The Theoretical Foundations of Incorporating Islamic Beliefs in a Stress Inoculation Program for Muslims

Abstract

Little data are available about the nature of stress which Muslims in
North America frequently endure. Muslim scholars have not attempted to
define the major stressors these Muslims experience, nor have they furnished
Muslims with an inocuIation program that integrates Islamic beliefs with
cognitive techniques in order to change stress quality and quantity. The
development of such a program, however, is not possible without theoretical
foundations that employ the findings of stress research. On the other hand
such a theory, if fuIly deveIoped, is not functional without empirical data
to sustain its basic propositions.
Hence, the purpose of this paper is to: a) develop the theoretical
foundations of the interreIationship between stress cognition and Islamic beliefs;
b) present a stress cognition paradigm that explains the moderation function
of certain Islamic beliefs; and c) incorporate certain Islamic beliefs in the
application of the cognitive techniques of stress management.
The Relationship between Stress Cognition
and Religious Beliefs
Stress is defined as the outcome of the cognitive process through which
a person interprets and attaches meaning(s) to an event. Selye (1974) explains
it as being the negative or positive cognitive appraisal that causes the individual
to perceive an event as stressful. Based on the outcomes of the cognitive
appraisal, Selye distinguishes between two types of stress: a) distress or
pathogenic stress “which goes beyond people’s optimum arousal point so that
performance and health deteriorate” (Savery 1986, 17), and b) eustress, which ...