Reconceptualizing Islamic Early Education through Foundational Arabic Literacy

Authors

  • Kabul Suprayitno Pendidikan Islam Anak Usia Dini, Institut Studi Islam Muhammadiyah Pacitan, Indonesia
  • Ahmadi Ahmadi Pendidikan Agama Islam, Institut Studi Islam Muhammadiyah Pacitan, Indonesia
  • Sanjaka Yekti Pendidikan Bahasa Arab, Institut Studi Islam Muhammadiyah Pacitan, Indonesia
  • Nurhasma Muhamad Saad Faculty of Primary Language Studies, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31004/obsesi.v9i6.7628

Keywords:

Islamic Early Childhood Education, Foundational Arabic Literacy, Spiritual Literacy, Islamic Character Formation

Abstract

This study reconceptualizes early childhood Islamic education by positioning fundamental Arabic literacy as a holistic framework that nurtures linguistic, moral, and spiritual development. Drawing on Islamic education and Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, the study employed a qualitative interpretive design involving classroom observations, interviews, and document analysis in three Islamic early childhood education institutions. The findings reveal that Arabic literacy serves not only as a medium for language acquisition but also as a channel for transmitting faith-based values ??and shaping children's moral reasoning. Through practices such as Quranic storytelling, ritual expressions, and dialogic interactions, Arabic becomes a mediating tool connecting cognition, emotion, and spirituality. Teachers play a central role as moral facilitators, guiding students to connect Arabic language learning with ethical reflection and emotional engagement. This study's novel contribution lies in reinterpreting Arabic literacy as spiritual literacy a transformative educational paradigm that integrates faith, language, and identity formation. Theoretically, it broadens the sociocultural perspective by incorporating spirituality into language learning, while practically, it offers a model for educators to cultivate spiritual awareness and moral consciousness through the teaching of basic Arabic in early Islamic education.

Downloads Statistics

Download data is not yet available.

References

Adams, K. (2023). Sociocultural perspectives on children’s spirituality. International Journal of Children’s Spirituality, 28(1), 38–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/1364436X.2022.2141363

Adams, K., Bull, R., & Maynes, M.-L. (2016). Early childhood spirituality in education: Towards an understanding of the distinctive features of young children’s spirituality. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 24(5), 760–774. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2014.996425

Agbaria, A. (2024). Education for Religion: An Islamic Perspective. Religions, 15(3), 309. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15030309

Aghayeva, G. (2024). Faith practices as literacy learning and identity construction opportunities for Afghan Muslim children. The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 47(1), 91–106. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44020-023-00051-5

Ahmadi, A., & Saad, N. M. (2024). Harmony of Tradition and Innovation: A Distinctive Approach for Arabic Language Learning in Madrasah with Adab and Tahfidz Integration. MUDARRISA: Jurnal Kajian Pendidikan Islam, 16(1), 102–127. https://doi.org/10.18326/mudarrisa.v16i1.1077

Al-Samiri, R. A. (2024). “It’s difficult, but it’s worth it”: Saudi Mothers’ investment in their children’s Arabic heritage learning in the U.S. International Multilingual Research Journal, 18(4), 395–412. https://doi.org/10.1080/19313152.2024.2342725

Allana, A. R., Tennant, G., & Petrucka, P. (2017). Embedding spirituality in young children: an inter-generational challenge. International Journal of Children’s Spirituality, 22(3–4), 239–259. https://doi.org/10.1080/1364436X.2017.1357537

Alothman, A., & Alsalman, A. (2020). An Arabic Grammar Auditor Based on Dependency Grammar. Advances in Human-Computer Interaction, 2020, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/8856843

Andrei, O. (2023). Enhancing religious education through emotional and spiritual intelligence. HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, 79(1). https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v79i1.7887

Baizhuma, S., Duisenbayev, A., Kaupenbayeva, S., Meirbayev, B., Omirbekova, A., Kurmanbek, A., & Kossalbayev, B. D. (2025). Spiritual and Theological Aspects of Personal Development in the Heritage of Al-Farabi. Pharos Journal of Theology, 106.4. https://doi.org/10.46222/pharosjot.106.4035

Bakti, I. K., Kurniawan, R., Mukhlishah, Mudlofir, A., Kusaeri, & Bahri, R. (2025). Integrating Islamic values in inclusive madrasa education: a unique approach for special needs students. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2025.2555397

Bhatt, I., Barnawi, O. Z., & Ahmad, R. (2025). Exploring a Sociolinguistics of Islam. Applied Linguistics. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amaf043

Eun, B. (2023). Teachers learning to teach: professional development based on sociocultural theory for linguistically and culturally diverse classroom. Professional Development in Education, 49(5), 914–924. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2021.1879224

Felsenthal, I., & Agbaria, A. (2023). How to Read the Quran in Religious Islamic Education: What Educators Can Learn from the Work of Mohammed Arkoun. Religions, 14(1), 129. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14010129

Girós Calpe, R., Bertràn Tarrés, M., & Pàmies Rovira, J. (2025). La enseñanza comunitaria del árabe y la educación islámica en la diáspora marroquí: prácticas urbanas cotidianas e inclusión. Migraciones. Publicación Del Instituto Universitario de Estudios Sobre Migraciones, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.14422/mig.21992.012

Hanna, A. R. (2025). Tadabbur Basmalah Dalam Perspektif Linguistik Dan Implikasinya Dalam Kehidupan. Language?: Jurnal Inovasi Pendidikan Bahasa Dan Sastra, 5(2), 142–151. https://doi.org/10.51878/language.v5i2.5318

Hashim, A., Leitner, G., & Al Aqad, M. (2017). Arabic in contact with English in Asia. English Today, 33(1), 25–32. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266078416000377

Koç, A. (2023). Curiosity of Preschool Children (4–6 Years of Age) about Religious and Moral Issues. Religions, 14(2), 260. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020260

Lewis, C. J. (2019). Vygotsky and moral education: A response to and expansion of Tappan. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 51(1), 41–50. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2018.1427576

Mohd Akib, M. M., Mohd Ferdaus, F., & Ishak, H. (2022). Spiritual Strengthening of Man Through Prayer of Worship. Jurnal Akidah & Pemikiran Islam, 24(1), 381–408. https://doi.org/10.22452/afkar.vol24no1.11

Nesbitt, E. (2017). Navigating Languages, Literacies and Identities: Religion in Young Lives. Journal of Contemporary Religion, 32(3), 526–528. https://doi.org/10.1080/13537903.2017.1363473

Newman, S., & Latifi, A. (2021). Vygotsky, education, and teacher education. Journal of Education for Teaching, 47(1), 4–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2020.1831375

Nofal, M. Y. (2023). “I’m Praising God in the Language that He Loves”: Language Use in Religious Discourse. International Journal of Arabic-English Studies, 23(2), 19–36. https://doi.org/10.33806/ijaes.v23i2.451

Pallathadka, H., Al-Hawary, S. I. S., Muda, I., Surahman, S. H., Al-Salami, A. A. A., & Nasimova, Z. (2023). The study of Islamic teachings in education: With an emphasis on behavioural gentleness. HTS Teologiese Studies/ Theological Studies, 79 (1). https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v79i1.8193

Rassool, G. H., & Keskin, Z. (2025). Positioning the self (nafs) in Isl?mic psycho-spirituality. Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health, 27(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/19349637.2023.2264848

Rosowsky, A. (2023). To what extent are sacred language practices ultralingual? The experience of British Muslim children learning Qur’anic Arabic. International Journal of Bilingualism. https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069231203080

Rusli, R. K., Martin, A. Y., Lathifah, Z. K., Monaya, N., & Yak?i, M. (2025). The Impact of Informative and Narrative Texts on Arabic Language Comprehension in Islamic Education. International Journal of Language Education, 8(4). https://doi.org/10.26858/ijole.v8i4.70009

Ulfat, F. (2023). Rethinking Islamic Religious Education in Europe Based on Empirical Research. Religions, 14(5), 590. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14050590

Downloads

Published

12-12-2025

Check Article Index

How to Cite

Suprayitno, K., Ahmadi, A., Yekti, S., & Saad, N. M. (2025). Reconceptualizing Islamic Early Education through Foundational Arabic Literacy. Jurnal Obsesi : Jurnal Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini, 9(6), 3243–3258. https://doi.org/10.31004/obsesi.v9i6.7628

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 6 (2025)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Kabul Suprayitno, Ahmadi Ahmadi, Sanjaka Yekti, Nurhasma Muhamad Saad (Author)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
  • Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the works authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  • Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journals published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  • Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).