Home 
Contact 
Profile 
Videos 
By Consortium
Malaysia held in Kuala Lumpur under the theme ‘Spiritual Support in Health
Care’ by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH
(Harvard)
Summary
· Health problems of adolescents (13-19 years) from the perspective of purposes of the Law, maqasid al shari’at,
· Maqsad hifdh al ddiin: Adolescent identity crises, role ambiguity, and marginalizing spirituality
· Maqsad hifdh an nafs: protecting and promoting physical health of adolescents. Limit competence of adolescents in medical decisions due to immature brain.
· Maqsad hifdh al nasl: sexual and reproductive health education for adolescents.
· Maqsad hifdh al ‘aql: depression, suicide, para-suicide, addictions (nicotine, alcohol, and drugs), juvenile delinquency
· Social re-engineering: intellectual approach, iman therapy, early marriage with contraception, live in extended family, self esteem
Introduction to adolescence
·
Stages of human life span: 1. Childhood, tufuulat;
2. Youth, shabaab; 3. Middle age, sinn al shudd[1]
[2] ;
4. Old age, shaykhuukha[3].
·
Youth is divided into 2 parts: adolescence
13-19, and young adulthood 20-40
·
Adolescence starting at puberty is a rapid,
complex, and difficult adjustment. Adaptive and adjustive: height, weight,
primary and secondary sexual characteristics, emotions, thoughts, behavior,
psychological, social, and moral
·
In the past the transition from childhood to
adulthood was rapid and painless. Today we have prolonged childhood, a long
transition full of psychosocial problems
·
Before puberty was a mark of adulthood it is not
today
The purpose of protecting diin, maqsad hifdh al ddiin
·
identity and role ambiguity, tensions and imbalances
due to imperfect internalization of ddiin
·
Solution by 1. Qur’anic world view (ru’uyat
kawniyyat qur’aniyyat) consists of
takamul, shumuliyah, tawazun, iitdiaal, tadafu’u, khilafat, taskhiir,
imarat al ardh, 2. iman restoration therapy, and 3. maqasid al shari’at.
·
Identity: child v.s. adult, dependence v.s.
independence, identify with peer v.s. family/parents
·
Ultimate questions: who am I? where did I come
from? Where am I going? What is my is my mission on earth?
·
Tensions because of imbalanced change: intellect
vs wisdom, abstract/idealistic thought vs cruel realities, sexual maturity but
no sexual expression
·
Adolescent problems due to immature brain and
genes vs. superior overriding power of ruh
The purpose of protecting
life, hifdh al nafs
·
Growth anomalies (early/delayed puberty) and
congenital anomalies treated on the basis of the principle al dharar yuzaal
·
Injury, violence, crime, and delinquency hurt
adolescents and others in the community associated with socio-demographic risk
factors: ADHD, low school connectedness, low GPA, high peer delinquency,
alcohol, risky sex behavior, hopelessness, parental divorce, weak parental
authority
·
Adolescent competence to consent or refuse
treatment doubtful because of immature brain
·
Brain immaturity requires review of
international and national statutes about adolescent competence (ahliyyat al
wujuub vs ahliyyat al ada)
Protection of progeny, hifdh
al nasl
·
Mass media and entertainment outlets give sexual
messages
·
Commercial advertisement cannot operate without
exploiting the sex theme
·
Problems due to failure to control sexuality when
marriage not feasible: teenage pregnancy, STI
·
Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education
is double edged: control vs stimulation
·
Parental role in SRH education: marriage,
courtship, premarital sex, STI, etc
·
The concept of safe sex (condoms) and
promiscuity
Protection of the mind, hifdh
al aql.. 1: nicotine addiction
·
The most significant adolescent health problem
is addiction to nicotine, alcohol, and drugs with their mental and physical
consequences. Adolescents are susceptible to addictions because of their
immaturity and peer or media pressures.
·
Suicidal attempts and para-suicidal behavior are
from an Islamic perspective a form of mental aberration.
·
Socio-demographic factors for adolescent smoking
include living in a household with one parent or no parent,[4]
parental or best friend smoking[5],
exposure to secondary smoking acting through nicotine addiction, [6] [7]
watching movies with smoking scenes.[8]
Protection of the mind, hifdh
al aql.. 2: alcohol abuse
·
Alcohol named by the Prophet as the mother of
all evils, umm al kabair, leads to adolescent risky sexual behavior[12] [13]
and adulthood risky sexual behavior and STI[14].
·
Genes have been found to interact, in
multifactorial adolescent alcohol pathways, with such factors as parenting rule
setting[17]
peer influence[18] the
psychosocial environment[19]
stressful life events[20]
and family malfunction or mistreatment.[21]
Protection of the mind, hifdh
al aql.. 3: substance abuse
·
The socio-demographic risk factors similar to
those of nicotine and alcohol
·
Religiosity protects against substance abuse.[22]
·
Incongruence between internal religiosity and
external religious manifestations was a high risk for alcohol and drug use in
Mexican adolescents[23].
·
Structural defects found on MRI indicate growing
adolescent brain susceptible to cannabis[24].
Protection of the mind, hifdh
al aql.. 4: depression and suicide
·
Risk factors of suicide mediated through
shaming: parental separation, parental unemployment and experiences of sexual
abuse[25]
·
Depression’s biological basis. Frontal brain
activity predicted depression[26] [27]. MRI
differences in brain activation in the brains of teenagers before and after
treatment for depression[28].
·
Socio-demographic risk factors for suicide: low
self-esteem[29], sleep
problems[30] [31],
conformity to social perfectionism[32]
as well as genetic and environmental factors[33].
·
A neurobiological basis for suicide: low levels
of the brain derived neurotropic factor affects serotonin neuron development
that is associated with suicide risk independent of psychiatric diagnoses.[34]
Protection of the mind, hifdh
al aql.. 5: behavioral problems
·
Behavioral problems of addictions lead to
juvenile delinquency
·
Delinquents are usually academic failures /
dropouts from school or come from broken dysfunctional homes
·
There is no unanimity that behavioral problems
may arise from this immature brain.
·
Brain abnormalities associated with conduct
disorders[35]. MRI studies
found differences in activation of brains of youth exposed to media violence
and those not exposed[36].
·
MRI image differences were found among
adolescents with eating disorders[37].
·
Structural and functional brain defects in
females with anorexia nervosa[38].
THE WAY FORWARD
·
Intellectual/cognitive: capitalize on abstract
thinking of adolescents to present an integrated Islamic world view to resolve
identity and imbalance problems and to understand modern media and ICT in its
proper sense
·
Iman restoration therapy to provide the
spiritual force needed to stand up to temptations
·
Approach fiqh issues from the maqasid
perspective that starts with the higher purposes and not the branches
·
Early marriage with delayed parenthood to
prevent evils of extra marital sexual relations and their consequences
·
Social engineering to bring back life in the
extended family
·
Build adolescent self-esteem by positive
parenting and hope in the future of the ummah
TAZKIYAT AL NAFS
·
Nafs ammarah
·
Nafs lawwaaamah
·
Nafs mutmainnat
REFERENCES