A Study of At-Takhalli and At-Tahalli Practices among University Students

Abstract

Al-takhalli and at-tahalli are among the most important practices in Sufism to develop Muslim spiritual and attitude. Al-takhalli means to fight or remove from the character and spiritual the abominable things, while al-tahalli means to adorn the Muslim character and spiritual with good things. Studies show that al-takhalli and at-tahalli practices can form a good religious personality and avoid immoral behavior, while weakness is seen as one of the causes of various social problems among Muslim. In universities, statistics of social problems show that a few of Muslim students involved in the problems and have low levels of religious personality. Thus, the main objective of this study is to examine the level of al-takhalli and and at-tahalli practices among university students. A survey was conducted at Universiti Teknologi MARA Perlis Branch. A total of 112 students were selected at simple random as respondents. Data were collected through survey techniques using 6 likert scale instruments that had gone through validity and reliability procedures. Descriptive analysis using SPSS 26.0 software was conducted to see the mean and percentage of findings. Overall, the findings of the study indicate that university students perform the at-takhalli and at-tahalli practices in their lives. However, the findings show that the practice of al-tahalli (mean=4.78) is given less attention than the practice of at-takhalli (mean=5.16). It needs to be improved in order to ensure the Muslim not only abandons munkar or bad things but continues to do good deeds and in turn can produce excellent ummah.

Relationship Between Islamic Sufism Practices and Religious Personality Among Muslim Students in Malaysia

“…According to Islamic Sufism by al-Ghazali (1988), the process of tazkiyyah al-nafs needs Sufism practices such as al-takhalli (mujahadah al-nafs) and al-tahalli (riyadhah al-nafs). According to Ismail (2021), al-takhalli and at-tahalli are among the most important practices in Sufism to develop Muslim spirituality and attitude. Al-takhalli means trying hard against lust until the elimination of the attributes of mazmumah (abomination) such as jealousy, love of the world (hub al-dunya), arrogance, and so on.…”