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Interesting to see the responses towards the claim that the prophet Muhammad (saw) suffered from psychiatric disorders such as epilepsy, seizures and delusions. Here are a few thoughts to consider:
Psychiatry itself admits to being committed to the minimalist version of the medical model. This assumes that we conclude psychiatric disorders from peripheral (outward) symptomatology, without making ANY commitments towards and underlying cause or pathology.
The problem of classifying psychiatric disorders "objectively" has been widely discussed in the literature as well as our commitments to the minimalist medical model (see Stanford encyclopedia& #39;s entry on this issue). Often we can& #39;t really tell what psychiatric there really is.
Panini et al (2014), advance a number of arguments against our current understanding of diagnosing psychiatric disorders by critically examining the DSM-V. I will mention some of these below. My aim is simply to show that diagnoses aren& #39;t always as objective as they seem
1. The cut off point between what is considered normal and pathological (i.e. symptoms and during of symptoms etc.) is arbitrary.
2. Since we are committed to the minamilist version of the medical model we make no causal inferences or links to basic sciences like neuroscience.
2. Since we are committed to the minamilist version of the medical model we make no causal inferences or links to basic sciences like neuroscience.
3. The definition of what is considered "normal" is arbitrary and depends on social and cultural outlook. This is not addressed by the DSM-V. Homosexuality was defined as a mental disorder until 1973.
4. In disorders where it us important to differentiate between normality and what is reality, it can sometimes be argued that reality itself is always changing. (Eg. Psychosis etc.)
5. Studies discussing the prevalence of such disorders don& #39;t show coherence.
6. See screenshots
5. Studies discussing the prevalence of such disorders don& #39;t show coherence.
6. See screenshots
From the above we understand that it is difficult to make an "objective" psychiatric diagnosis about a person& #39;s condition given their symptoms, let alone somebody who lived almost 1400 years ago! However I want to turn our attention back towards the minimal medical model.
Seeing particular "symptoms" makes no claim about some underlying pathology. There is no reason to assume that someone pulsating profusely, feeling overwhelmed or seeing particular images amounts to an actual pathology, if there even is one.
The prophet having some kind of revelation is a subjective experience that we can not fathom, quantify or describe, it is perfectly coherent to suggest that he (saw) could have had revelation and displayed symptoms that we would sometimes associate with psychiatric disorders.
The important thing to note is that a certain set of symptoms does not automatically imply some underlying pathology or disease. These are arbitrary claims as I& #39;ve shown in the points above. Just because someone swears profusely and says they feel overturned doesn& #39;t = disease.
It is important to keep in mind that the people at the time of the prophet (saw) were not entirely naive either. They are perfectly capable of judging and discerning who can be considered mentally sane or insane. It would be baffling to accept so many people pledged allegiance -
- to someone who was not mentally sane. On the contrary, Muhammad (saw) was regarded as emotionally intelligent, a wonderful father, a military strategist, and a competent leader within society. Given all of these facts it& #39;s hard to conclude that he (saw) was not mentally sane.
Another key evidence that people tend to miss is that the sahaba could differentiate between the prophets emotional states and when revelation came. Surely, when he was grieving the loss of his wife Khadija (R.A) and uncle Abu Talib, they recognised that this was grief.
Yet they could easily tell when he experienced grief, anxiety, stress and when he actually had revelation come down upon him. This is vitally important because the sahaba are providing us with empiricle evidence that others did indeed know the difference between His (saw) states.
Furthermore, we should duely note that rather than deteriorate in one& #39;s capacity to perform their duties and face hardships during a psychiatric disorder, the prophet (saw) only increased in his workloads and responsibilities and dealt with them effectively.
From all of the above we can conclude (1) that having symptoms doesn& #39;t necessarily equate to a disorder (2) the sahaba and society provide empirical evidence for the prophets various states and (3) the prophet was sane and competent throughout his prophetic mission.
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