EN.MUHAMMADIYAH.OR.ID, YOGYAKARTA — Bullying is often understood simply as behavior intended to disturb or hurt another person. Yet its psychological effects can linger long after the incident itself. It is ranging from fear and low self-esteem to more serious psychological disorders.
Ruslan Fariadi, a member of the Muhammadiyah Central Board’s Religious Opinion and Reform Council, discussed the issue in an article titled “The Psychological Impact of Bullying,” published in the Sept. 11–30, 2026, edition of Suara Muhammadiyah magazine.
Referring to the Indonesian Language Dictionary, Ruslan defines bullying as repeatedly disturbing, harassing or causing distress to another person. In terminological terms, it refers to actions that disturb, harass, distress or harm others physically or psychologically through intimidation, insults, harassment, humiliation or social exclusion.
He identifies at least five forms of bullying based on the medium, target, and purpose involved.
The first is physical bullying, involving violence against a victim. The second is verbal bullying, which includes abusive language, threats, intimidation, and insults. The third is social bullying, in which a victim is excluded from their social circle.
The fourth is emotional bullying, which undermines a victim’s mental well-being and causes sadness, anxiety, and fear, including through the spread of rumors. The fifth is cyberbullying, carried out through social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram and TikTok.
According to Ruslan, bullying can occur across educational institutions, from primary and secondary schools to universities and Islamic boarding schools. Given its serious consequences, bullying should be viewed as a humanitarian issue as well as a matter of psychological health.
Bullying through the Perspective of Hadith
Ruslan connects bullying with several sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, including a hadith about a person described as muflis, or bankrupt, on the Day of Judgment.
In a hadith narrated by Muslim, the Prophet asked his companions who they considered to be bankrupt. They replied that a bankrupt person was someone who had neither money nor possessions. The Prophet then explained that the bankrupt person among his followers would be someone who came on the Day of Judgment with rewards from prayer, fasting, and zakat, but who had spent his life insulting, accusing, taking the property of others, killing, and harming people.
The rewards from that person’s good deeds would then be given to those whom he had wronged. If his rewards ran out before all his wrongdoing had been repaid, the sins of those he had wronged would be placed upon him. He would then be cast into Hell.
Although the hadith does not directly use the term “bullying,” Ruslan said its substance can be related to the practice based on the principle al-‘ibrah bi ‘umum al-lafzhi lā bi khushūsh as-sabab, meaning that lessons are derived from the general wording of a text rather than the specific circumstances that prompted it.
Different Forms of Bullying
From these hadiths, Ruslan identifies at least four forms of wrongdoing that can be associated with bullying.
First is verbal violence, or as-syathmu wa al-qadzfu, which involves humiliating victims through hurtful words. This can include calling someone by an animal name or another degrading nickname, spreading slander, insulting others, and using intimidation.
Second is taking another person’s rights, or akl māl al-ghair bi ghairi haqq. According to Ruslan, such conduct is not necessarily motivated by a desire to possess the victim’s property. It can also cause victims to feel uncomfortable, depressed, sad or disturbed.
Third is physical violence, or ad-dharb, which can range from hitting to physical abuse. Examples include punching, kicking, slapping, stepping on someone, and committing other forms of violence against an innocent person.
Fourth is severe physical abuse that can result in the victim’s death. In some cases, such acts are carried out collectively or through group violence, resulting in serious injury or even death.
Ruslan relates this to offenses described in hadith as safk dam or al-qatl, meaning the shedding of blood or killing. He also stresses that both those who commit such acts and those who deliberately allow them to continue can be regarded as perpetrators of crimes against humanity, as described in the Prophet’s teachings.
The Psychological Impact on Victims
According to Ruslan, repeated verbal bullying, particularly against children and adolescents, can have long-lasting effects on a victim’s psychological well-being. The consequences can become even more severe when verbal abuse occurs alongside physical violence.
The psychological effects he identifies include trauma, psychotic disorders, delusions, and hallucinations, paranoia, feelings of being watched by the perpetrator, excessive anxiety, prolonged sadness, insomnia, loss of appetite, and low self-esteem.
These conditions can also develop into post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Victims may experience recurring memories, sleep disturbances, and nightmares, as well as flashbacks of the events they experienced.
“One further consequence of this condition is that victims may develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a mental health condition that can occur after someone experiences bullying,” he explained.
Ruslan also said bullying can cause negative changes in victims’ thoughts and moods. They may become more emotionally reactive, isolate themselves from their social environment, and withdraw from social interactions.
As a result, victims may struggle to interact and communicate with others, including their own family members. In some cases, they may develop anxiety disorders or social phobia, experience excessive fear, and become constantly suspicious of other people, particularly those in the community where the bullying occurred.
“If this is not taken seriously and addressed by mental health professionals, the more serious consequence is that victims may develop mental disorders,” Ruslan wrote.
Bullying can also affect victims physically. They may experience persistent headaches, migraines, gastrointestinal problems, and other physical symptoms that sometimes cannot be medically explained.
For this reason, Ruslan stressed the importance of preventive measures involving all parties to ensure that bullying does not recur. The issue, he said, must be addressed seriously because its consequences can affect many aspects of a victim’s life, particularly psychological well-being and social relationships.
