Ethics in Islamic Counselling

COU215 Islamic Counselling

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Learning objectives
• Describe the principles of Islamic counselling

• Analyze the differences between counselling ethics and Islamic ethics

• Apply ethical principles to resolve counselling dilemmas involving religious implications.

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• Foundational values that dominate ethical perspectives and ethical decision-
making models have been formulated within a Western context

• It is important for counsellors working with Muslim clients to understand Islamic

practices and ethics related to counselling

• In Islam, there are two primary sources of law: the Qur’aan – the Noble Text
believed by Muslims to be the direct word of God; the Sunnah, and Ijtihad, the
law of deductive logic

• Islamic ethics is a framework, set by the Qur’aan, within which all practical
conducts are deemed permissible.
(Rassool, 2016)

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Principles of Islamic Ethics
1. Man is honoured.

2. Every human being has the right to live and to the maintenance of
life

3. Equity

4. Striving to do well or excel in doing things well

5. ‘No harm and causing no harm’

(Rassool, 2016)

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Counselling vs Islamic Ethics

• Islamic ethics is theistic in origin

• Metaphysical and transcendental in scope
• Community oriented

Elzamzamy & Keshavarzi (2019)

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What are issues that might pose ethical dilemmas for Islamic
counsellors?

(Rassool, 2016)

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Examples of ethical issues
• Abortion
• Sexual orientation
• Gender identity
• Consensual marital affairs
• Substance use and alcohol
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Reflective exercise:
What are your values and beliefs
regarding these issues? How will you
work with clients who might have
problems related to these?
(Rassool, 2016)
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Case study
Aisha is a 19 year old girl who comes to you for counselling. She tells you
that she is currently pregnant and that it has been three weeks for her
pregnancy. The baby is reportedly her boyfriend’s and they are planning to
get married by the end of this year. She also states that she is looking for
ways to get an abortion. Her main concern in that she has been feeling low
since she found out about the pregnancy – she feels guilty about aborting
the baby and believes that she is committing a second sin. However she also
feels like if she goes through with the pregnancy she will be shamed and
disowned by her family. Her boyfriend also wants her to get an abortion and
they have been having problems in their relationship following this event.
She is questioning whether marrying him is the right choice.

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Tutorial exercise

Read the case study and answer the following questions. You can also read
the journal article by Elzamzamy and Keshavarzi (2019) for more
information.
• What is the ethical dilemma in the case study for a counsellor who is
observant of Islamic faith?
• Describe the relevant ethical codes – specify the applicable clauses.
• Identify possible courses of action and their potential consequences.
• Explain the best course of action with justification.
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 Readings for the week
• Rassool (2016) Chapter 7
• Elzamzamy & Keshavarzi (2019)

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