<![CDATA[Abstract. The development of students' religious character has become one of the primary objectives of Islamic Religious Education (PAI). However, learning activities in schools are often still teacher-centered, resulting in limited student participation in internalizing religious values. This study aimed to determine the effect of the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) model on the development of students' religious character in Islamic Religious Education at SMPN 2 Pamulihan. This study employed a quantitative approach using a quasi-experimental method with a pretest-posttest control group design. The participants consisted of two eighth-grade classes, namely Class VIII B as the experimental group and Class VIII C as the control group. Data were collected through questionnaires, observations, and documentation. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, normality tests, homogeneity tests, and Independent Sample t-Test with SPSS. The findings revealed that the implementation of the Problem-Based Learning model significantly improved students' religious character. The average posttest score of the experimental class reached 76.73, while the control class obtained 68.53. The hypothesis testing indicated a significance value of 0.025 (<0.05), confirming that the Problem-Based Learning model significantly influences the development of students' religious character in Islamic Religious Education learning. Keywords: Problem Based Learning, Islamic Religious Education, Religious Character, Learning Model.]]>
