Abu Zayd al-Balkhi
Abu Zayd Ahmed ibn Sahl al-Balkhi | |
---|---|
Born | 850 Shamistiyan, Islamic psychological thought |
Main interests | Geography, Mathematics, Medicine, Neuroscience, Psychology, Science |
Abu Zayd Ahmed ibn Sahl Balkhi (
Biography
al-Balkhi was born in 849CE in a small village called Shamisitiyan, in an area called Balkh which is now part of Afghanistan. As a young man, around the time of al-Kindi's death,[2] al-Balkhi traveled to Iraq.[3][4]
At this time Islamic culture was making strong efforts to absorb the knowledge of previous civilisations, and having its own culltural flowering. This period is sometimes termed the Islamic Golden Age.
al-Balkhi spent eight years in Iraq. One of his teachers was philosopher Abū Yūsof alKendī.[3][2]
He returned to Balḵ and began teaching what he had learned. Ahmad ibn Sahl, the ruler of Balkh and its surroundings, offered him both a writing and a ministerial position and al-Balkh accepted the former and declined the latter. The king respected his decision and rewarded him handsomely.
al-Balkhi later traveled to Baghdad again, before returning to Balkh for the last time and staying there until his death in 934 CE.[5][4]
Personal characteristics
al-Balkhi had a reserved and isolated character, leading scholars to have a lack of knowledge on his personal life.[5]
According to Abu Muhammad al-Hassan ibn al-Waziri, one of his students, al-Balkhi's face was covered in scars that he acquired during an episode of smallpox.
Works
Of the many books ascribed to him in the al-Fihrist by Ibn al-Nadim, one can note The Excellency of Mathematics and his On Certitude in Astrology. His Figures of the Climates (Suwar al-aqalim) consisted chiefly of geographical maps. He also wrote the medical and psychological work, Masalih al-Abdan wa al-Anfus (Sustenance for Body and Soul).
A modern scholar describes the bulk of his works as "more than 60 books and manuscripts, meticulously researching disciplines as varied in scope as geography, medicine, theology, politics, philosophy, poetry, literature, Arabic grammar, astrology, astronomy, mathematics, biography, ethics, sociology as well as others."[6]
Figures of the Regions
His Figures of the Regions (Suwar al-aqalim) consisted chiefly of
Sustenance for Bodies and Souls
The second part of this manuscript is known as Sustenance for the Soul.
Principles of Interaction
His balance between technical terminology and common ethical sense could be found in his monograph where he talks about the interaction between the elements of the body, seasons, and the traditional "non-natural" health elements, such as food and sleep.[2]
Mental health and mental illness
In
He criticized many medical doctors in his time for placing too much emphasis on physical
Al-Balkhi traced back his ideas on mental health to verses of the
"In their hearts is a disease."
—Qur'an2:10
"Truly, in the body there is a morsel of flesh, and when it is corrupt the body is corrupt, and when it is sound the body is sound. Truly, it is the qalb [heart]."
— Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Iman
"Verily Allah does not consider your appearances or your wealth in (appraising you) but He considers your hearts and your deeds."
— Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, no. 8707
Cognitive and medical psychology and cognitive therapy
Abu Zayd al-Balkhi was the first to differentiate between
Psychophysiology and psychosomatic medicine
The Muslim physician Abu Zayd al-Balkhi was a pioneer of psychotherapy,
Depression
al-Balkhi recognized two types of depression:
- one caused by known reasons such as loss or failure, which can be treated psychologically through both external methods (such as persuasive talking, preaching and advising) and internal methods (such as the "development of inner thoughts and cognitions which help the person get rid of his depressive condition"); and
- the other caused by unknown reasons such as a "sudden affliction of sorrow and distress, which persists all the time, preventing the afflicted person from any physical activity or from showing any happiness or enjoying any of the pleasures". He thought this was caused by physiological reasons (such as impurity of the blood) and could be treated through physical medicine.[7]
He also wrote comparisons between physical disorders with mental disorders, and showed how psychosomatic disorders can be caused by certain interactions between them.[8]
Phobias
Abu Zayd al-Balkhi initially wrote about phobia in the 9th century, calling it Fazaa'. As of today, it is still defined in a similar manner as to what was described by al-Balkhi. Al-Balkhi details the disorder as an extreme type of fear that results in the anxiety levels of a person spiking due to increasing the depth of blood in the body. This causes the person to become shaky and disoriented, preventing them from making decisions in a timely manner. Rather than taking medicine or proceeding with blood letting, which were common methods to help an individual, he suggested gradual exposure to the object or situation that caused the fear. This technique was known as reyadat al-nafs.[8]
OCD
al-Balkhi differentiated
Managing fear
Knowledge of the cause
al-Balkhi quotes a saying that "most of the terror comes from anticipation of the terror" and advocates being informed and realistic about the true nature of a concern.[10]
Exposure therapy
He advocates 'forcing oneself to repeatedly expose one's hearing and sight to noxious things' and to 'moved again and again near the thing it is scared of until it becomes used to it and loses its fear.[11]
Core emotions
al-Balkhi wrote that anxiety and distress were at the core of all harmful emotional symptoms (e.g. anger) and that happiness and joyfulness were the root cause of all positive emotional states (e.g. tranquility, pleasure and delight).[12]
Sexual attributes
While the topic of sex is more widely discussed today, al-Balkhi explored the subject in detail, specifically various sexual attributes and the affects that they have on an individual. A specific talking point that he mentioned in his work was the act of remaining abstinent. By doing so, an individual subjects themself to physical ailments, since the act is deemed by him to be "unnatural". He also recommended a specific diet and to abstain from taking medications that were believed to enhance sexuality as a means to treat sexual impotence.[5]
Politics
In a collection of works by the 10th-century
See also
- List of scientists in medieval Islamic world
- Science in the medieval Islamic world
- Mathematics in medieval Islam
- Medicine in the medieval Islamic world
References
- ^ a b E. Edson and Emilie Savage-Smith, Medieval Views of the Cosmos, pp. 61–3, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4020-9729-4, retrieved 2021-12-15
- ^ a b Foundation, Encyclopaedia Iranica. "Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica". iranicaonline.org.
- ^ a b Who was Abu Zayd al-Balkhi? Malik Badri, introduction to Sustenance of the Soul, Gutenberg Press
- ^ JSTOR j.ctvh4zfhk.4, retrieved 2021-12-15
- ^ Malik Badri, Abu Zayd al-Balkhi’s Sustenance of the Soul: The Cognitive Behavior Therapy of a Ninth Century Physician, International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) (2013), p. 1
- ^ a b Nurdeen Deuraseh and Mansor Abu Talib (2005), "Mental health in Islamic medical tradition", The International Medical Journal 4 (2), p. 76–79.
- ^ a b c Amber Haque (2004), "Psychology from Islamic Perspective: Contributions of Early Muslim Scholars and Challenges to Contemporary Muslim Psychologists", Journal of Religion and Health 43 (4): 357–377 [362]
- – via ScienceDirect.
- ^ Sustenance of the soul, al-Balkhi, Gutenberg Press, p45
- ^ Sustenance of the soul, al-Balkhi, Gutenberg Press, p49
- ^ Sustenance of the soul, al-Balkhi, Gutenberg Press, p37
Sources
- M. J. de Goeje: "Die Istakhri-Balkhi Frage" (Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, vol. 25, 42–58, 1871).
- H. Suter: Die Mathematiker und Astronomen der Araber (211, 1900).
- Bosworth, C. E.; Asimov, M. S., eds. (2003). History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volume IV. The age of achievement: A. D. 750 to the end of the fifteenth century. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publications. p. 745. ISBN 9788120815964.