Mediating Role of Tawakkul between Religious Orientation and Anxiety among Muslim Adults

Abstract

Purpose. Being an important Islamic concept, tawakkul is a fundamental and core value in the Islamic belief system. The present research intended to investigate its role in the relationship between religious orientation and anxiety.

Method. Sample of (N = 350) Muslim adults with the age of 25 years and above (M = 31.92, S.D = 8.72) were included in the study. A cross-sectional survey research design was used in the present study. Tawakkul Scale (Gondal, 2020), Urdu version of Anxiety subscale of DASS-21 (Aslam, 2018), and Urdu version of Religious Orientation Scale (Khan, et al., 2016) were used in the present study.

Results.  Results indicated that tawakkul had a negative relationship with anxiety and extrinsic social religious orientation. On the other hand, it had a positive relationship with intrinsic religious orientation and extrinsic personal religious orientation. Findings of the structural model indicated that tawakkul mediated the relationships of intrinsic and extrinsic personal religious orientations with anxiety.

Conclusion. Tawakkul helps reduce anxiety. The findings of the present study indicated that individuals who are sincere with their religion have a high degree of tawakkul, which in turn may prevent them from developing symptoms of mental health issues. Hence, in the present age with a high prevalence of these mental issues, particularly anxiety, there is a dire need to create awareness in society about the importance of tawakkul. Tawakkul is also beneficial in the field of clinical and counseling psychotherapy as it may help alleviate clinical disorders and other daily routine life problems.