THE ISLAMIC SPIRITUAL ELEMENT OF AL-TAFAKKUR IN CRITICAL THINKING AMONG MUSLIM ENGINEERING UNDERGRADUATES IN MALAYSIA

In this era of globalization, engineering undergraduates need to find intersections between spirituality and higher education to recapture the sense of values and purpose that brought them to their various roles and responsibilities in creating a future sustainable society. The main objective of this study was to examine and analyze the perception of Muslim engineering students in Malaysian higher education institutions towards the spirituality concept of al-tafakkur as an essential element of Islamic critical thinking. The study employed the triangulation method that involves the data collection of both quantitative data from the survey feedbacks and qualitative information from the interviews’ responses that would complement and support each other in analyzing the perception. A total of 557 Muslim engineering undergraduates from six Malaysian universities have participated in the study. The survey data collected were analyzed employing descriptive statistics to explain the characteristics of the variables by using the symbols such as mean, standard deviation, percentage, and normal distribution. In the analysis of the qualitative data, the responses were assessed according to the emerging common themes that can validate, justify and elaborate some aspects of the survey result. The study has generally indicated that Muslim engineering undergraduates in Malaysian higher learning institutions have rather a good comprehension and consciousness of the concept of al-tafakkur. Nonetheless there were a few items on the concept that have implied a comparatively low perception that have raised some concerns and needed to be further explored.