Efficacy of Surah Rahman Murattal Therapy in Enhancing Mental Health of Muslim Students

Abstract

This study examines the impact of Surah Rahman Murattal Therapy on aggression, emotional regulation, and sleep quality among Muslim university students. A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design with purposive sampling was used, involving 48 undergraduate students (aged 18–26) from a private university in Lahore, Pakistan. Participants attended daily online sessions via Zoom for 21 consecutive days, where they listened to a 20-minute recitation of Surah Rahman followed by a brief spiritual practice. Standardized self-report measures were employed: The Buss & Perry Aggression Questionnaire (α = .83), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (α = .82), and the Modified Emotional Regulation Scale (α = .70). Paired-sample t-tests revealed a significant improvement in sleep quality (M = 1.57, SD = 2.14, t(17) = 3.12, p < .01), while changes in aggression and emotional regulation were positive but not statistically significant (p > .05). Two participants withdrew before completing the study. The findings suggest that Murattal therapy, as proposed in earlier works on Qur’anic recitation as a therapeutic model (Haque, 2004; Koenig, 2012), may be particularly effective for improving sleep quality in students. However, aggression and emotional regulation may require longer or multimodal interventions, such as integrating Murattal therapy with counseling, supportive environments, and lifestyle modification strategies. These adjunctive strategies are recommended as complementary rather than inherent components of Murattal therapy. Future research with larger samples and extended follow-ups is warranted to validate and extend these findings.