PhD candidate, Islamic Psychology
Doctoral research at Lincoln University College, Malaysia, focused on Islamic psychology and positive psychology.
“Let's not begin the journey of self-discovery on our deathbeds.”— Bela Khan
Her story
Two small decisions
As a teenager flicking through television channels, Bela paused on a scholar explaining the meaning of Surah al-Ikhlas. She had never heard the Qur'an explained so beautifully. She decided not to change the channel — and a love for the Qur'an, and a thirst to learn it, took root that day.
A few years later she came across a personal development programme she badly wanted to join, but couldn't afford. Instead of giving up, she wrote to the organisers and asked for a discount. They agreed, and her life took another turn: toward the study of human behaviour, leadership and success.
Those two threads — revelation and the science of the self — have shaped everything since. In 2012 Bela founded Muslim Women Empowerment, combining personal development, psychology and the Divine principles of Islam to help women find peace, tranquillity and direction. She went on to teach psychology at the International Open University from 2014, publish two books, and in 2021 become Clinical Director of Solace Islamic Mental Health Services.
She is also a homeschooling mother of two, and an advocate of homeschooling as a natural way of learning.