Spiritual Burnout in Islamic Education: Examining Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah's Thoughts on the Psychology of Indonesian Muslim Students

Abstract

Spiritual burnout among Muslim students reflects a crisis of spiritual motivation that, in Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah’s thought, is closely related to the weakening and disorder of the soul. This study investigates Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah’s concept of spiritual psychology, with particular attention to ghaflah, qasāwat al-qalb, ḥayāt al-qalb, and tazkiyat al-nafs. A qualitative approach with a figure thought analysis design was employed. The research corpus consisted of Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah’s writings, with six primary works selected as the main sources of analysis. The researcher served as the main research instrument, and the data were analyzed through a multilayered model integrating four analytical approaches. The findings identify eight major psychological constructs related to spiritual burnout and formulate the “Four-Layer Therapeutic Model of Ibn Qayyim” (Al-ʿIlāj al-Rubāʿī) as a conceptual framework for spiritual recovery. The study also shows that Ibn Qayyim’s thought offers an alternative Islamic education paradigm, particularly through the Integral Education Model developed in Miftāḥ Dār al-Saʿādah, and proposes a spiritual early detection model based on qalb indicators. The study concludes that spiritual burnout among Muslim students is a multidimensional crisis that requires an integrative framework combining spiritual diagnosis, purification of the soul, and educational transformation. This research contributes to Islamic education and Islamic psychology by reconstructing Ibn Qayyim’s spiritual psychology as a theoretical basis for understanding and addressing spiritual burnout. Future research is recommended to develop and validate an Ibn Qayyimian Spiritual Burnout Scale as an empirical assessment instrument.