult to rebound from an extreme state of "Fiqh observance" to a normal healthy baseline for a muslim. I feel like I’m in a stable state now, but am not sure how to grow as muslim from here. Growth requires a bit of difficulty/discomfort and often times this difficulty can seem like im obsessing again.Any advice in this regard? My apologies if the question is out of the scope of what you answer on here or is too long.

by

1) Islam has given us a lot of advice on mental health. Some examples:

A- Working on oneself to avoid these vices: greed, jealousy, arrogance, etc… It has shared practical steps to avoid such vices. Avoiding them helps improve our mental health.

B- Not to think about the future too much and worry about the future. The future is in the hands of Allah. We have reliance on him.

C- Doing sujud and saying Subhana rabbial a’la wa behamdeh (for several minutes at least). Or saying la ilaha illa Allah regularly (such as 100 times a day).

D- Avoiding too much stress or exhaustion.

E- Crying

F- Sponsoring orphans and visiting the sick

G- Eating foods that have a good impact on the intellect and soul, such as quince or squash/pumpkin.

2) Regarding OCD, it is healthy to be meticulous about Fiqhi rulings, but of course it should not be excessive. Whenever you find that it becomes excessive, we are told by the Imams to ignore our doubts. Also, the following Du’as / procedures help with OCD:

A- Wash your head with Sidr water

B- Read these Du’as:

آمنت بالله وبرسوله مخلصاً له الدين

هو الأوّل والآخر والظاهر والباطن وهو بكلّ شيء عليم

توكّلت على الحيّ الذي لا يموت والحمد لله الذي لم يتّخذ ولداّ ولم يكن له شريك في الملك ولم يكن له وليّ من الذلّ وكبّره تكبيراً

لا إله إلّا الله محمّد رسول الله عليّ أمير المؤمنين

أعوذ بالله القويّ من الشيطان الغوي وأعوذ بمحمّد صلى الله عليه وآله الرضي من شرّ ما قدر وقضي وأعوذ باله الناس من شرّ الجنّة والناس أجمعين

This should be effective in helping you with this situation Insha’Allah