Muslims once led the world in holistic mental health care. Today, that legacy is being revived.
Join Authors Dr. Rania Awaad and Merve Nursoy-Demir for a special in-person book signing, discussion, and Q&A exploring the rich tradition of Islamic psychology and healing. Their newly released book “Maristāns and Islamic Psychology” uncovers the story of historic wellness centers that stood at the heart of Muslim societies.
The books will be available at the event for $55. Meet the authors and get your copy signed after the program.
Friday, August 22, 2025 | 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. PST | MCC Conference Room | Free; join in person or watch virtually at mcceastbay.org/live
Featuring:
- – Dr. Rania Awaad (Stanford Psychiatry, President of Maristan)
- – Merve Nursoy-Demir (Researcher and Co-author)
- – Moderated by Dr. Mohamad Rajabally and Anse Sawsan Imady
Schedule
- – 7 p.m. – Start of program
- – 8 p.m. – Maghrib congregational prayer
- – 8:20 p.m. – Wrapping up and audience questions & answers
- – 9:30 p.m. – Isha congregational prayer
- – 9:45 p.m. – Cutting of celebratory cake in MCC foyer along with snacks
A detailed examination of the treatment modalities within these historical treatment centres provides a promising model for creating a holistic approach to psychological healing that is grounded in Islāmic heritage. This text completes such an examination, highlighting the practical IP treatment methods in fourteen maristāns geographically spread throughout the Muslim world to bridge this centuries-long model of psychological care to the modern context.
As part of the Islāmic Psychology and Psychotherapy Focus series, this book provides a foundation for mental health professionals who either directly deliver mental health services or are involved in creating theories, institutions, or spaces of IP and psychotherapeutic practices.
Review
After centuries of obscurity, the priceless treasures of Islamic civilization are finally being unearthed, piece by piece. The treasure this timely book succeeds in bringing to light is the Islamic pattern of holistic health care in general and mental health care in particular, the latter being a first in the history of civilization. Of utmost interest is the ability of medieval physicians to harness every possible resource in their environment, thereby achieving truly remarkable results.
–Dr. Mostafa al-Badawi, Consultant Psychiatrist and Author of, among other titles, Man and the Universe and Spiritual Significance in Islamic Architecture.
In the late 1970s, I had a chance encounter with a German engineer. In a remote area where he was building a road in Iran, he had come upon a Medieval mental hospital, still running on its original endowment, that treated mental disorders, not with Western pharmacology, but through architecture!- the colour blue, a ‘ golden ratio’ in proportions, a ‘mandala ‘ courtyard, fountains. The effect, he said, was so tranquilising that he decided to stay and had ‘the best night’s sleep in my life’.
His account intrigued me. In the 45-odd years since, I was, however, able to discover only a little about early Muslim mental hospitals― until reading Rania Awaad and Merve Nursoy-Demir’s groundbreaking edited book.
This is a ‘must-read’ book for anyone with an interest in Islamic Psychology. Still, it should appeal to a much wider readership and has the force itself to encourage a paradigm shift in how we in the West view mental illness and its treatment.
–Dr. Rasjid E. Skinner, Clinical Director at Ihsaan Therapeutic Services and Visiting Professor at International Islamic University Islamabad.
A vital contribution to the field of Islamic psychology. Looking to the past to elucidate the profound wisdom and practical methods used by Islamic institutions of holistic, community healthcare, the authors reveal how relevant and needed such practices are today. Despite advancements in modern medicine, there have been major side effects, including the disaggregation of body and soul and disconnection from nature and community. The future of Islamic psychology, and health and wellbeing more broadly, requires efforts to “catch up with the past,” reviving traditional healing practices and institutions tailored to modern circumstances. This book is a crucial step towards that future.
–Dr. Abdallah Rothman, Clinical Director of DAR al-Shifaa and Executive Director of the International Association of Islamic Psychology.
–This text refers to the hardcover edition.
📣 Upcoming Event at MCC East Bay! @mcceastbay
Join Dr. Rania Awaad for a special in-person book signing, discussion, and Q&A exploring the rich tradition of Islamic psychology and healing. Her new release, Maristāns and Islamic Psychology, uncovers the story of historic wellness centers that stood at the heart of Muslim societies.
🗓️ Friday, Aug. 22, 2025 | 7–9 PM
📍MCC East Bay (Conference Room) | Watch online at mcceastbay.org/live
🎊 Free and open to the community. Refreshments served. Books are available for $55 at the event. Meet the authors and get your copy signed after the program.
Featuring:
• Dr. Rania Awaad (Stanford Psychiatry, President of Maristan)
• Merve Nursoy-Demir (Researcher and Co-author)
• Moderated by Dr. Mohamad Rajabally and Anse Sawsan Imady
📚 Prefer to purchase online? Support Maristan by ordering here: linktr.ee/Maristan
(Maristan may earn from qualifying Amazon purchases.)
Dr. Mohamad Rajabally is a long-time community activist, a lay speaker for Friday sermons at mosques across the Bay Area, and an active leader with two national groups that represent Muslim-Americans. As an advocate for the poor and vulnerable, he has founded a domestic violence shelter in the South Bay and serves as a Board Member for the Tri-Cities Homeless Coalition (now called Abode). For the past decade, he also served as a Human Relations Commissioner for the City of Fremont. As a religious leader, Dr. Rajabally has served since 2000 as a volunteer Muslim chaplain at Washington Hospital. He is a past president of the Islamic Society of East Bay in Fremont, which is one of the Bay Area’s largest mosques. Dr. Rajabally operates a dental practice in Newark along with his wife.