Mental Illness is Real

In the latest episode of Living Muslim, brother Mohamed Hoblos confronts the stereotypes and misconceptions of one of the biggest taboo topics in the Muslim community, mental illness.Having mental illness doesn’t mean you’re far from Allah nor does it mean you’re possessed by Jinn, it’s a test from Allah, just like other diseases such as cancer, etc. The Prophet (ﷺ) was confronted with the topic of mental illness, and his response was not what we hear today, “You need to Pray”, “Come closer to Allah” or “This is a punishment from Allah.” ‘Ata bin Abi Rabah narrates that Ibn ‘Abbas once said to me,

“Shall I show you a woman of the people of Paradise?”

I said,

“Yes.”

He said, This black lady came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said,

‘I get attacks of epilepsy and my body becomes uncovered; please invoke Allah for me.’

The Prophet said (to her),

‘If you wish, be patient and you will have Paradise; and if you wish, I will invoke Allah to cure you.’ She said, ‘I will remain patient,’ and added, ‘but I become uncovered, so please invoke Allah for me that I may not become uncovered.’ So he invoked Allah for her.” (Sahih Bukhari)

What we can learn from this Hadith is that the Prophet ﷺ did not ignore nor deny mental illness, but in fact, acknowledged it as a problem. It is difficult to deal with mental illness, but it is, no longer a problem the Muslim community can ignore. It cannot be dealt with alone, so talk to someone who is able to help and guide you in dealing with mental illness.  You no longer need to suffer in silence. For those that are struggling with mental illness and are in need of help please feel free to contact the appropriate professionals. As Allah states in the Quran

“Ask the people of knowledge if you do not know.” An-Nahl 16:43

  For Assistance you may be in contact with: LifeLine Australia: 13 11 14 Kids Helpline (Australia): 1800 55 1800   Video Credit: ‘ALONE – Short Film’ – Black Wolf Productions ‘Foxcatcher’ – Annapurna Pictures, Likely Story ‘The Perks of being a wallflower’ – Summit Entertainment, Mr. Mudd