The Trail Lit: International Students of Islamic Psychology (ISIP) in its growth – a Blessing of Individual Connectedness and Collective Belonging.

ربِِّ زِدْنِي عِلْما

“My Rab, increase my knowledge” (Surah Ta Ha 20:119)

ISIP aspires: ‘Enlightening Minds. Empowering Souls’ by offering a welcoming online space for Islamic Psychology (IP) students and scholars around the world. This, completely online organization was established amidst the covid pandemic in 2020. With tens of task forces for continental regions and countries as well as on important mental health topics and populations, ISIP has already organized and delivered over two hundred lectures.

ISIP is continuing to gain a strong foothold as an IP, online educational organization, specifically dedicated to the knowledge of IP. ISIP’s YouTube channel is very popular as it serves recorded ISIP lectures and podcasts. As an interdisciplinary field of research, the Islamic Psychology (IP) discipline is being rendered a great service by a selfless group of ISIP volunteer staff in all of its task forces and its co-founding members. All ISIP programs and registration with ISIP are free-of-cost to all its members, Al hamd Allah.

Based on the foundations of Islamic intellectual tradition which is abundantly filled with excellent examples of established methods of inquiry and revered bidirectional relationships between teaching and learning, the teacher and the student, and the scholarship from interdisciplinary fields of Religion/Spirituality, Biology, Psychology, Counseling, Arts, Languages and Literature, Medicine, Sociology, and History.

ISIP Taskforces on parenting, disabilities, trauma, marriage, Futuwah Academy for Sacred Womanhood and manhood are all integral programs of ISIP. Supervision/ Inter-vision global and continental groups established for IP-based counselling reflections and AlBalkhi Institute are all testaments to the potential of ISIP as a bridge between academia and practice in the field. With many collaborations with well-known institutions such as Muslim Cambridge College (MCC), the International Association for Islamic Psychology (IAIP), Khalil Center, and the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM), to name a few. ISIP can provide an efficient medium for IP students and scholars to further develop the art and science of IP’s theoretical concepts as well as refine their use in clinical practice.

Every scholar who has ever been invited to ISIP to give a lecture or who has attended its two conferences –all have praised the effort as pivotal in IP scholarship dissemination. For IP global body of students, personally, ISIP offers countless opportunities from being involved with the organization regularly and using presented inspirational content by contemporary IP scholars for the future IP scholars to immensely benefit from.

Given the times we are witnessing, it is particularly important to recognize the blessing of initiatives such as ISIP where personal connectedness has given rise to the collective belonging space that ISIP offers to all its sub-chapters and cohorts, both locally and globally. Its decolonization psychology chapter readings have lent themselves to social justice and advocacy efforts within IP scholarship which is and will be a massive achievement within IP scholarship having far-reaching intellectual and societal impact.

ISIP blog articles, www.isip.foundation website, a digital library containing scholarly books and articles, and ISIP’s social media presence have further enabled future generations of Islamic Psychology students and scholars to continue to stay connected and collaborate on new lines of research and programs to spread awareness about Islamic Psychology as a well-defined and evolving discipline.

At ISIP, it is inevitable to experience good discourses and appreciate an understood way of relating, connecting, and learning together with like-minded, sincere fellow members as well as hone skills evident in sharing, reflecting, and teaching practices through many of its insightful lectures that ISIP has offered to date.

With lots of prayers that ISIP and all its members grow abundantly and strengthen the field of Islamic Psychology through all the online programs and current collaborations and future ones, let’s continue to work towards continued success in ISIP’s Mission: ISIP-International Students of Islamic Psychology is an inclusive (open) space designed to connect people with diverse backgrounds interested in Islamic Psychology. We disseminate knowledge, share resources, and discuss best practices in a free and accessible manner. ISIP provides a platform to enable further development of people’s personal and professional interests, studies and understanding of Islamic Psychology within their communities and/or countries of origin. ISIP’s Vision: ISIP aims to bring about positive well-being for all human beings through a revival and promotion of Islamic Psychology. ISIP aims to revive the heritage of our well-rooted Islamic tradition and provide the basis of indigenous Islamic approaches within the realm of Psychology. ISIP envisions the normalization of Islamic Psychology throughout the world and eliminating stigma addressing Mental Health issues. ISIP aspires to facilitate a variety of healing practices and modalities that adhere to the principles of Islamic Psychology.

Saira Qureshi

The author offers Islamic Psychology-based psychospiritual interventions in mental health counselling practice and has been with ISIP since its inception in 2020.