From Soul Refinement to Character Formation: A Philological-Conceptual Study of Ibn Miskawayh's Kitab Tahdhib al-Akhlaq wa Tathir al-A'raq
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37812/fikroh.v19i2.2366Keywords:
Ibn Miskawayh; Tahdhīb Al-Akhlāq; Islamic Moral Education; Purification Of The Soul; Moral; Al-Sa‘ĀdahAbstract
This study aims to reconstruct the concept of Islamic moral education in Kitab Tahdhib al-Akhlaq wa Tathir al-A'raq by Ibn Miskawayh, based on the assumption that this work offers a systematic model of moral education oriented not only toward outward behavior but also toward the formation and purification of the soul. This study employs a qualitative text-based design with a philological-conceptual approach. The primary data source is Kitab Tahdhib al-Akhlaq wa Tathir al-A'raq, while secondary data are drawn from academic literature on Ibn Miskawayh, Islamic ethics, moral education, and character education. Data were collected through textual documentation and analyzed using content analysis and thematic analysis following the stages of concept identification, coding, categorization, interpretation, and conceptual reconstruction. The findings reveal that Ibn Miskawayh's concept of moral education is constructed through four interconnected dimensions: the soul as the anthropological foundation of morality; the regulation of intellect, emotions, and desires as the psychological mechanism; tahdhib and tathir as the ethical-pedagogical process; and the cultivation of the cardinal virtues together with al-sa'adah as the ultimate goal of moral and intellectual education. The implications of this study suggest that Islamic moral education should move beyond normative instruction and behavioral regulation toward the cultivation of the soul, self-control, moral habituation, and the internalization of core virtues, including wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice. Future research is recommended to compare Ibn Miskawayh's thought with that of other classical Muslim ethicists and to examine the application of this model in contemporary Islamic educational practice. This article contains two tables, a bibliography, and no appendices.
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