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  • © 2021

Toward a Positive Psychology of Islam and Muslims

Spirituality, struggle, and social justice

  • Integrates Islamic psychology, Muslim mental health, and positive psychology in one volume
  • Highlights diverse voices of minoritized Muslims from a strengths-based perspective
  • Looks at the wellbeing of diverse Muslims through positive psychology 2.0

Part of the book series: Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology (CAPP, volume 15)

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Table of contents (18 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
  2. Intersectional Identities

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 115-115
  3. Health and Healing

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 181-181
    2. Health and Wellbeing: Bridging Secular and Islamic Worldviews

      • Syed Rizvi, Nausheen Pasha-Zaidi
      Pages 183-206
    3. Gratitude and Wellbeing: Cultivating Islamically-Integrated Pathways to Health and Wellness

      • Nausheen Pasha-Zaidi, Ali Al-Seheel, Kate Bridges-Lyman, Rabia Dasti
      Pages 207-234
  4. Acceptance and Allyship

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 259-259
    2. Promoting Allyship Among South Asian and Arab Muslims Toward Black and Latino/a Muslims in American Islamic Centers

      • Nausheen Pasha-Zaidi, Meg A. Warren, Yvonne El Ashmawi, Neneh Kowai-Bell
      Pages 307-331
  5. Disrupting Dogma

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 333-333

About this book

This book integrates research in positive psychology, Islamic psychology, and Muslim wellbeing in one volume, providing a view into the international experiential and spiritual lives of a religious group that represents over 24% of the world’s population. It incorporates Western psychological paradigms, such as the theories of Jung, Freud, Maslow, and Seligman with Islamic ways of knowing, while highlighting the struggles and successes of minoritized Muslim groups, including the LGBTQ community, Muslims with autism, Afghan Shiite refugees, and the Uyghur community in China.

It fills a unique position at the crossroad of multiple social science disciplines, including the psychology of religion, cultural psychology, and positive psychology. By focusing on the ways in which spirituality, struggle, and social justice can lead to purpose, hope, and a meaningful life, the book contributes to scholarship within the second wave of positive psychology (PP 2.0) that aims to illustrate a balance between positive and negative aspects of human experience. While geared towards students, researchers, and academic scholars of psychology, culture, and religious studies, particularly Muslim studies, this book is also useful for general audiences who are interested in learning about the diversity of Islam and Muslims through a research-based social science approach.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Houston Community College and University of Houston Downtown, Houston, USA

    Nausheen Pasha-Zaidi

About the editor

Nausheen Pasha-Zaidi, PhD, is a professor of psychology at Houston Community College and teaches social science courses at the University of Houston-Downtown, USA. She has worked as an international educator for almost 20 years focusing on language development and cultural studies with an emphasis on Muslim populations. Her articles have appeared in a number of professional journals including the Journal of International Women’s Studies, Ethnicities and Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. She is the author of The Colour of Mehndi, a novel that explores acculturation, family values and mental illness within the Pakistani-American community and the lead editor of Mirror on the Veil: A Collection of Personal Narratives on Hijab and Veiling. She also co-edited the book volume: Positive Psychology in the Middle East/North Africa with Dr. Louise Lambert. Dr. Pasha has presented at several international conferences on topics related to English language learning, religiocultural diversity and Islamic feminism.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Toward a Positive Psychology of Islam and Muslims

  • Book Subtitle: Spirituality, struggle, and social justice

  • Editors: Nausheen Pasha-Zaidi

  • Series Title: Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72606-5

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and Psychology, Behavioral Science and Psychology (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-72605-8Published: 16 July 2021

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-72608-9Published: 17 July 2022

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-72606-5Published: 15 July 2021

  • Series ISSN: 2210-5417

  • Series E-ISSN: 2210-5425

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIII, 416

  • Number of Illustrations: 8 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Positive Psychology, Islam, Cross Cultural Psychology

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access