As Salaam Aleykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatouh.

I have been a psychologist for 13 years and since I started providing Islamic therapy rooted in the Qur’an and Sunnah, I have felt aligned in my career, something I never really experienced before, Alhamdoulillah.

Despite my years in the field, the strength and the courage of the Muslim women I get to interact with never ceases to amaze me.

It is the nature of my work that I only meet people in a professional setting when they feel at their lowest. This also means that I get to hear, time and time again, truly inspiring stories of sabr/patience.  

Sabr is often misunderstood. It is sometimes mistaken for passivity, or for quietly enduring abuse and mistreatment. This misunderstanding can lead to unnecessary guilt—where a person feels they are not being “patient enough,” and as a result, becomes weighed down and unable to take meaningful steps toward healing.

In reality, sabr is an active state. It is the effort to seek Allah’s pleasure in how we respond to hardship, while turning to Him for help and making use of the means He has allowed to ease or resolve that hardship. Seeking support—such as therapy—is part of this process, so long as it remains within the boundaries of the deen, and even more so when it is grounded in it.

Shaykh Salih-Al-Fawzan (Rahimahullah) reminds us that “no doubt the believer is commanded with patience… and he utilizes the beneficial means by Allah’s permission… permissible means do not negate patience.”

If what I have said is correct, it is from Allah; and if it is wrong, then it is from myself and Shayṭān.

As Salaam Aleykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatouh.

Audrey Kodye, Registered Psychologist and Islamic therapist at Overcome Anxiety Psychological