Course Date: September 7 - October 21, 2026.
Understanding the Self: Islamic Spirituality & Psychology (ʿIlm al-Nafs) is a 7-week reflective course that explores the Islamic understanding of the human self through the concepts of qalb, nafs, rūḥ, and ʿaql. Through structured lessons, guided discussions, reflective practice, weekly quizzes, and a final project, students will examine identity, emotions, inner conflict, purpose, and spiritual growth through both classical Islamic teachings and selected modern psychological perspectives. The course helps students develop a more disciplined, intentional, and faith-grounded approach to understanding themselves and their inner lives.
This introductory course explores ʿilm al-nafs, the Islamic science of the self, as a way of understanding human behavior, emotion, identity, and moral responsibility. Rather than treating the self only as a psychological or social construct, the course examines the human being as a moral and spiritual reality shaped by the heart, self, soul, and intellect.
Students will study how Islamic teachings describe the inner life and how this understanding can help them interpret emotions, thoughts, desires, struggles, and choices. The course will also encourage students to critically engage modern psychological and philosophical ideas, especially where they intersect with questions of identity, mental health, freedom, and purpose.
Learning will take place through structured presentations, guided discussion, consistent reflective practice, weekly quizzes, and a final project. The aim is not only to introduce key concepts, but also to help students develop a more disciplined, intentional, and spiritually grounded approach to their inner lives.
Students will engage in guided reflection and self-examination, connecting course concepts to their own thoughts, emotions, habits, and choices.
The course introduces the integrated Islamic understanding of qalb, nafs, rūḥ, and ʿaql, helping students explore the human being beyond purely material or psychological explanations.
Weekly quizzes, reflective exercises, and a final project help students move from knowledge to personal insight, self-accountability, and intentional spiritual development.
Understanding the Self is a 7-week program with weekly live sessions held on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:00 to 7:00 pm. Each session combines presentation, guided discussion, and reflective engagement around essential questions related to the self, identity, emotions, purpose, mental health, and spiritual growth.
Students will use Google Classroom to access course materials, submit assignments, and stay connected with course expectations. Weekly quizzes will help reinforce key concepts, while the final project will invite students to apply Islamic and modern frameworks to real questions about human nature, inner conflict, meaning, and personal transformation.
The course progresses from foundational concepts such as qalb, nafs, rūḥ, and ʿaql toward applied themes including fitrah, purpose, internal struggle, emotions, mental health, resilience, and tazkiyah.
To introduce students to the Islamic understanding of the human being through the concepts of qalb, nafs, rūḥ, and ʿaql.
To help students examine identity, emotions, thoughts, desires, and behavior through an Islamic spiritual and moral framework.
To encourage students to critically reflect on modern psychological and philosophical approaches to the self.
To cultivate habits of reflection, self-accountability, discipline, and intentional spiritual growth.
To support students in developing a faith-grounded sense of identity, purpose, and moral responsibility.
The "Understanding the Self" course runs for 7 weeks, beginning on September 7, 2026. Each week includes two live sessions (EST): live instruction on Mondays from 6:00 to 7:00 pm, and a discussion and Q&A session on Wednesdays from 6:00 to 7:00 pm.
Week 1
What Is the Self? – Understanding qalb, nafs, rūḥ, and ʿaql as an integrated system.
An introduction to the Islamic model of the human being, exploring the relationship between the heart, self, soul, and intellect as essential dimensions of human nature.
Week 2
Fiṭrah and Human Nature – Fiṭrah vs. environment
Exploring the original nature of the human being and how family, society, habits, media, and environment shape one’s identity and inner life.
Week 3
Purpose and Identity – Purpose: given vs. created
A reflective inquiry into divine purpose, worship, meaning, and how a faith-rooted identity provides stability in a changing world.
Week 4
The Nafs and Internal Conflict – The states of the nafs and the path of tazkiyah
Understanding the inner struggle of the self through nafs al-ammārah, nafs al-lawwāmah, and nafs al-muṭmaʾinnah, and examining how purification leads to growth.
Week 5
Emotions and the Inner Life – Emotions as signals, not truth
Exploring how emotions reveal aspects of the inner life while still needing to be guided by truth, wisdom, and moral responsibility.
Week 6
Mental Health & Spiritual Resilience – Islamic vs. modern mental health
Examining hardship, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, patience, tawakkul, and resilience through both Islamic spirituality and modern psychological perspectives.
Week 7
Integration & Personal Growth – Tazkiyah and growth
Bringing the course together through reflection, self-accountability, disciplined practice, and a personal growth plan rooted in Islamic spirituality.
The students will be able to…
Clearly explain the key components of the Islamic model of the self: qalb, nafs, rūḥ, and ʿaql.
Describe how emotions, thoughts, desires, and behaviors can be interpreted through an Islamic framework.
Compare selected Islamic and modern psychological perspectives on identity, mental health, and human nature.
Identify the role of fiṭrah, purpose, tazkiyah, and self-accountability in personal growth.
Apply course concepts to real-life inner struggles such as anxiety, desire, confusion, self-worth, or lack of purpose.
Develop a practical personal growth plan rooted in reflection, discipline, and spiritual accountability.
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Where knowledge becomes wisdom.
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