Comparison between the Islamic and Christian Counselling in Malaysia

Table 3
Comparison between the Concepts of Islamic and Christian Counselling in Malaysia
Islamic Counselling Christian Counselling
Similarities i. Both have strong foundation in the Holy Scriptures
ii. Both are same in their commence with the beginning of their
respective religions while the systematic professional or clinical
counselling in both religions began after the development of
secular counselling in the twentieth century;
iii. Both are is tied with strong scriptural foundations
iv. Both hold strongly on to the teachings of the Holy Scriptures,
v. The philosophy of counselling and the characteristics of
counsellors in both religions are almost similar
vi. Both are God or theist based and believe in the graceful, loving
merciful God as a safe haven responsive to human needs
vii. Rituals and sacraments applied in both Islamic and Christian
counselling
viii. Both belief in the concept of humans as God’s creation, which
was created not only from tangible flesh, but also with an
intangible soul
ix. Both recognize sin as a factor of human catastrophe

Differences

Literal Definition The word counselling and No clear origin from the Quran
counsellor originated from the Bible
Technical Four dimensions Three dimensions
Definition

History i. Promoted in the Churches i. Not widely promoted in the

ii. Faced some negative reaction mosque
towards psychology. ii. No negative reaction
towards psychology.

Theological i. Distinction between God’s i. God’s transcendence and

Foundations transcendence and immanence immanence are equal
ii. Did not believe in God’s spirit ii. Believe in Holy spirit inside
inside human the believers
iii. The conduit of God’s
attachment to the world is
bottom (human) to top (God)
iv. No ‘real’ communion with God
in divine intimacy
v. Concept of the innate-self:
Humans are pure and sinless in
their true nature and its
connection to sins. Human sin is
developed by himself.
vi. Lament is caused by human
ignorance and insurgent towards
God
vii. The ultimate goal of Islamic
counselling is to seek Allah’s
pleasure
iii. The conduit of God’s
attachment to the world, is
top (God) to bottom (human)
iv. Involved communion with
God in divine intimacy
v. Concept of the innate-self:
Humans are the Fallen who
are Sinful by inheritance
vi. Lament caused by the
departure of Jesus from the
world
vii. The ultimate goal of
Christian counselling
transform into
Christlikeness
Table 4
Muslim Respondents’ View on the Usage of ‘Islamic counselling’ term (N=21)

Themes Subthemes 1(reason) Subthemes 2 (alternative terms) N of

respondents
Disagree 2
Validity issue Muslim counsellor 1
Lack genuine theories and technique 1
Rejection of ‘Islamization of knowledge’ 1
Terminologically wrong ‘person’s counselling’ (i.e. ‘al- 1
Ghazali’s counselling’)
Threat to other Muslim conventional ‘counselling from the Islamic 2
counsellors perspective’,
Agree but prefer other terms 4
Sensitivity issue Syar’iy Counselling 2
Contradicted with Malaysian Counsellor’s Act ‘counselling from the Islamic 3
perspective’,
Irsyaad 1
More accurate as a specialization 3
Fully agree 12
Mentioned in the Qur᾽ān 2
Mentioned in the Ḥadīth 6
Existed since the Prophet Muhammads’s days. 8
Islamic elements changed the conventional form 12
Islamic theories, models or modules exist 7
Table 5
The differences between pastoral counselling and professional Christian counselling
Pastoral Counselling Professional Christian Counselling
Less structured More structured
Focuses on the words from the Bible Passion to develop certain theories
Always involve the elements of preaching Preaching is incorporated only with the
consent of the client
The setting is not restricted to a formal setting. The setting is systematic and done in an
Counselling could go on even in a Bible study class. appropriate environment
More of an advice Advise is incorporated where appropriate
The pastor has authority to point out your problem The counsellor has no authority. He would
patiently wait for the clients to make their
own choices
Has some sort of responsibility Does not have responsibility
The counselling is more directive More client centred
Never charges any fee Might charge service fees
Address the root part, not conventional but confessional, Indirectly guides the client towards
involves renunciation, then goes to the healing process. Christian principles
No rules restricted the pastors accept the Christian Bounded by some rules and the regulations
teachings and etiquettes were very strict
Table 6
Comparison between the Definitions of Islamic and Christian Counselling in Malaysia
Islamic Counselling Christian
Counselling
Similarities i. Both the definition of Islamic and Christian counselling in
Malaysia have almost similar patterns.

Differences

Usage of Terminology Debated extensively Not debate. All streams are

respected.

Way of definition The Muslim respondents The Muslim respondents

defined Islamic counselling defined Islamic counselling
definitively elaborately
Table 7
Comparison between the Developments of Islamic and Christian Counselling in Malaysia
Islamic Counselling Christian Counselling
Similarities ii. Introduced in Malaysia after the practiced of conventional
secular counselling commenced in this country.

Differences
History developed earlier developed later

Number of Education Institutions i. 6 local institution offered i. 5 local institutions offered

tertiary programs tertiary programmes
ii. No compulsory ii. Compulsory counselling
counselling curriculum to curriculum to the pastors
the imams

Number of Conferences 15 7

Number of Associations 3 1

Number of Centres Approximately 30 centres Hundreds, including the

Theories and Models i. Favouring the modification
model
ii. 6 domestic models
pastoral counselling ministries
i. Incline to the traditional
pastoral counselling and
integrative model
ii. No domestic model
Table 8
Themes (constructs) and subthemes (variables) for the meaning of recognition perceived by the Malaysian Muslim and Christian counsellors
Variable Recognition by society Variable Recognition by the Malaysian law and
Code Code government
S1 accepted by the religion G1 clearly stated by the
authority (i.e. the church, religious government and in the Malaysian
department) Counsellor Act
S2 received good perceptions G2 recognition of certification from
religious educational institutions
S3 well-known among the community G3 practiced formally in governmental
institutions
S4 widely practiced by counsellors G4 religious counselling programs and
researches conducted in public
(governmental) colleges and
universities
S5 preferred by large number or clients G5 specific job designation (vacancy) for
religious counsellors in the public
services
S6 minimal rejection G6 accepted by the conventional
counsellors
S7 large number of researches and G7 given license by the counsellor’s board
publications.
G8 permitted to practice in religious
premises i.e. church, mosque
Figure 1
Conceptual framework on the recognition of religious counselling in Malaysia
able 9
The view of Muslim respondents regarding the recognition of Islamic counselling (N =21)
Respondent’s codes Recognition by the Society Recognition by the Government
O O
Variables Variables
S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 G 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Muslim Counsellor 1 √ √ U √
Muslim Counsellor 2 X √ X X
Muslim Counsellor 4 √ √ NY
Muslim Counsellor 5 √ √ NY
Muslim Counsellor 9 √ √ U
Muslim Counsellor 10 √ √ X
Muslim Counsellor 11 √ √ X X
Muslim Counsellor 12 √ √ U
Muslim Counsellor 13 √ √ U
Muslim Counsellor 14 √ √ X X
Muslim Counsellor 15 √ √ NY
Muslim Counsellor 16 √ √ NY
Muslim Counsellor 17 √ √ √ √
Muslim Counsellor 18 X √ X X X X
Muslim Counsellor 19 X √ X X X
Muslim Counsellor 20 X √ X X X X
Muslim Counsellor 21 √ √ X X X
Muslim Counsellor 3* √ √ U √
Muslim Counsellor 6* √M √ U √
Muslim Counsellor 7* √ √ √ √
Muslim Counsellor 8* √ √ √ √
Note: Meaning of abbreviation and symbol: √ = recognized; X = not recognized; √M= mildly recognized agree; U = unsure; NY not=yet; O= overall; S =
society; G = government; *= representing the Malaysia counselling authoritative bodies
Table 10
The view of Christian respondents regarding the recognition of Christian counselling (N =11)
Respondent’s codes Recognition by the Society Recognition by the Government
O O
S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 G 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Christian Counsellor 22 √ √ U X
Christian Counsellor 23 √ √ X X X
Christian Counsellor 24 √ √ U X
Christian Counsellor 25 √ √ U X
Christian Pastor 27 √ √ U U
Christian Pastor 28 √ √ √ √
Christian Pastor 29 X X X
Christian Pastor 30 √ √ √ √ √
Christian Pastor 31 √ √ X U
Christian Pastor 32 √ √ √ √ √
Christian Counsellor 26* √ √ √ √
Note: Meaning of abbreviation and symbol: √ = recognized; X = not recognized; √M= mildly recognized agree; U = unsure; NY not=yet; O= overall; S =
society; G = government; *= representing the Malaysian counselling authoritative bodies
Table 11
Comparison between the Recognition of Islamic and Christian Counselling in Malaysia
Islamic Counselling Christian Counselling

Similarities i. Both are similar to in their perception of recognition

ii. Respondents from both religions confirmed that there is
only one respective body that had the authority in accredit
the practice religious counselling in
iii. There were representatives from both religions
complaining about the restriction in using the term
“counselling” and “counsellor”.

Differences

Restrictions Muslim respondents voiced Christian respondents voiced

out more internal restrictions out more external restrictions
Figure 2
The recognition of Islamic counselling in Malaysia

Notes: DIA= Department of Islamic Affairs