Religious Faith, Cultural Practices, and Mental Health: Understanding the Complexities of the Human Experience in the writings of Ghazali and Freud

Abstract

This article compares and contrasts the perspectives of Ghazali and Freud to examine the impact of religion and civilization on an individual's psychological well-being. Ghazali and Freud had different opinions about how civilization and religion affect mental health. While the latter emphasizes how societal norms and unconscious impulses shape people's psychological makeup. The former emphasizes the value of religious faith and spiritual practices in fostering inner peace and harmony. It is found that Beliefs significantly impact human personality by influencing our values, attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions of situation. The moral laws governing a civilization are similar to the laws governing the universe. In order to investigate these two points of view, the study looks at the various ways that civilization and religion affect people's emotional, mental, and behavioral processes. In the end, the paper makes the case that fostering wellbeing in a variety of sociocultural situations requires a comprehensive grasp of the interactions among religion, civilization, and mental health. The study analyzes and contrasts the perspectives of two significant figures, Ghazali and Freud, and hence employs a qualitative research approach centered on textual analysis and close reading of primary data.