Academia Open
Vol. 11 No. 1 (2026): June

Neuro-Fiqh and Premarital Counseling: A Neuroscience-Informed Framework for Strengthening Sakinah Family Development

Malik Ibrohim (Postgraduate Programme, State Islamic University of Kiai Haji Achmad Siddiq Jember)
Ishaq Ishaq (Postgraduate Programme, State Islamic University of Kiai Haji Achmad Siddiq Jember)
Wildani Hefni (Postgraduate Programme, State Islamic University of Kiai Haji Achmad Siddiq Jember)



Article Info

Publish Date
20 Feb 2026

Abstract

General Background: Contemporary Muslim societies face increasing marital instability marked by divorce, relational conflict, and emotional strain, highlighting the strategic role of premarital counseling in strengthening sakinah family development. Specific Background: Existing premarital programs within Islamic institutions predominantly emphasize legal rights, obligations, and doctrinal instruction grounded in Islamic family law (fiqh al-usrah), often with limited engagement with emotional regulation, attachment dynamics, and stress responses that shape marital interaction. Knowledge Gap: This imbalance reveals the absence of an integrative framework that systematically connects Islamic jurisprudential ethics with contemporary neuroscience to address psychological readiness prior to marriage. Aims: This study proposes Neuro-Fiqh as a conceptual framework that bridges fiqh-based ethical principles and neuroscientific insights to reformulate premarital counseling toward preventive and formative orientation. Results: Using qualitative library research and thematic integrative analysis of classical and contemporary fiqh literature, neuroscience, and family studies, the findings demonstrate strong conceptual compatibility between principles such as ḥusn al-muʿāsharah, darʾ al-ḍarar, ṣabr, masʾūliyyah, and neuroscientific mechanisms of emotional regulation, empathy, executive control, attachment security, and stress modulation. Novelty: Neuro-Fiqh positions neuroscience as an explanatory and pedagogical resource while preserving the normative and teleological authority of Islamic jurisprudence. Implications: This framework reconceptualizes premarital counseling as ethical–psychological formation, cultivating emotional awareness, moral accountability, and relational competence as foundations of sakinah family resilience and long-term family stability. Highlights: Jurisprudential marital ethics correspond closely with neural systems governing self-regulation, empathy, and stress processing. Integrative conceptual synthesis reorients marital preparation toward preventive and formative ethical development. The proposed model supports long-term household stability through cultivation of emotional and moral capacities prior to marriage. Keywords: Neuro-Fiqh, Premarital Counseling, Islamic Family Law, Neuroscience, Sakinah Family

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Journal Info

Abbrev

acopen

Publisher

Subject

Medicine & Pharmacology Public Health

Description

Academia Open is published by Universitas Muhammadiyah Sidoarjo published 2 (two) issues per year (June and December). This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. This ...