Educational principles

Exploring Qur’anic keywords through an educational lens presents a fruitful approach for uncovering the foundational principles of Islamic pedagogy. Among these, the term al-adhā (harassment)—frequently occurring and semantically rich—holds particular significance for moral education. By examining the contexts in which al-adhā appears and analyzing the associated discursive patterns, one can gain insight into Qur’anic conceptions of harassment and their ethical implications. This study seeks to engage the word al-adhā from a pedagogical perspective to extract actionable principles for moral education. Due to the multidimensional scope of the inquiry, a hybrid research methodology was employed: a descriptive-phenomenological reading of relevant verses, followed by grounded theory coding (open, axial, and selective) using MAXQDA software, and culminating in an inductive qualitative content analysis of the educational implications. The findings demonstrate that the Qur’anic conceptual model of al-adhā can be organized into five thematic categories: types of harassment, responses to harassment, consequences of harassment, the interplay between harm and facilitation, and the notion of constructive suffering ( al-adhā in a positive sense). From this conceptual structure, five core principles and approaches for moral education are derived: the approach of recognizing the importance of language as a moral force in ethical education; a motivational approach toward hardship; adopting the perspective of others; a focus on the layered outcomes of behavior; a facilitative approach in moral education, especially in contexts where harm might hinder spiritual growth.