Meaning-Making among Islamic Philosophy Students through Engagement with Sufi Literature
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Abstract
Spiritual engagement with sacred literature represents a significant area of inquiry within the humanities, particularly for understanding how individuals construct meaning through reflective reading. While Sufi literature has been widely studied from theological and literary perspectives, little is known about how contemporary readers especially Islamic philosophy students experience spiritual transformation through these texts. This study addresses the gap by asking: how do students interpret and internalize spiritual meaning through their engagement with Sufi literature? Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), this study explores the lived experiences of Islamic philosophy students from a public university in Indonesia as they read classical Sufi works such as those by Rumi and Ibn Arabi. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with eight participants, and analyzed to identify emergent and superordinate themes. Findings reveal that participants experienced the texts as mirrors for self-examination, sources of emotional awakening, frameworks for reframing existential struggles, and inspiration for integrating spiritual values into academic life. These insights demonstrate that reading Sufi literature functions as a transformative act that shapes ethical, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of student identity. The study contributes to the growing body of literature on spiritual phenomenology by highlighting the role of sacred reading in the formation of reflective selfhood. These findings suggest that phenomenological approaches offer valuable tools for examining how individuals embody spiritual meaning in modern educational contexts, opening pathways for future interdisciplinary research.
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