Keywords

Introduction

Islamic practical theology offers a never-ending journey of theological reflection on questions of crucial importance to Islamic social work. Great models for this on-going training and reflection include stories of the prophets in the Qurʾan. These give Muslim social service providers, including healthcare professionals and social workers, guidance as to how to be true learners in their respective fields, how to achieve profound patience, humility, serenity of the soul, and how to acquire beneficial knowledge through the process of tafakkur (to deeply and systematically meditate on a subject) and tadabbur (contemplation).

Dealing with a new discipline, Muslim social workers are being challenged to be experts while they are still learning and searching for insights. I am no exception. Taking into account a revival of new approaches to teaching Islamic practical theology, this chapter provides a reflection on methods of teaching Islamic practical theology, based on a new and broader understanding of theology in Islam. I provide an analysis of the role of the various sub-disciplines (i. e., Islamic social work, Islamic psychotherapy, and spiritual care) in Islamic practical theology and social sciences.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the main arguments in the development of Islamic social work practice. As a relatively new profession, Islamic social work, like Islamic psychology or Islamic psychotherapy, belongs to what might be called emerging Islamic practical theology within Islamic studies or at least requires an integrative approach. In this respect, it is helpful to refer to Carrie York al-Karam (2018), who defines Islamic psychology within the framework of the Multilevel Interdisciplinary Paradigm (MIP) which “is a concept in the domain of psychology of religion and spirituality” serving to demonstrate “how to think about complex and multidimensional disciplines, such as Islamic Psychology, that are inherently interdisciplinary.” (York Al-Karam, 2018, 101) In respect to Islamic psychotherapy, many authors (Haque & Kamil, 2012; Haque et al. 2016; Keshavarzi & Haque, 2013; Haque & Keshavarzi, 2013; York Al-Karam, 2015, 2018; Rothman, 2018) have suggested applying the Islamic concept of soul or self and using Islamic prayer, dhikr, ruqya, and other spiritual tools in psychotherapy. In all discussion, Islamic theology is an inevitable part of scholarly debate. Similarly, never before have the prospects of Islamic practical theology and its teaching been so significant, particularly regarding Islamic social work, as we witness the growth of Islamic social services in various Western countries today.

The development of Islamic social work requires the integration of insights from both Islamic practical theology and social sciences. For this to happen, a myriad of questions need to be addressed. For example, how do we integrate Islamic studies into general social work knowledge and practice? How do we provide a solid theological reflection that captures a moment in Islamic social work with clients who question the suffering in their lives? Do we refer them to Islamic psychologists, secular psychologists, imams, etc.? Does Islamic practical theology provide approaches and rhetoric to provide effective Islamic social work? How do Muslim social workers integrate knowledge and wisdom from Islamic practical theology and social sciences in general to interpret human experiences and needs?

In the context of the aforementioned reflections, this chapter addresses the following questions: firstly, what are the best practices for teaching Islamic practical theology that prepare Muslim social work students to connect theological understanding to the everyday experience of Muslims in the community, society and the world? Secondly, how do Muslim social workers use daily life practices as an “epistemic weight” in the production of new knowledge in Islamic social work? Finally, does Islamic practical theology, including Islamic doctrine, tradition, and the “living human document” hold a central position in Islamic social work?

A Brief Outline of Practical Theology

For the sake of clarity, I outline below the context of practical theology. During the twentieth century, many theologians engaged in discussions on the role of practical theology in solving daily life issues. This was one of the main reasons behind the establishment of various ministry practices, such as pastoral care (Couture, 2007, 151–152).

In some countries, the term practical theology is alternatively labeled as “pastoral theology”. According to Elaine Graham, pastoral theology is

The systematic reflection upon the nature of the Church in the world, accessible only through the practical wisdom of those very communities. Therefore, as a discipline, pastoral theology is not legislative or prescriptive, but interpretive. It enables the community of faith to give a critical and public account of its purposeful presence in the world, and of the values that give shape to its actions. (Graham, 2002, 208–209)

In other words, pastoral or practical theology is “more than descriptive and empirical” and holds the potential to be “transformative and transcendent”, moving beyond the normative (e. g., ethics and prescription) (Miller-McLemore, 2012b, 111).

In Protestant Christian theology, for example, the main understanding of practical theology is usually based on Friedrich Schleiermacher’s (d. 1834) view: Schleiermacher suggested that knowledge is bound by experience and plays an important role in understanding, reflecting on and interpreting Christian practice (Gräb, 2012). According to Sally A. Brown, Schleiermacher also raised the idea of the “hermeneutical circle” in which there is an interplay between “grammatical” and “psychological” understandings which produce a new meaning from the text (Brown, 2012).

Gradually, the focus of practical theology shifted from historical and philosophical theology towards a more “fluid dialectic between human situation and religious message” (Miller-McLemore, 2012a, 105). In this respect, David Tracy describes practical theology as the mutually critical correlation of the interpreted theory and praxis of the contemporary situation (Tracy, 1975, 1981, 1994). Ideally, in the Christian context, practical theology should engage in the following tasks:

  1. 1.

    To be ready for “the dramatic confrontation” that refers to critical understanding and analysis of tradition

  2. 2.

    To suggest “mutual illuminations and corrections” and

  3. 3.

    To offer “the possible basic reconciliation between the principal values, cognitive claims, and existential faiths of both a reinterpreted post-modern consciousness and a reinterpreted Christianity” (Tracy, 1972, 3).

Tracy’s mutually critical correlational method inspired others to develop new models of practical theology. For example, Don Browning (d. 2010) suggested that practical theology should be based on “a critical reflection on the church’s dialogue with Christian sources and other communities of experience and interpretation, with the aim of guiding its action toward social and individual transformation” (Browning, 1991, 36). Later on, Charles Gerkin (1984) integrated Anton Boisen’s (d. 1965) notion of the “living human document” (Boisen, 1960). Boisen suggested that pastoral caregivers must view and practice understanding of a “living human document” as a unique life story in conflict. He noted that the books may help to understand the theories, but human stories must also be studied and interpreted as sacred texts. In the Christian perspective, such pastoral practice is a reading of sin and salvation or of grace and fall (Isgandarova, 2018).

Also, borrowing from Hans-Georg Gadamer (d. 2002), Gerkin suggested developing a practice of pastoral counselling that allows a process of interpretation and reinterpretation of human experience, where God’s horizon fuses with human horizons. Within the framework of a Christian model of interpretation, for example, Gerkin states that “practical theology is grounded in narrative (…) rooted in the faith that the Bible provides us with an overarching narrative in which all other narratives of the world are nested.” However, human experience is also “the present experience of occasions for faithful adherence to the central metaphorical meanings of the grounding story of human identity” (Gerkin, 1986, 50). Therefore, practical theology “involves a process of the interpretive fusion of horizons of meaning embodied in the Christian narrative with other horizons that inform and shape perceptions in the various arenas of activity in which Christians participate” (Gerkin, 1986, 50). This is an ongoing process of questioning, correcting, refining and integrating (Gerkin, 1984).

Contemporary approaches to practical theology allow for social sciences to be used as a source of information, because both practical theology and social sciences prioritise lived human experience (Couture, 2013; Isgandarova, 2018). This approach is “concerned with praxis and with empirical research, it still operates in terms of certain confessional presuppositions” (Van Wyk, 1995, 91). According to Barbara McClure (2012, 273), this is “theology from the ground of human experience.” Such an approach shows the importance of human experience as a primary text for practical theology inquiry, as well as research that allows the development of a new praxis. This kind of praxis involves transformation: in this way, theory offers a critical and reasoned reflection based on various interpretations of practice and challenges the practitioners to act and think in new ways. Thus, practice offers various ways of acting to theory (O’Connor, 1998). It is no wonder that for the Dutch theologian Johannes van der Ven (2002), the concept of praxis requires contribution from “at least 40 disciplines and sub-disciplines such as psychology, sociology, cultural anthropology, ethnology and ethology to mathematical, natural and medical sciences” (Van der Ven, 2002, 28).

More recently, Bonnie Miller-McLemore has described practical theology as “a general way of doing theology concerned with the embodiment of religious belief in the day-to-day lives of individuals and communities” (Miller-McLemore, 2012b, 111). It is concerned with the practice of faith and tradition in daily life, how daily life practices gain an “epistemic weight” in the production of new knowledge, and how and where doctrine, tradition, philosophy, and the “living human document” become connected (Isgandarova, 2018). Thus, Christian practical theology is founded on the essentials of Christian faith that guide and motivate its practitioners. Christian practical theology influences the way Christian faith communities provide various services, including but not limited to, religious, health care and social services for those who need them.

Islamic Practical Theology: What’s in the Name?

Islam differs from Christianity in regard to its fundamental tenets of faith. However, like Christianity, Islam also emphasises responsibility and care for one another. The Qurʾanic and Prophetic traditions affirm that the believers should build a strong faith community by helping each other for the betterment of the community, society, and the whole world. In this respect, Islamic values such as charity, kindness, justice, integrity, and support are the basic foundations of Islamic practical theology.

By definition, Islamic practical theology is an emerging discipline that provides a theological reflection on the role of Scripture, and other aspects of the Islamic tradition, including rituals in the lived experience of Muslims. In this respect, Islamic practical theology closely considers the lived experience of faith or how Muslims experience or adapt and change religious or spiritual approaches in daily life. Islamic practical theology is also interested in finding out how the Islamic tradition(s) shape(s) contemporary Islamic practice of theology, and how enquiry into specific ways of life at the grassroots level feeds back into Muslim scholarly traditions of textual interpretation. I call this process a turn to practice, which refers to a shift from primarily text-based teaching into studies of the praxis of faith. This is becoming more evident in the practice of Islamic social work along with Islamic psychotherapy and spiritual care.

Recent endeavours in Islamic practical theology follow in the footsteps of previous generations of Muslim scholars such as Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya al-Razi or Rhazes (864–925), Abu Zayd Ahmed ibn Sahl al-Balkhi (d. 934), Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Farabi or Alpharabius (d. 950), Abu ʿAli al-Husayn ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Sina or Avicenna (d. 1037), Yahya ibn ʿAdi (d. 974), the Brethren of Purity (Iḫwān aṣ-Ṣafāʾ) of the tenth century, Abu ʿAli Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Yaʾqub ibn Miskawayh (d. 1030), the Shiite Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (d. 1274). For example, since the 1980s, understanding and interpretation of the sacred, using human experience, has laid a foundation for critical reflection on using scientific or social sciences within Islamic studies. Many prominent Muslim scholars such as Fazlur Rahman (1982), Ismaʿil Raji al-Faruqi (1981), Sayyid Waqqar Ahmed Husaini (1981) or Seyyed Hossein Nasr (1982) have explored the past and contemporary conditions of Islamic studies by drawing on adult education, philosophy, sociology, even business, and science, but at the same time employed theological language. Similarly, adopting an innovative approach to the interpretation and application of Islamic tradition in Islamic psychotherapy, social work and psychology has encouraged many Muslim psychologists and psychotherapists to integrate Islamic theology, psychology and psychotherapy (Badri, 2018; Abugideiri, 2012; Haque, 2004; Hamjah & Akhir, 2014; Rizvi, 1989; Rassool, 2016, 2019; Rothman, 2018). Such an approach takes into account that the Qurʾanic revelation, from the beginning till the end, addresses everyday aspects of human experiences and activities in relation to the practice of the Islamic faith. This emphasises that God’s conversation with prophets was not a linear monologue; rather, the revelation “was circular and systemic, reflecting an active conversation between theory (revelation) and practice (the lived experience)” (Isgandarova, 2018). The tradition of the asbāb an-nuzūl (the causes of revelation) provides, as a reference point, the importance of lived experience for comprehending divine orders (Rippin, 1985). Such a divine approach to the human dilemma (i. e., problems in life, and social, financial, spiritual, political problems in our society) encourages Muslim professions not to be indifferent to human needs.

The contemporary approach to Islamic practical theology also calls on social sciences, reflecting the possibility of interdisciplinarity within Islamic practical theology. For example, in my book “Muslim Women, Domestic Violence and Psychotherapy” (Isgandarova, 2018), I argue that theological knowledge depends on the context and human experience and is sensitive to the human dilemma in many ways. Similarly, in Islamic theological studies, such as Qurʾanic exegesis, kalām (discursive theology), fiqh (jurisprudence), and Sufism, there is a need for an understanding of the “lived” practice of Islamic theological studies. Such an approach enables Muslim psychotherapists, social workers, psychologists, etc., to address issues of power, cultural diversity, and religious pluralism among Muslims.

Relationship between Islamic Social Work and Islamic Practical Theology

Islamic social work requires stronger theoretical and evidence-based best practices for the future advancement of the profession. According to Vasclo Lub, “A theory used in social work must, in other words, provide integration of acquired knowledge about the relevant mechanisms of action, and conditions for behavioural and social change” (Lub, 2019, 6). For Lub,

A social work method has a strong theoretical underpinning when it meets the following requirements: (1) the method presents a coherent and explicit vision of what should lead to behavioural and social change; (2) this vision is supported by relevant theoretical notions from the literature; (3) the theories are incorporated into the method in such a way that they logically connect to problem definitions, programme goals and target groups. (Lub, 2019, 7)

For example, in many countries the social work profession is based on the recovery-model which William Anthony (1993) defines as follows:

A mental health services system that is guided by the recovery vision incorporates the critical services of a community support system, organized around the rehabilitation model’s description of the impact of severe mental illness all under the umbrella of the recovery vision. In a recovery-oriented mental health system, each essential service is analysed with respect to its capacity to ameliorate people’s impairment, dysfunction, disability, and disadvantage. (Anthony, 1993, 528)

In the Muslim context, Islamic practical theology along with the social sciences can provide theoretical legitimacy to the Islamic social work and allow Muslim social workers to have a stable foundation that integrates faith and practice. For example, in this respect, recovery model from Islamic social work perspective is client-centred as the divine revelation was human-centred and focuses on hope to recover from a mental health condition and social problems. In addition, based on al-Ghazali’s concept of human psyche, this kind of recovery work requires a thorough assessment and treatment at four levels: (1) nafs (lower self), (2) qalb (heart), (3) ʿaql (intellect) and (4) rūḥ (spirit) (Keshavarzi & Haque, 2013; Skinner, 2010).

Recent research endeavours and inspiring practices suggest that new initiatives in practical theology provide a new approach to teaching and practicing Islamic social work, Islamic psychotherapy, and Islamic psychology. However, we still have to define what Islamic social work refers to. Does it mean, as Abdullahi Barise (2005) has suggested, using insights from the teachings of Islam when working with practicing Muslims? Or is it, as Ibrahim A. Ragab (2016) outlines, a more systemic integration of Islamic religious knowledge with current social work practice theories? From the perspective of Barise, it would be more appropriate to speak of “Islamic philosophy of social work” rather than of Islamic social work. For Ragab, however, Islamic social work practice should be regarded as a subfield of Islamic practical theology. Another crucial issue is whether we could apply Islamic social work when working with non-Muslim clients. The traditional, or more specifically: pre-modern, practices can help us to find answers to these questions. In Islamic practical theology, the roots of social work started with care for the poor, the orphaned, the sick and vulnerable travellers. Later on, Islamic social work was conditioned by the influences of social sciences. In Malaysia, they teach social work education in the context of Islamic studies and social sciences (Ashencaen Crabtree & Baba, 2001). Contemporary Islamic social work practice within Islamic practical theology education is still rather philosophical than “practical”. Therefore, it is too early to claim that we have already achieved our goal and established contemporary Islamic social work. When it comes to the practice or application of Islamic practical theology, the Muslim social workers, along with spiritual caregivers and counsellors, feel some inadequacy in their practices. In other words, there is a gap between the lived and the studied; and the understanding of Islamic practical theology is still narrow and parochial.

The growing need for Islamic practical theology in Islamic social work, Islamic psychotherapy, and spiritual care displays a need for moving beyond the traditional understanding of practice and theology in Islamic studies by taking into account the importance of lived experience and praxis. This approach to Islamic practical theology education will make it more advanced and broader, going beyond the textual approach to practical theology.

Due to its integrative approach, Islamic practical theology can enrich Islamic social work education and practice. For example, in Ontario, Canada, along with developing social security and welfare provisions in the Muslim communities, Muslim social workers also provide counselling and psychotherapy from an Islamic perspective. Muslim social workers can learn from the experience of some Muslim spiritual caregivers and psychotherapists who started to apply the understanding of a “living human document” as suggested by Boisen (1960). The term “living human document” does not refer to any specific theological notion. However, by applying this term, Boisen simply invited practical theologians to attend to human life the way they attend to the written documents of faith like Scripture (O’Connor, 1998, 112).

The application of the concept of the “living human document” requires a creative approach to clients’ narratives specifically from the Islamic tradition perspective in order to address clients’ needs as well as to empower them as required by general social work practice. Here I argue that the literature may help to understand the theories, but human stories must also be studied and interpreted as sacred texts. In this respect, Hans-Georg Gadamer’s (2004) metholdogy suggests interpreting the individual who comes for counselling and care as a “living human document” who must be seen from various “horizons”, including religious tradition, psychological theory, and counselling interventions. Gadamer suggests that the truth is hidden within word meaning and comes to the surface when a human being becomes aware of himself or herself located temporally in the context (Isgandarova, 2018). Such interaction is the heart of healing through social justice, advocacy and empowerment that Muslim social workers need to integrate into their theoretical and clinical knowledge.

From the Christian practical theology perspective, healing through social justice, advocacy and empowerment are practiced through a reading of sin and salvation or fall and grace. From the Islamic practical theology perspective, these goals are achieved through the Qurʾan’s radically egalitarian epistemology. In the Muslim context, on the one hand, the principle of tawḥīd (oneness and unity of God) recognises that the origin of all is one. On the other hand, the principle of taqwā (God-consciousness) encourages liberation from evil, or from the destructive forces of trauma, and emphasises the re-establishment of personal communication with the Creator, self, others, and nature. Such a reading of the living human document means acceptance, forgivingness, and purification of the soul. This is the process of contributing to human development and spiritual maturity by helping clients achieve the moment of enlightenment (VanKatwyk, 2003).

When doing so, Muslim social workers should consider the notion that social justice should be placed at the heart of the Islamic social work, similar to the mission of the Prophet Muhammad, who was the voice of the marginalised groups. The Qurʾan explicitly urges believers to be mindful of mutual rights. For James E. Jones, “this is a call to justice” (Jones, 2014). Also, as Asma Barlas (2002, 96) notes, the belief in oneness in God “makes for a just and coherent moral universe” and encourages not to commit zulm (injustice) to anybody. Moreover, the Qurʾan on many occasions call for ʿadl (justice), qisṭ (righteousness or justice in social relations) and mīzān (balance or measure), especially in regard to women, orphans, poor, the travellers and other vulnerable social groups. Furthermore, the concept of al-maṣlaḥa (social well-being or the common good) requires the commitment of social work to the improvement of quality of life and freedom of aforementioned social groups. Accomazzo, Moore and Sirojudin further elaborate the notion of al-maṣlaḥa. They state that,

The basic necessity is called aḍ-ḍarūriya and includes mental, spiritual, and material well-being: personal mental health, the security of the family (including elders and youngsters), the security of possessions and wealth, personal safety and life, and the safety of one’s beliefs. The second type of social well-being in Islamic tradition is called ḥājiyyāt, namely, the improvement of the quality of life beyond necessity. Individuals are allowed to improve their lives both spiritually and materially. Finally, the third type of social well-being is called taḥsīniyyāt and denotes the opportunity and the freedom for individuals to enjoy the best quality of life, including possessing luxurious good and abundant wealth. (Accomazzo et al., 2013, 77)

In this respect, the Islamic social work practice should look for ways to assess and help people in need through the perspective of the living human document in Islamic practical theology. According to P. VanKatwyk (2008) the perspective of the living human document helps to reveal the truth by providing a different outside perspective. The Muslim social worker then has to help the clients see their problem from a new perspective and then transcend it through creative imagination or theological reflection. For Boisen, it starts with “don’t be afraid to tell.” In Islamic spiritual care practice, for example, Muslim spiritual and religious caregivers use this perspective to encourage the patient or client to allow them to read their life story. In this regard, a great source of inspiration in Islamic social work practice is the Islamic narrative of the Surah of al-ʿalaq (The Clot) or ʾiqraʾ (Read):

Recite in the Name of Your Lord, Who created. He created the human being from a clot. Your Lord is the Most Generous Who taught by the pen. He taught the human being what human being knows not. (Q 96:1–5)Footnote 1

Similarly, in Islamic social work practice, Muslim social workers can explore particular psychosocial and theological issues and provide an analysis of the situation from Islamic practical theology and social science perspectives. They can approach the central problem or issue in the client’s stories by engaging a four-step process: (1) understanding the problem, (2) gathering information, (3) understanding the information, and (4) coping with the problem (Isgandarova, 2018). Similarly to Islamic psychotherapy practice, especially clinical Muslim social workers can provide interventions that address the “diagnosis,” drawing upon sources from Sharʿia, Islamic theology, Sufism, and contemporary counselling theories, as well as resources from within the Muslim family and the community. For example, in case of domestic violence, the difficult questions raised by Muslim women who are victims of domestic violence cannot be answered using only social sciences. These questions related to the Qurʾan’s teaching about domestic violence, the classical and contemporary Islamic traditions (like Sufi counselling), and current counselling theories and practices approach to the controversial aspects of counselling with women who were/are victims of domestic violence can only be understood within the framework of Islamic tradition.

Meanwhile, when Muslim social workers use Islamic practical theology they should also address the following questions as outlined by Michael J. Austin, Christina Branom and Bryn King:

  1. 1.

    To what extent does the search for meaning in one’s life include engaging in the struggles for social justice?

  2. 2.

    How does one’s religious faith or secular beliefs (humanistic values and ethics) inform one’s social justice commitments to the survival and development of all people?

  3. 3.

    How does the blending of the scholarly logic (historical and philosophical) associated with understanding social justice combine with one’s personal commitment to promote social justice?

  4. 4.

    If we are all part of “the problem” (both agent and recipient of exploitation and oppression), how do we become part of “the solution” by promoting social justice?

  5. 5.

    To what extent does the transformation of consciousness related to human relations, personal behaviour, lifestyles, and professional practices call for self-transformation?

  6. 6.

    How does one’s newly acquired understandings of social justice inform efforts to make the transition from focusing on the symptoms of social injustice to identifying and addressing the underlying causes of injustice related to exploitation and oppression? (Austin et al., 2013, 2)

Such an approach to Islamic social work suggests that social work is not only about Islam. We have to consider the fact that Islam is very general and broad when we consider the old and existing Muslim theological schools, sects, traditional and contemporary sources, etc. Similarly, the scope of social work is broad and has subdisciplines that include but are not limited to community, clinical, school social work. The questions above provide a conceptual guideline that make Islamic social work operational and look different from other subdisciplines such as Islamic psychology and psychotherapy.

Conclusion

Muslim social workers are attempting to select certain theories and methods as a solid foundation for Islamic social work practice. We do not have an evidence-based theory that suggests if Islamic practical theology can be relevant in Islamic social work practice. However, the implementation of the principles of Islamic pratical theology seems to have been effective in Islamic psychotherapy and spiritual care practices. Drawing on these experiences, this paper suggests that Islamic practical theology can provide effective guidelines for an Islamic social work. However, as we observe in other fields, it would be an overreach to expect that Islamic practical theology provide ready-made recipes. It rather inspires clinical wisdom to check the fit of theory into the practice.