The Crescent and the Couch: Cross-Currents Between Islam and Psychoanalysis

by Salman Akhtar MD

Overview

Attempting to advance knowledge about Islam and to create the possibility of a dialogue between Islam and psychoanalysis, The Crescent and the Couch brings together a distinguished panel of Muslim and non-Muslim contributors from the fields of history, religion, anthropology, politics, and psychoanalysis. Together these authors highlight the world-changing contributions of prominent Muslim figures, and elucidate the encounter of Islam with Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism. Moving on to matters of family, individual personality formation, human sexuality, and religious identity, they also address clinical issues that arise in the treatment of Muslim patients as well as the technical work of Muslim psychoanalysts.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780765705747
Publisher:	Aronson, Jason Inc.
Publication date:	02/28/2008
Pages:	434
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Salman Akhtar, M.D. is professor of psychiatry at Jefferson Medical College, training and supervising analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia, and a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and the American College of Psychoanalysts.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     xi
Introduction     xiii
Prologue
Basic History and Tenets of Islam: A Brief Introduction   Hamada Hamid     3
The Prophet Muhammad: Man, Fountainhead, and Leader   George Awad     21
Characters
Rapture and Poetry: Rumi   M. Hossein Etezady     43
Vision and Modernization: Ataturk   Vamik D. Volkan   Norman Itzkowitz     63
Destiny and Nationalism: Mohammad Ali Jinnah   Salman Akhtar   Manasi Kumar     79
Ideology and Aggression: Osama bin Laden   Peter A. Olsson     103
Culture
Islam and Family Structure   Samar A. Jasser     123
Islam, Sex, and Women   Shahrzad Siassi   Guilan Siassi     141
Sufi Perspective on Human Suffering and Its Relief   Mohammad Shafii     161
Religious Identity Formation in the Children of Immigrant Muslim Parents   Mali A. Mann     181
Confluence
Christian-Muslim Relations: The Axis of Balkans and the West   M. Sagman Kayatekin     199
Jewish-Muslim Relations: Middle East   Joseph V. Montville     217
Hindu-Muslim Relations: India   Salman Akhtar     231
Creativity
SomeReflections on Arab Cinema   Iman Roushdy-Hammady     267
Oedipus in Egypt: A Twentieth-Century Rendition of Majnun Layla   Ruqayya Yasmine Khan     283
Cultural Nationalism in Indo-Muslim Art   Manail Anis Ahmed     295
Epilogue
Muslims in the Psychoanalytic World   Salman Akhtar     315
Whose Side Are You On? Muslim Psychoanalysts Treating Non-Muslim Patients   Aisha Abbasi     335
Notes     351
References     371
Index     393
About the Editor and Contributors     413

Editorial Reviews

With the goal of studying the interaction of Moslem and Western culture from multiple perspectives, Salman Akhtar has assembled a group of authors who explore the Moslem experience from different points of view. The chapters cover ana amazingly wide range of topics.. .. This book gives us the gift of making the foreign more approachable. We are stimulated to want to know much more.. .. The broad approach of this volume serves as a model for studying other cultures both to satisfy curiosity and to lessen prejudice.

The International Journal of Psychoanalysis

This much needed book on Islam, one of the world's great religions, shows how in its multifaceted regional and historical expressions, Islamic religious and secular culture conditions and operationalizes desire, longing, sexuality, marriage, killing, honor and leadership. Using literary, historical, theological, and psychological registers, the lives of the major Islamic figures beginning with Prophet Mohammad and including the Sufi poet Rumi and political leaders like Mustafa Kemal, Ataturk, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and 'sama bin Laden are interpretated. Islam's relations with Judaism, Christianity, and Hinduism are meaningfully elucidated and the work of Muslim psychoanalysts, like Masud Khan and Vamik Volkan, is discussed. The new findings and insights offered are historically critical, psychologically astute and conceptually rewarding.

Peter Loewenberg

Only Salman Akhtar, who has consistently pushed the conceptual envelope of psychoanalysis, was capable of providing us such a timely and readable volume on Islam. His book will help us develop a more nuanced and ecumenical understanding of the history, culture, and psychology of this great religion. This not only has implications for psychoanalytic thought and clinical practice but also for any framework for positive sociopolitical change.

Homer Curtis

Fascinating and rich material....It is wonderful and exhilarating to see an exploration of Islam in such a detailed manner.

December 2008 PsycCRITIQUES

This book on Islam is a unique achievement by a distinguished group of Muslim and non-Muslim contributors. It brings a psychoanalytic perspective to Muslim institutions, characters and creativity. The editor, Salman Akhtar, takes the reader on a journey that goes from the early history of Islam through the diversity of Muslims and their concerns, to the conflicts and accomplishments of Muslim individuals, groups, and nations. It also highlights the work of Muslims in the psychoanalytic world. I believe that The Crescent and the Couch will profoundly change the way many people think about Islam and Muslims today.

Afaf Mahfouz Ph.D.

This book on Islam is a unique achievement by a distinguished group of Muslim and non-Muslim contributors. It brings a psychoanalytic perspective to Muslim institutions, characters and creativity. The editor, Salman Akhtar, takes the reader on a journey that goes from the early history of Islam through the diversity of Muslims and their concerns, to the conflicts and accomplishments of Muslim individuals, groups, and nations. It also highlights the work of Muslims in the psychoanalytic world. I believe that The Crescent and the Couch will profoundly change the way many people think about Islam and Muslims today.

Afaf Mahfouz

With the goal of studying the interaction of Moslem and Western culture from multiple perspectives, Salman Akhtar has assembled a group of authors who explore the Moslem experience from different points of view. The chapters cover ana amazingly wide range of topics. . . . This book gives us the gift of making the foreign more approachable. We are stimulated to want to know much more. . . . The broad approach of this volume serves as a model for studying other cultures both to satisfy curiosity and to lessen prejudice.

International Journal Of Psychoanalysis