REFRAMING TARBIYYAH IN DIGITAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS: AN INTERPRETIVE STUDY OF SPIRITUAL FORMATION AND TEACHER–STUDENT RELATIONSHIPS IN ISLAMIC EDUCATION

Author: Malaysia

Abstract

The rapid movement of Islamic education onto digital platforms has outpaced reflection on what happens to tarbiyyah, the holistic nurturing of the learner's intellect, character and soul, when teacher and student no longer share a physical space. Existing research on digital Islamic education concentrates on access, technology acceptance and content delivery, while the relational and spiritual core of the tradition remains under-examined. This interpretive qualitative study explores how educators and students in Malaysian Islamic higher education understand and enact tarbiyyah in digital learning environments, with particular attention to spiritual formation and the teacher–student relationship. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine purposively selected participants (five Islamic education lecturers and four undergraduate students) and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Four themes were constructed: (1) tarbiyyah as presence rather than content, where participants described the screen as thinning the companionship (suhbah) on which formation depends; (2) adab reconfigured, where markers of respect were renegotiated around cameras, microphones and messaging; (3) the extended murabbi, where instant messaging stretched the teacher's nurturing role beyond class hours at a personal cost; and (4) designed spiritual moments, where formation survived online only when deliberately built into the lesson. The findings suggest that digital environments do not remove tarbiyyah but shift it from an ambient by-product of physical co-presence to an intentional pedagogical act. The study proposes reframing tarbiyyah online as designed presence and offers recommendations for educators, institutions and curriculum designers