About the Podcast:
- Is being depressed a sign of kufr?
- What is the idea of the self in Islam?
- How can Islamic spirituality be integrated with modern psychology?
In this episode, we explore how Islamic approaches to mental health challenge traditional stigmas and modern psychological frameworks with Dr Zoheir Esmail. From examining the concepts of qalb, nafs, and rūḥ to investigating whether depression indicates spiritual disconnection, we unpack the relationship between faith and mental wellness. We delve into Islamic mental health history from early medieval scholars to contemporary applications, addressing stigma around hellfire and spiritual disconnection whilst exploring occult sciences, jinn, and the evil eye as therapeutic tools. Dr Esmail reveals how Islamic psychology creates wellbeing by understanding the human self as naturally anxious by creation, offering spiritually integrated therapy that addresses religiosity and faith for holistic healing that secular approaches often overlook.
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Learn More About Our Guest:
Dr Zoheir Ali Esmail is a Lecturer in Islamic Mysticism and the head of the Mysticism and Spirituality research area at Al-Mahdi Institute. Having transitioned from a career in accounting to seminary studies in Syria and Qum, he holds a doctorate in philosophy and mysticism of Mullā Ṣadrā from the University of Exeter. His research spans spiritual psychology, transcendental philosophy, and Quranic exegesis, blending rigorous scholarship with traditional knowledge in mental health discourse.
Read More of His Insights:
Esmail, Z. (2025) ‘Visions of Tawḥīd: Reconciling a Statement in the Twenty-Eighth Supplication of al-Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādiyya’ in Islamic Perspectives on God and (Other) Monotheism(s).
Esmail, Z. (2023) ‘The Role of Eloquence in the Inimitability of the Qur’an’, Journal of Shi’a Islamic Studies, 16(3-4), pp. 227-239.
Esmail, Z. (2016) Between Philosophy and ʿIrfān: Interpreting Mullā Ṣadrā from the Qajars to Post-Revolutionary Iran. PhD thesis, University of Exeter.
