Religiosity and Subjective Well-being in the Arab Context: invited book reviews and author’s response

Recently the book Religiosity and Subjective Well-being in the Arab Context, written by Professor Ahmed M. Abdel-Khalek, was published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2019a). Subsequently, a copy of the book was received by Mental Health, Religion & Culture for purposes of obtaining a review. It was agreed by two of the Co-Editors of the journal (Lewis and Loewenthal) to try and obtain several reviews and comments. This approach of providing several responses to books that have been received has been employed to good effect previously within Mental Health, Religion & Culture (e.g., see Belzen & Lewis, 2010a, 2010b). Two reviews of the book were obtained from researchers working in different cultural contexts, with the expectation of these providing divergent and complimentary comments. In light of these reviews, Abdel-Khalek was invited to respond.

First, Beshai and Dadfar (2019) provide a review of the book that clearly identifies the sustained contribution to the sub-field of mental health, religion, and culture of Abdel-Khalek’s work, especially within Arabia. However, these authors’ note three specific limitations of the work contained within the book, namely the focus primarily of college students, the selective nature of the Arabic countries included in the work, and the lack of in-depth interpretation of the findings reported.

Second, Lewis (2019) provides a review of the book that emphasises the general contribution of the selection of Abdel-Khalek’s work, and with also a particular focus being given to the testing of “established” findings from the West within the Arab context. Moreover, there is particular praise for the construction of a number of scales for use within the area of mental health, religion and culture, as well as their application in other research areas. Finally, a number of queries are raised in relation to the content of the book: including the selection criteria for the material included and the absence of a summary chapter.

In response to the comments provided by Beshai and Dadfar (2019) and Lewis (2019), Abdel-Khalek (2019b) provides a clearly articulated response to the matters raised by the two reviewers. In support of these responses, a significant amount of additional and supplementary information is provided, including summaries from a number of very recent publications.

It is hoped that these two book reviews (Beshai & Dadfar, 2019; Lewis, 2019) and the response (Abdel-Khalek, 2019b) to the volume Religiosity and Subjective Well-being in the Arab Context (Abdel-Khalek, 2019a) may provide some helpful clarifications and additional information, as well as further stimulation for those interested in this book, and indeed, this area of research.