Islamic Religious Education in Shaping Character and Noble Morals From the Perspective of Ibn Miskawaih

Abstract

This study is motivated by the phenomenon of moral degradation among the younger generation amid rapid advances in digital technology that are not balanced by adequate character development, while the practice of Islamic Religious Education (PAI) in many educational institutions still tends to focus on the transfer of cognitive knowledge and has not yet been grounded in a solid philosophical framework for shaping students’ moral dispositions. This study aims to analyze the concept of moral education according to Ibn Miskawaih and to formulate its relevance for the development of PAI in shaping character and noble moral conduct. The study employs a qualitative, library-based research approach, using the book *Tahdzib al-Akhlaq* as the primary data source and related journal articles as secondary data sources, which were analyzed using thematic content analysis. The results of the study indicate that Ibn Miskawaih views ethics as a disposition of the soul (hai’ah) arising from the balance of three faculties of the soul: the rational faculty (an-nafs an-natiqah), the emotional faculty (al-ghadabiyyah), and the appetitive faculty (al-bahimiyyah), which are shaped through natural processes, habituation, practice, and exemplary behavior, leading to the attainment of the four cardinal virtues and true happiness (as-sa'adah). Further analysis shows that this philosophical framework provides an epistemological basis for Islamic Education (PAI) to shift from a cognitive-verbal approach toward an approach based on habit formation and exemplary behavior, oriented toward the continuous development of students’ inner dispositions. This study recommends integrating Ibn Miskawaih’s doctrine of the middle path (al-wasath) into the PAI curriculum design as an indigenous philosophical foundation for character education based on Islamic values in Indonesia.