Review of: Rassool G. H. Evil Eye, Jinn Possession, and Mental Health Issues: An Islamic Perspective. London; New York (N.Y.): Routledge, 2019. 330 p.

ISBN 978-1-138-65321-4

Abstract

A relatively recent book in the Research in Mental Health series of the prestigious academic publisher Routledge has been published by J. Hussein Rassoul, Director of the Department of Psychology and Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the International Open University. Professor Rassoul has been developing an approach to psychological counselling from an Islamic perspective for many years and has published extensively on the subject, particularly in the same Rutledge Press. The book, The Jinx, Jinn Obsession and Mental Health Problems: An Islamic Perspective, is of interest for several reasons at once. First, it is an interesting synthesis of Islamic spirituality and psychological counseling. Second, the book provides a representative sketch of perceptions of the place of possession in contemporary Islam. Thirdly, it purports to combine a strictly religious language with the academicism of scientific psychological literature. All these aspects compel us to turn to this work in more detail.