Abstract
Islamic education and Islamic university require curriculums that are in line with Islamic teachings. The current study aimed to investigate the current state of Islamic psychology education in Iran, by focusing on curriculums that are active in Ministry of Science, Research and Technology and Ministry of Health and Medical Education of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In doing so, 41 active curriculums in the Ministry of Science and 11 active curriculums in the Ministry of Health of Iran were content analyzed. Results indicated that curriculum designers more or less pay attention to Islam in psychology education in Iran. The curriculum designers insist that the Islamic perspective should be considered in psychological issues, Islamic sources should be referred to, opinions of Islamic scholars as roots of psychology in Islam should be noted, and Islamic knowledge that are related to psychology should be taught to students. This study, depicting the current situation of Islamic psychology education in Iran based on active curriculums, consider the cultural analysis of Islamic teachings necessary in order to include in psychology curriculums.

Introduction
The term "psychology" was first used by Marko Marulić in his book *Psychology: The Nature of the Human Soul* in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century. Today, psychology has spread throughout the world, and its dominance in most clinical and academic institutions in developing countries, particularly in Muslim-majority nations, remains largely unchallenged. The science of psychology has been criticized for its Western-centric and Eurocentric biases stemming from imperialism, colonialism, and globalization (Skinner, 2019). While most psychologists acknowledge that human behaviors and experiences cannot be separated from cultural and religious contexts, many Muslim psychologists educated in Western universities or even in their own countries have been trained in a "secular bubble" of psychology. Many students likely do not associate the science of psychology with the Qur'an and Sunnah, even though the science of the "self" or "spirit" has been studied in Islamic texts long before the term "psychology" was introduced. The essence of Islamic psychology is the study of human behaviors and experiences from a comprehensive perspective (i.e., physical, psychological, social, and spiritual) based on the Islamic worldview (Rassool, 2023).
The relationship between Islam and psychology can be determined by discovering what the Islamic heritage has to say about it. Muslim psychologists who critique mainstream psychology from an Islamic perspective argue that we need to filter Western psychology because it is culturally and cross-culturally invalid or conflicts with Islamic principles. The first duty of a Muslim psychologist is to work within the empirical tradition, filtering out culturally alien components from the Western body of psychology while retaining empirically sound, objective components, and rejecting non-empirical, value-laden components that conflict with Islamic principles. The second duty is to ensure that psychology is applied in accordance with Islamic principles. Thus, Islamic psychology is fundamentally sound empirical psychology that is ethically applied. Muslims should not accept the Western body of psychology wholesale. Science does not evolve in a vacuum but within a social environment. If psychology is full of Western cultural influences, then it is appropriate to doubt the universality of its propositions (Skinner, 2019). Attention to this matter is essential in universities during the education of psychology and the training of Muslim psychologists.
Curriculum development plays an important role in educational change. In recent years, numerous reforms have been implemented in curricula to improve student learning or teaching methods. However, curriculum reforms often fail to achieve their goals despite good intentions and proper design. Some causes of curriculum failure include incompetent instructors, lack of textbooks, and ineffective classrooms. Additionally, curriculum designers' weak contextual and cultural understanding leads to cultural incongruity at the national level. A culturally sensitive approach to curriculum planning is necessary to create a quality curriculum and ensure its implementation. Culture encompasses the knowledge and ideas that give meaning to the beliefs and actions of individuals and communities and can be used to describe and evaluate those actions (Gervedink Nijhuis, Pieters, & Voogt, 2013). The present study aims to investigate the current state of Islamic psychology education in Iran by analyzing active curricula in the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology and the Ministry of Health and Medical Education.

Research Methodology
This research employed a quantitative content analysis method. The research population consisted of active psychology curricula in Iran, including 41 curricula from the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology and 11 curricula from the Ministry of Health and Medical Education across undergraduate, master's, and doctoral levels. Islamic-related components (such as Islam, Islamic, Qur'an, and similar terms; Aghababaei, 2021) were extracted from the course syllabi.
Content analysis is one of the most important applications for revealing the intentions and viewpoints of individuals (in this case, curriculum planners). The analysis of linguistic messages guides us toward discovering meanings, priorities, attitudes, and ways of understanding and organizing the world (Qaedi & Golshani, 2016). The stages of content analysis include: problem identification, sampling, coding, categorization, selection of analysis units, counting, and interpretation (Jafari Herandi & Mirshah Jafari, 2008). In content analysis, any source can be used, and the researcher cannot predict all categories and how they will be expressed before data collection. Therefore, this research did not pursue a specific hypothesis.

Discussion
Islamic Components in Psychology Curricula
The findings of this study revealed that in a significant and substantial portion of psychology curricula—amounting to over 50 disciplines across three educational levels—attention has been paid to Islamic psychology education. This attention manifests in several forms: 1) offering the "Islamic Psychology" master's program; 2) offering a combined psychology-Islamic studies master's program titled "Islamic Psychology (Positive Orientation)"; 3) offering programs with reference to Islam (including three programs: undergraduate "Islamic Studies and Psychology," master's "Islam and Social Psychology," and doctoral "Culture and Psychology"); 4) including courses with names related to Islam (such as "Psychological Teachings in the Qur'an and Hadith" and "Psychology in Islamic Sources"); and 5) referring to Islam in the introduction or other sections of the curriculum, for example, in the educational objectives for students in the relevant discipline.
At the first level of analysis, course titles with an Islamic nature were extracted from the 52 active curricula. In the Ministry of Science's active curricula, 19 out of 41 programs (46.34%) contained one or more courses related to Islam. Notable examples include the undergraduate psychology program with courses such as "Psychology from the Perspective of Muslim Thinkers" and "Psychological Teachings in the Qur'an and Hadith"; the master's program in Islamic Psychology with 13 Islamic courses including "Foundations of Islamic Psychology 1 (Epistemology)," "Foundations of Islamic Psychology 2 (Nafsology)," "Methodology of Understanding the Qur'an and Hadith," and "Positive Psychology with a View to Islamic Sources"; and the doctoral program in Culture and Psychology with courses including "Family from the Perspective of Islam" and "Sexual Health and Education from the Perspective of Islam."
In the Ministry of Health's active psychology curricula, Islamic-related courses were found in two programs (18.18%): the PhD in Military Psychology with two Islamic courses ("Islamic Psychology" and "Mental Health System in Early Islamic Wars and the Sacred Defense") and the PhD in Clinical Psychology with one course ("Foundations of Psychotherapy in Islamic Culture"). This does not mean that other psychology curricula without Islamic course titles have no attention to Islamic psychology. In fact, many programs address Islam within the syllabi of various courses, whether the course title is related to Islam or not. Therefore, at the second level of analysis, the syllabi of all 52 curricula were examined, and every Islamic-related term was extracted.
The extracted Islamic content (382 instances) was categorized into five categories in order of frequency: "Islamic Perspective" (18.65% of all components), "Islamic Sciences" (12.30%), "Islamic Sources" (11.87%), "Islamic Personalities and Knowledge" (6.28%), and "Islamic Rituals and Teachings" (4.45%). The most frequent category was references to the Islamic perspective on psychological issues, appearing 249 times across the curricula. The second category, Islamic Sciences, included terms such as "Islamic Psychology," "Islamic Management," and "Islamic Education," reflecting the integration of Islamic knowledge into psychological disciplines. The third category, Islamic Sources, included references to the Qur'an, hadith, and other Islamic texts as primary sources of psychological knowledge. The fourth category, Islamic Personalities and Knowledge, referenced Islamic scholars and thinkers such as Ibn Sina, Farabi, and Ghazali as roots of psychology in Islam. The fifth category, Islamic Rituals and Teachings, included concepts such as "Shakilah" (disposition), "Fitrat" (innate nature), Islamic lifestyle, and commands such as "Amr bil Ma'ruf wa Nahi anil Munkar" (enjoining good and forbidding evil).
Cultural Analysis: The Missing Link
While curriculum planners emphasize transmitting the Islamic perspective on various psychological issues, a critical question remains: what specific content of Islam should be transmitted to students in the form of Islamic psychology? Only about 4% of the Islamic components in the curricula relate to Islamic rituals and teachings, indicating relatively limited attention to concrete examples of Islamic content. From Islamic rituals, only three topics were mentioned in the syllabi (enjoining good and forbidding evil, and fasting). From Islamic concepts, only two were mentioned (Shakilah and Fitrat). This suggests that while the framework for Islamic psychology education is established, the substantive content requires further development.
Systematic cultural analysis is the missing link in the psychology curriculum planning process in Iran. Cultural analysis is more necessary today than ever because many young people no longer have access to their traditions. Many adolescents, as a result of television and the internet, no longer interact with older generations and are unable to learn from narratives, storytelling, poetry, and songs. These have been replaced by exposure to Marvel, Disney, and similar content, with nights spent scrolling through social media. There is an urgent research need to determine what cultural knowledge and skills should be included in the curriculum. If we are concerned about preserving our cultural identity in a rapidly changing world, we must engage in systematic cultural analysis and examine our culture—including languages, environments, technologies, knowledge, skills, beliefs, and values—to make better judgments about what should be transmitted to the next generation (Thaman, 1993).
When psychologists lack cultural competence as providers of health-related care, patients and clients may be at risk of harm. This can result, for example, in ineffective treatment or failure to follow care and treatment instructions. If we are to provide culturally sensitive care and interventions, we must be prepared to recognize such needs and develop skills that facilitate reaching them. The place to acquire this preparation is the university, and the time is during education. For psychology education in universities, cultural components must be clearly defined. A proposed framework for considering cultural components in the curriculum includes three main themes: cultural awareness, cultural knowledge, and cultural skills (Sairanen et al., 2013). By the same measure, the Islamic components that should be transmitted to students also need to be clearly defined. The lack of such systematic analysis is a weakness of the current curricula in Iran. Remedying the deficiency in teaching Islamic content to psychology students can only be achieved through cultural analysis of Islam.
The Distinctive Nature of Islamic Psychology
Islamic psychology has a different approach and methodology in studying human behaviors and experiences. The methodology of Islamic psychology is not limited to knowledge derived from sensory perception and rationalism (analogical reasoning). Islamic psychology also addresses supernatural phenomena and the unseen world—phenomena that cannot be studied with empirical tools and require other methods (Rassool, 2023). This distinctive feature of Islamic psychology—its engagement with the transcendent and metaphysical dimensions of human existence—necessitates a curriculum that not only transmits Islamic perspectives but also equips students with the conceptual and methodological tools to integrate these perspectives into their psychological practice. The curriculum must prepare students to understand human behavior and experience within the broader framework of Islamic cosmology, including the concepts of the soul (nafs), the heart (qalb), the spirit (ruh), and the intellect ('aql), as well as the unseen realities that shape human life.

Conclusion
This content analysis of 52 active psychology curricula in Iran reveals that curriculum planners have given considerable attention to Islamic psychology education. This attention manifests in various forms, including dedicated Islamic psychology programs, courses with Islamic content, and references to Islamic perspectives, sources, and scholars across numerous curricula. The emphasis is on considering the Islamic perspective in psychological issues, referring to Islamic sources, acknowledging Islamic scholars as roots of psychology in Islam, and teaching Islamic knowledge related to psychology to students.
However, a significant gap exists in the systematic cultural analysis of Islamic content that should be transmitted to psychology students. While the framework for Islamic psychology education is established, the substantive content—particularly concrete examples of Islamic rituals and teachings—requires further development. Only a small fraction of the curriculum addresses specific Islamic practices and concepts, indicating the need for a more comprehensive cultural analysis to identify what should be taught. Culturally sensitive curriculum planning, including systematic cultural analysis of Islamic teachings, is essential for developing a comprehensive Islamic psychology education. This analysis should identify the specific Islamic knowledge, values, and practices that should be integrated into psychology curricula to ensure that students develop cultural and Islamic competence.
The findings suggest that Iranian psychology education is significantly interested in Islamic psychology, but this interest must be translated into more detailed and concrete curriculum content through systematic cultural analysis. Future research should focus on identifying the specific Islamic teachings, practices, and values that are most relevant to psychological education and developing frameworks for their integration into existing curricula. Additionally, empirical studies examining the outcomes of Islamic psychology education on students' cultural competence, professional practice, and personal development would contribute to the ongoing refinement of these curricula. The ultimate goal should be to train psychologists who are not only technically competent but also culturally and Islamically aware, capable of providing holistic care that addresses the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions of human well-being.