Hardships affect mental health and family – Mufti

SHAH ALAM – A religious figure believes the hardships of life is the leading cause of more and more Malaysians suffering from mental health problems.

Pahang Mufti Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Osman said the hardships in life due to financial constraints put pressure on oneself to the point of disrupting their mental health.

According to him, poverty is also a chain linking to other problems including the collapse of households and social problems among children.

“To address this mental health problem, we have to come back to the religion where in Islam itself, every religious instruction has a positive effect on the level of human mental health.

"This is because the way to avoid this mental health problem is to socialise and in Islam, this is why we are encouraged to pray in congregation, especially in the mosque or surau," he said.

Abdul Rahman explained that by mingling with the community or the people around them, such as mosque committee members, the latter could find out about the problems faced.

“It is important to care for each other. If any of them experience problems such as financial issues, zakat money collected at mosques or state Islamic religious councils could be channelled directly.

"If a person lives a difficult life, they belong to the ‘asnaf’ (the poor) group and are eligible to receive zakat," he said.

Abdul Rahman said, the concept is practiced in Pahang to help the people who face difficulties, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country in 2019 which caused the lives of many people to be severely affected.