ABSTRACT
Psychoanalysis’ approach to Islam has mainly been influenced by the Freudian notion of religion as a collective neurosis (some would say a psychosis), to be explained in the same terms as individual psychopathologies. Yet, in this post-secular era of ours, Jung’s concept of religions as symbolic systems or clusters of archetypes exerting their influence both on individuals and societies might be more useful. From such a perspective, Islam might have something to bring to psychoanalysis. Here, I explore this possibility by drawing on the work of Ibn al-Qayyim, a medieval scholar whose persistent popularity is much connected to his subtle understanding of the human ‘heart’ – a concept which within Islam has surprising affinities with the modern ‘psyche.’
