Roger Scruton, in his conversation with Sheikh Hamza Yusuf on “What Conservatism Really Means” (2018), asserted that “pleasure has driven out joy”. Pleasure, stemming from desires of ‘having it now’, is instant by nature. Therefore, it has a short-term reward, as anything that is attained instantaneously has psychologically less value.
Joy is attained gradually, and its rewarding effects are long-term because, though stemming from desires, it is coupled with a sense of superior motivation, struggle, and goal. In psychology, goal is a form of keeping the self functionally balanced by achieving a certain target. Motivations are biological, cognitive, behavioural, emotional, and social forces that compel us to achieve our goal.
It is not that pleasure does not possess motivation and goals, but it is very shallow and does do not require great effort. It is also untrue that pleasure is inherently evil or that indulging in it is a sin. In Islam, pleasure is a natural part of human survival, as we experience it when we consume food or indulge in intimacy. However, if the pleasure system malfunctions (that is, are used excessively), it may leads to psychological enslavement to the pleasure-seeking habit called addiction, thus taking the role of an addict.
Amongst the types of addiction, drug abuse is the most prevalent and destructive form of addiction in the twentieth century. In 2019, UNO World Drug Report stated that 35 million people worldwide suffer from drug abuse. It is important to understand the neuro-cognitive mechanism of drug addiction, as this will give insight into the general mechanism of addiction.
When a drug is consumed, it increases the brain’s neurotransmitter called dopamine, affecting some of the brain structures, primarily the nucleus accumbens (NA), which is the reward system of our brain. This intense reward expressed by the NA, depending on the potency of the drug, intoxicates the prefrontal cortex, the decision-making hub of the brain, bringing the mind in a state of immense euphoria and happiness. The resultant emotions are linked with a structure called amygdala that processes human feelings. All this intense occurrence is stored in the hippocampus as a memory, which helps in recalling the pleasurable event, when any drug-related-stimulus is present, thus beginning the cycle of behaviorally acquiring the reward for the body. If one were to imagine this, it would be as if drugs are hijacking the normal behaviour and distorting the motivational process in its wake.
This distortion causes repeated behaviours of taking drugs, striving to satisfy the hollow pleasure bucket. It then transitions into a habit-learning behaviour, which is a recurrence mode of stimulus and response, without any goal or motivation. Like a broken tape-recorder, the behaviour becomes increasingly repetitive with time, thus losing voluntary ability over the drug use. Therefore, withdrawal effects are high, and chances of relapse are plausible.
Note the above biological and psychological similarity with the Islamic spiritual part of humans as mentioned by Al-Zarkashi in the book called “The Herb: Hashish Versus Medieval Muslim Society”:
“It [drugs] diminishes the powers of the soul, destruction of the mind (Fikr), forgetfulness (Nisyan Adh-Dhikr), vulgarization of secrets, commission of evil actions, the loss of modesty (Haya), great stubbornness, the lack of manly virtue, the suppression of jealously, wastefulness, keeping company with the devil, the omission of prayer, and the falling into unlawful activities.”
The heart is the seat of the spirit (Ruh), which endeavours to reach longevity called Nafs Al-Mutmainnah, a peaceful soul. It is a joyful journey for the body, as the spirit tries to reach its Maker, Who is a permanent Being with no imperfections. Sheikh Hamza Yusuf mentions that we all are ‘hollow-beings’, so we need to find substitutes to complete the hole in our hearts. The heart will never take a substitute that is faulty or impure, even though we will try forcing it in the form of addictions. It will be rejected, because “Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts are assured.” (Ar-Rad 13:28)
The Quran provides us with the means to prevent addiction: “O children of Adam, take your adornment at every Masjid, and eat and drink, but be not excessive. Indeed, He likes not those who commit excess.” (Al-Araf 7:31)
The key here is ‘excessive’ – meaning entering a zone of faulty habits, where behaviour no longer has a purpose. You need to ask yourself: “Why am I doing this? Do I need this? Am I getting something out of it?” In case of addiction, your automatic answer to all this will be ‘no’; nevertheless, your desire would want the insignificant reward, which would ultimately be wasted. But if you resist, it will pass. A former addict James Frey in his book “A Million Little Pieces” advised: “Be strong. Live honourably and with dignity. When you don’t think you can, hold on.”
For any addict, the first step is to detoxify yourself by asking forgiveness from Allah (swt), and then taking medicine and/or therapy, depending on the severity of the addiction. This will help in reclaiming your spirit, body, and mind. Cook in his research “Spirituality, Mental Health-Substance Use” revealed that spirituality and religion are protective factors that can reduce substance abuse and function as mechanisms against relapse.
Next, replace your inside hollowness with something, or better Someone, permanent and pure. You may experience severe withdrawal and constant relapses, but like James Frey said: “Addiction is a decision… There is always a decision. Take responsibility for it. Addict or human. It’s a… decision. Each and every time.”
If you are related to an addict, prayer, patience and just being there to listen without judgement is the key advice. Know that an addict’s heart is yearning to attain tranquillity – they just do not know how, and they may not be ready to listen. Despite that, support them emotionally, because when their smoke-screen gets cleared, part of tranquillity is knowing that they are not alone.
About author
