681 DOI: 10.1037/14045-038 APA Handbook of Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality: Vol. 1. Context, Theory, and Research, K. I. Pargament (Editor-in-Chief) Copyright © 2013 by the American Psychological Association. All rights reserved. C HAPTER 38 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ISLAM: CURRENT EMPIRICALLY BASED KNOWLEDGE, POTENTIAL CHALLENGES, AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH Hisham Abu-Raiya Research in the psychology of religion has grown dramatically in the past 2 decades, and researchers and practitioners have gained some important insights into the impact of religious beliefs and prac- tices on the psychological well-being of the individ- ual (Hood, Hill, & Spilka, 2009; Paloutzian & Park, 2005; Pargament & Abu-Raiya, 2007). This field of inquiry, however, has focused almost exclusively on Christian populations and largely neglected people from other traditional faiths, Islam in particular. Systematic, rigorous, and large-scale scientific psy- chological research on Muslims has been particu- larly sparse (Abu-Raiya, Pargament, Stein, & Mahoney, 2007). This oversight is striking given the fact that Islam represents the fastest-growing reli- gion in the United States and the world. An esti- mated 1 billion to 1.8 billion Muslims live in the world, and 6 to 7 million of them reside in the United States (U.S. State Department, 2001). Historically, the psychology of Islam has relied almost entirely on theological speculation, clinical observations, and anthropological methods of inquiry (e.g., Carter & Rashidi, 2003; Dwairy, 2006; MacPhere, 2003). Recently, this picture has begun to change as empirical studies on the psychology of Islam have grown in number. Collectively, this emerging body of empirical research has under- scored the centrality of Islam to the lives of Muslims and has identified clear connections between Islamic beliefs and practices and the well-being of Muslims. In this chapter, I summarize the major findings of the emerging empirically based psychology of Islam, point to the challenges that researchers in this area might potentially face, and suggest future direc- tions for research in this field of inquiry. To help the reader who is unfamiliar with Islam, I start with a summary of the basic tenets of this religion. SUMMARY OF ISLAM Islam is the last major monotheistic traditions to emerge in history. From the Islamic viewpoint, how- ever, instead of being the youngest of the major monotheistic world religions, it is the oldest. Islam, according to this view, represents the “original” as the final revelation of God to Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad (Esposito, 1998). According to Gordon (2002), the word Islam, often translated as “submission” or “surrender,” reflects the decision by the Muslim (“one who submits or surrenders”) to abide in mind and body by the will of the one and the true God (Allah). The word Islam also has a lin- guistic connection to the word salam (peace). To surrender to Allah’s will then is to bring about a har- monious and peaceful order to the universe. Islamic tradition started in the early 7th century C.E. in the town of Mecca in the Arabian Peninsula. According to this tradition, a 40-year-old reflective and trusted merchant, Muhammad— commonly referred to as the prophet, or messenger