Plans for 2012

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I received a message in the Shout Box. It said, "Assalamu'alaikum Dr Ridhwan. I love the idea of being a happy Muslim by understanding the basic belief in Islam, al Qadr. I think, the assignment that you gave us on understanding al-Qadr was somehow changes the perception of many of us in the class." In many ways, this short message highlights my plans for 2012.

In 2010, my focus was on understanding the concept of happiness. That is where my reading in the area of positive psychology was a great help. In 2011, my focus was on using the internet to develop positive emotions. By and large, learning more about Islam helped students resolve their doubts and deal with the difficulties of their everyday life in a better way. Parallel to this, I asked my students to research al qadar in some detail. My focus for 2012 will be, God willing, to understand how a practical understanding of al qadar helps people become happier. I also hope to use psychological tests to measure the psychological state of my students at the beginning of the semester and at the end of the semester. That will hopefully help us to better understand the underlying processes that enable people to be happy.

Conference paper available for free

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Happiness in Islam

Alhamdulillah, I am due to present my overall findings for the "Happiness in Islam" project at a conference organised by the International Association of Muslim Psychologists (IAMP) at IIUM that will be held, insha Allah, from 5th Dec 2011 to 7th Dec 2011.

My wife keeps telling me that it is difficult for somebody reading this blog to understand exactly what is the data that I have collected and what are my conclusions on the project so far. I think that it is a fair comment. At the same time, I don't want to re-arrange my blog because it is helpful for me to look back and observe how my ideas / knowledge has changed over time. Therefore, if anybody is interest in getting the 'overall picture', they are welcome to email me at fontaine008@gmail.com. I will email back a copy of the conference paper.

By the way, the fact that I don't make regular postings does not mean that nothing is happening. I have about 160 students continuing this project. One group of 30 students will finish early December and one group of 130 students will finish in January 2012. I am also discussing with a PhD students on the possibility of testing my students in respect of their emotional intelligence and their spiritual intelligence at the beginning of the assignment and at the end of the assignment to see whether there is any significant differences.

Relying on Allah

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Tawakkal (Relying on Allah)

Tawakkul (relying on Allah) is an important concept in Islam but what does it really mean? What are the implications for Muslim organisations?

My interest in tawakkal started when one of my ex-students started playing for a futsall team. This is a semi-professional team so they have a coach, they train three times a week and if you don't perform, you are off the team. At first, he played well. Then, some of the wors players on the team were dropped and they were replaced by some of the best futsall players in Selangor. All of a sudden, he could not play well anymore. He was afraid of being dropped from the team and that fear stopped him from playing well. That was the first time I thought abotu tawakkal in the context of a management situation.

If your employees are in fear, they can't perform. Theoretically, if they have tawakkal, they will not be in fear because they know that Allah is helping them

I spoke to various high-performing atheletes about this issue. In particular, I interviewed a 2nd dan Aikido master. His take was not that tawakkal was necessary for high performance but that it is necessary for people to continue improving themselves. A big problem in martial arts is those people who train, obtain a black belt and then stop. According to him, tawakkal would be very important so that people continue to strive and continue to push themselves to the limit. Ultimately, they can do so because they are not afraid because they trust in Allah.

So how do you develop tawakkal? Well, sufing the internet and listening to one good Islamic talk every week seems like a good place to start.

Integrating my various research projects

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Problems and Solutions


A few days ago, I realised that all my research projects are linked.

My longest on-going research is in the area of fire fighting. Fire fighting is a situation where problems in organisations repeat themselves. Individuals in organisations try to find 'quick solutions' but their efforts tend to fail, as the complexity of the situation overwhelm the people who try to solve them. My research shows that most managers in Malaysia - whether Malay, Indian, Chinese, working in large companies, medium size companies or small companies - experience severe fire fighting.

The danger of fire fighting is that it naturally leads individuals in a state that psychologists call "learned helplessness". People simply give up. The problems they face at work are so complex, so multi-faceted, that people don't even know where to start. People go through the motions but deep down they don't really believe that the situation will ever get better. One way to solve this problem is by using a technique called Positive Deviance Inquiry (PDI). In a paper that I hope will be published in 2012, I explain that PDI is a very practical tool for Muslim leaders.

In any case, this fire fighting situation creates a feedback loop. Fire fighting causes individuals to become helpless. But helpless individuals are more likely to treat 'solvable' problems as unsolvable problems.

So how do we break this vicious circle? Well, my experiments with getting my students to listen to Islamic talks for 12 to 14 weeks have shown me something. First, the intervention has an impact. About 80% of students (many of which are part-time Masters students who are working full-time) report feeling better about things. The process of listening to Islamic talks gives them hope, optimism and makes them more resilient. In other words, this process can probably turn helpless individuals into individuals that are psychologically stronger. That might not make fire fighting disappear but at least it will theoretically reduce the negative impact of fire fighting on an organisation. The best part of this intervention is that it is virtually free and its impact is presumably long-term as the process involves Muslims understanding their religion better.

So what has this got to do with happiness? Well, as this blog has progressed, it seems clear that I started with a very vague project and that it has become more and more specific as I have progressed. I think that 'happiness' is still relevant (although the technical term in the literature is "subjective well being"). The work that I have read indicates that happiness is not a state where people are 'relaxing'. Too much relaxation simply leads to boredom. Happiness requires individuals to work hard to achieve their goals. They will experience many disappointments but they are psychologically strong enough to persevere until they reach their goals. In short, this intervention leads directly to psychological strength and indirectly to a more happy person. And Allah knows best.

New articles on happiness

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I have been reading the Academy of Management Journal (AMJ). The AMJ is considered to be the no 1 journal in management worldwide. Anyway, there are a couple of articles that relate to happiness. In particular, Judge & Kammeyer-Mueller (2011) point out that happiness is an important issue in management (although we use terms like 'job satisfaction' because it sounds better) and with many practical implications at work. In particular, they note that most interventions are 'ephemeral' (i.e. short-term effect and then decays). My focus is now on intervention and measuring the long-term effect of the assignment 1 & 2. My observation to date is that many Muslim students have specific misunderstandings about Islam. These misunderstandings a) prevent them from fully appreciating Islam and b) creates cognitive dissonance. In many cases, students report that assignment 1 allows them to remove some misunderstandings about Islam and that makes them happy. Presumably, that kind of intervention is NOT ephemeral. I am toying with the idea of a Theory of Specific Religious Misunderstanding (TSRM). TSRM would assume that all Muslims have some specific misunderstanding about their religion. Until that misunderstanding is cleared up, they cannot progress. I will give an example. One student that I observed knew that if you don't pray, you go to Hell. However, he believed that Muslims who pray also go to Hell. So of course, he did not see the point in praying. Having clarified that misunderstanding, he is now praying much more regularly than before. He also reports being more at peace than before. Anyway, I need to collect more data before I go developing a new theory ;)

Overall result up to July 2011

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So far, I have a total of 206 people who completed the assignment
- 153 report being more happy (74%)
- 11 report being more calm (5%)
- 16 report no difference (8%)
- 13 are not sure (6%)
- 1 person report being more sad
- 6 did not answer
- 6 copied the assignments

In terms of the literature review, I am now digesting the Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology (2nd edition) edited by Shane Lopez and CR Snyder. This handbook contains 65 papers that summarizes the "state of the art" in positive psychology. Directly or indirectly, they relate to happiness and character building. I have still a lot of reading to do .....

Result from MGT6610 (May - July 2011

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For MGT6610 (Masters of Management - Org. Behaviour and Theory), I had 28 people submitting assignments.
- 21 reported being happier (75%)
- 2 did not specifically say they were happier but reported feeling more calm (7%)
- 1 reported no difference
- 1 was not sure
- 3 did not specifically answer the question (although they wrote a lot)

This is the 4th cohort to do this assignment. On average, 80% report being happier. 20% of either not sure or did not report any difference.

Psychological Capital

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Based on the work in the field of positive Organizational Behaviour (POB), Psychological Capital (PsyCap) are all the positive factors that influences people's perception of happiness. Again, PsyCap is composed of four inter-related constructs. This has been supported by research over the last 20 years or so. These are:

Hope: Not simply the hope for a better future but hope creates a very strong will (willpower) and there is a clear idea of how to achieve that goal (way-power).

Optimism: Based on the work of Seligman, we know that optimism is how we deal with negative events. Specifically, we see such events as temporary and specific.

Resilience: This is the ability to bounce back.

Self-efficacy: This is the belief that we can do specific things (like drive a car or manage people). Self-efficacy often occurs because in the past, we have done something before or we have watched other people do something before.

From an Islamic perspective, my understanding is that a correct understanding of Islam precedes PsyCap. The Islamic belief system and the correct knowledge of Islam allows Muslims to be hopeful, optimistic, resilient and able to get things done. Specific skills (like goals setting, time management, ABCD,....) can help but the core has to be Islamic. That would mean that

Correct Islamic core (belief and knowledge) leads to PsyCap which leads to happiness.

Defining happiness

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Defining Happiness

When I started this project, I had an intuitive understanding of happiness. However, I have recently read Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's "Flow". This researcher has been investigating happiness scientifically by interviewing thousands of people.

Here is a synopsis of his book:
a) We cannot control our external environment. We can only control our inner experiences.
b) Happiness is not about relaxing. It is about setting ambitious but realistic goals and trying our level best to achieve them. If the goals are too easy, we come bored. If they are too difficult, we become anxious.
C) By controlling the content of our consciousness, we can focus on achieving our personal goals. The only danger to our happiness is that outside events (other people's perceptions and behaviour) distracts us from our goals.

Probably one of the most subjective discussion is the distinction between social goals (i.e. goals imposed by the society, employers or the family) and personal goals. Csikszentmihaly argues that we must take into account some of these social goals but we still need to blend our own personal goals.

Lastly, Csikszentmihaly concludes that people can only be happy if they can turn life into something meaningful and this is only possible if people "dedicate themselves to a course greater than themselves."

From an Islamic perspective, this is my understanding. You will never be a happy Muslim by doing the rituals of Islam due to social pressure and / or family pressure. At the end of the day, you need to practice Islam because you make it your PERSONAL goal. You commit yourself to improving your knowledge of Islam because you are motivated by something greater than yourself - namely the worship of Allah SWT alone, without associating any partners with Him. More importantly, your understanding of Islam does not depend on the society's understanding or your family's understanding. Your understanding of Islam is based on the explanations given by the Prophet (SAW) as explained by the scholars. When there is a clash between Islam practiced in the society and Islam taught by the Prophet (SAW), the only logical thing is to follow the clear teachings of the Prophet (SAW). Do not be surprised if people around you get upset with you. Throughout history, the majority of people have always followed their nafs but following the Prophet (SAW) requires controlling our nafs.....

There is a side-point that I believe is important. We tend to think of "remembering Allah" as a passive activity to do when we are in the Masjid or at home. However, Csikszentmihaly makes it clear that happiness is about being fully engaged in doing something difficult. It is about being active. It is about being involved in the society, actively making it a better place......

Re testing MGT2010 (sem 2 2010 2011)

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The purpose of this exercise was to find out whether - after finishing their assignments - students continue to access Islamic talks on the internet. Out of the 190 students who did this assignment is sem 2 (2010 2011), I sampled 50 students in the MGT2010 group. This was almost 6 weeks after the assignment was over. To avoid social pressure, the survey was done by a student rather than myself.

1. 50% of students said that they had listened to at least 1 talk on the internet in the last month
2. 34% of students said that they wanted to continue listening to talks but they faced technical difficulties (one student explained that she used headphones that belonged to her sister and that her sister reclaimed the headphones....so she could not listen to the talks in the labs anymore).
3. 16% said that they had not listened to any talks and that they were not interested in listening to talks in the future

Overall result for Sem 2 (2010-2011)

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In total, 169 students submitted a complete report

- 135 (80%) said that listening to religious talks made them happier
- 8 (5%) said that they were not sure
- 14 (8%) did not directly answer the question
- 12 (7%) said there was no effect

That is the "hard data". But what does it mean?

Generally, there is no doubt that listening to Islamic talks on a weekly basis helps Muslims shape their attitude. Most people talked about 'broadening their knowledge', 'changing their negative behaviour', "re-connecting with Allah" and so on. Words that appeared often in the report were "happier", "calmer", "more content", "more peaceful", "more patient" and "less angry".

What is clear to me is that it is impossible to be content - as a Muslim - without knowing Allah and worshiping Allah. Furthermore, the concept of 'happiness' is not really an Islamic concept [I am starting to regret that I used that as the name for this blog]. Related concepts are contentment, peace of mind, gratefulness and thankfulness. I currently have another batch of Masters of Management students who are doing the same assignment. I also plan to offer the same assignment in Semester 1 (2011-2012). It will be interesting to see whether their experience is the same.

Results for MGT2010 (sem 2, 2010,2011)

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The results for Principles and Practices of Management (sem 2, 2010-2011) is:

- 108 assignments were completed and analyzed
- 86 students said listening to religious talks made them happier (80%)
- 6 were not sure (6%)
- 12 did not answer the question directly (10%)
- 4 said that they did not feel any difference (4%)

Refining the concept of "happiness"

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Apart from collecting and analyzing the data from my students, I am doing a lot of reading to better understand the concept of happiness. In truth, there are a number of inter-linked concepts:
a) Hope
b) Optimism
c) Resilience

At the moment, my focus is on better understanding Martin Seligman's work on optimism. He argues that many people are pessimistic because of the way think. Typically, they think that problems will last for a long time and that one problem will destroy their whole life ("I have always been a loser and now my whole life is finished"). However, when people become aware of how they think, they can be trained to see their problems in a more optimistic way. Typically, a problem is temporary and the impact is limited ("I didn't do well just now but it's no big deal. I still have a wonderful job and a great future). The next step is to try developing these skills in the classroom.

Busy with other things

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I have not yet posted the results for MGT2010, sem 2, 2010/2011. The reason is that I am busy marking exam papers. After that, I will key in some of the data in an excel spreadsheet before analysing it. Generally though, the results seem similar than MGT4110....Those students who want to better understand the benefits of assignment 1 & 2, please come to my office. I think I can explain it better than at the beginning of the semester

Results for MGT4110 (sem 2, 2010, 2011)

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There are 41 people who did the assignment.

- 33 said that they felt happier [this ranged from 'very happier' to 'a little bit happier'], which is about 80%

- 2 students did not really answer the question [5 %]

- 6 students said that they liked the assignment but did not feel any different, which is about 15%

Reflections on happiness

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Reflections on Happiness

I am going over the assignments at the moment for MGT4110. There is a pattern that is obvious, which I would like to share. First, many students describe a process where they become more sad / frustrated as they experience cognitive dissonance (i.e. their behaviour is out of line with their belief). I call this stage the "Leaving your comfort zone stage". Second, many students report that the extra knowledge lead to reducing their doubts and confusions about Islam, which leads them to greater happiness. I call this stage the "Learning stage". Third, that extra knowledge makes it easier to behave in a more Islamic way, which reduces their cognitive dissonance and makes them feel happier. I call this the "Empowerment stage".

A lot of this is confirmed by the theory of happiness and unhappiness that you can find in psychology textbooks. In short,

a) Many people are unhappy because society sets very high expectations that they can never reach (e.g. being the perfect Muslim)

b) They deal with that by setting personal goals that satisfies their desires but contradicts their religious beliefs

c) Coming out of the comfort zone is painful at first because you need to learn how to behave differently and challenge your past

d) Learning involves three aspects
- Learning new things about Islam
- Learning how to learn independently from other people's expectations
- Learning that meeting other people's expectations in regards of religion is
a waste of time. The only thing you can do is improve yourself, one step at a
time, without worrying about expectations from others. You are not learning new things to impress others, you are learning new things because you want to become a better person

e) Once you have learned how to learn, you become empowered - you can achieve both your personal goals and achieve your religious goals

The big difference between the Islamic perspective on happiness and the secular perspective is the role of Islamic knowledge. Only with sufficient Islamic knowledge can people figure out how to balance their lives, live in harmony with God, other people, other animals and respect this planet. What I mean by "Islamic knowledge" is not textbook knowledge but Islamic knowledge that allows to deal with real problems - such as relationships, crises, expectations, .....- in everyday life.

Result from the 1st group

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The first group of Masters of Management (MOM) students finished this project. They were asked to listen to religious talks once a week for 10 weeks. The 21 students submitted their report last week. The data was transcribed into Excel.

77% said that they were happier (the comments ranged from "the process of learning was fun" to "this assignment was inspirational"

9% said that they did not feel happier but their responses were quite positive ("I feel calmer than before")

9% said they did not change

5% (i.e. one person) said that she felt sadder because she realised how far away she felt from Islam

These results gave me some relief. I knew that theoretically the results would be positive but it's always a relief when the data confirms the theory. I would add that I have accumulated a lot of qualitative data and it will take some time before I really understand it. I have, by the way, invited another professor from UIAM to help me analyse the data so that we may develop an objective view of the data. One of the tasks is to represent the data in a format that SPSS can accept. This would allow some non-parametric tests to be done.

The importance of self-reflection

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The importance of self-reflection


A few days ago, I reviewed the 1st draft of my students' assignments. One thing that became clear is that the capacity for self-reflection is a pre-requisite for self-efficacy and self-efficacy is a pre-requiste to be happy.

Self-reflection means that you can "personalize" what is happening around you. For example, I asked my students to investigate the proper Islamic understanding of al qadar. Most of the assignments ended up being very academic. I then said, "Do it this way. What does qadar mean to you." So one Bosnian student started exlaining qadar in the context of the war in Bosnia. Another student started talking about qadar in the context of the civil war in his country in Africa. If you can't relate Islamic knolwedge to your everyday life, that knowledge is always "depersonnalized." It ends up being how the ulama talk about qadar.

Another example would be understanding the meaning of surah al fatihah. If you are not careful, you end up with Ibn Khathir's understanding of surah al fatihah. But that is depersonalized knowledge. What matters is what surah al fatihah means to YOU as an individual. Unfrotunately, our Muslim brothers and sisetrs have never been encouraged to personalize their knowledge. So their knowledge of Islam remains abstract and goes not influence their lives much.

Ultimately, the worst form of depersonalized knowledge is people's abstract belief in Allah. People end up believing in Allah in the same way that they believe that there is a town called Toronto or that the galaxy is very big. Personalized knowledge is when you are absolutely, totally, 100% clear about the fact that Allah has created YOU, because He loves YOU and He wants YOU to go to Paradise on condition that YOU obey the Prophet (peace be upon him) to the best of your ability. In the process , He will guide YOU, He will help YOU, He will protect YOU. Your prayers became a sincere form of appreciation, a way of saying "Thank You for loving Me, helping Me and guiding Me". It's personal, it's sincere.

In summary, I think that people's ability to be happy depends a lot on their ability of self-reflection.
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