<![CDATA[This study is motivated by the weak ontological understanding among Islamic Religious Education (PAI) teachers regarding the essence of their role, which has contributed to the low quality of character formation and faith development among students in Indonesia. This study aims to comprehensively analyze the essence of PAI teachers as murabbi, mu'allim, and mudarris through the framework of Islamic educational ontology. The study employed a qualitative approach using descriptive-analytical library research. Data sources were obtained from classical and contemporary works in the field of Islamic educational philosophy, as well as reputable scientific journal articles indexed in Google Scholar and Scopus from 2021–2025. Data analysis was conducted through a combination of content analysis, thematic analysis, and critical analysis following the stages proposed by Miles and Huberman. The findings reveal that murabbi, mu'allim, and mudarris constitute an ontological triadic unity that cannot be understood fragmentarily but rather as three modes of the existential presence of PAI teachers that are mutually interconnected and derived from the Islamic conception of human beings as entities composed of body, intellect, and spirit. This study concludes that the crisis in the quality of PAI teachers is fundamentally an ontological crisis; therefore, strengthening the professional identity of PAI teachers must be rooted in a comprehensive philosophical understanding rather than merely improving technical and pedagogical competencies.]]>
