A Critique of Islamic Liberation Psychology

Abstract

The colonisation and globalisation of psychological knowledge has been increasingly criticised for their ‘Orientalist’ and ‘Eurocentric’ perspectives and biases. In relation to the effects of globalisation on psychology, one can identify its effects on the individual Muslim psychologists’ world view and identify, the shaping and dissemination of both psychological knowledge and clinical practice. There has been a propagation of the literature focusing on the de-colonisation of psychological science. Globalisation has now replaced colonialism, like ‘old wine in a new bottle’! Contemporary scholars have expressed increasing interest in psychology’s development in third-world contexts, and  Martín-Baró’s liberation psychology is an example of one such psychology. This approach to psychology is an indigenous approach bridging the gap between the personal and the political and championing the cause of social justice and equality. There are also those who advocated a liberation psychology from an Islāmic perspective. This paper critically examine the meta-theoretical propositions made by Mohr on  liberation psychology from an Islāmic perspective.