Dream and Istikhara in the Psychology of Religion
A Qualitative Research
The aim of this study is to determine the effects of dream and istikhara
on daily life, psychological conditions and spiritual lives of individuals,
to explain how these people perceive, understand and interpret the
dream and istikhara and to determine the functional and psychological
aspects of religious, spiritual and daily life. In this dissertation, it is
also intended to investigate the relationship between the experience of
istikhara and religious experience, psychological well-being, religious
coping and the image of God. In this qualitative research, religious individuals
older than 18 years old with dream and istikhara experience
were included in the study group by using snowball sampling, one of
the criteria sampling and purposeful sampling methods. The sample of
the study consisted of 20 religious people who had more than one experience
of istikhara. Accordingly, data were collected from the study
group in the interviews conducted using semi-structured interview
form and these data were interpreted by using content and descriptive
analysis. As a result of the research, it was determined that dream
and istikhara have multidimensional effects on the lives of the participants
and that istikhara was functional to make decisions in difficult
situations where the participants were undecided. It has also been determined
that istikhara can be accepted as a religious experience and
this experience contributes to psychological well-being and religious
coping in difficult times. Besides, it is concluded that the image of God
and the life of istikhara have a strong relationship with each other.
Keywords: Religious Experience; Psychological Well-Being; Religious
Coping; The Image of God; Dream, Istikhara