Tawhid as a Paradigm of Islamic Education: A Comparative-Integrative Reconstruction Based on The Qur'ana and The Thought of Al-Ghazali, Ibn Taymiyyah and Al-Faruqi

Abstract

Contemporary Islamic education continues to struggle with a dichotomy between religious and general knowledge, a gap that persists partly because tawhid is treated as a topic confined to the Faith and Morals curriculum rather than as an integrative educational paradigm. This article addresses that gap by reconstructing tawhid conceptually as a paradigm of Islamic education, drawing on the Qur'an and the thought of al-Ghazali, Ibn Taymiyyah, and Ismail Raji al-Faruqi. The study employs a qualitative library research method with a thematic-analytical approach, following three analytical stages: content analysis to identify key tawhid concepts, comparative analysis across the three figures, and synthetic analysis to formulate an integrative model. Primary sources include the Qur'an and the primary works of al-Ghazali, Ibn Taymiyyah, and al-Faruqi, supplemented by secondary sources from Sinta- and Scopus-indexed journals (2010–2026). The findings show that tawhid functions as the central axis (mihwar) integrating the epistemological, axiological, and praxis dimensions of Islamic education. Al-Ghazali anchors tawhid in tazkiyat al-nafs as the ultimate educational goal; Ibn Taymiyyah emphasizes the unity of knowledge and action ('ilm wa 'amal); and al-Faruqi operationalizes tawhid as the meta-principle for the Islamization of knowledge. The synthesis of these three perspectives yields a four-pillar model of tawhid-based education (goal, epistemology, methodology, evaluation) that offers concrete direction for curriculum design, pedagogy, and assessment in contemporary Islamic educational institutions.