<![CDATA[Purpose. This study describes the mathematical critical thinking profile of fifth-grade students in a madrasah ibtidaiyah and identifies the difficulties they experience when solving open-ended mathematics tasks, an area rarely examined in non-public elementary schools.Methods. A descriptive qualitative approach was employed with 27 fifth-grade students of Madrasah Ibtidaiyah Hidayatul Mubtadiin, an Islamic elementary school under the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Indonesia. Critical thinking was examined using Facione's framework covering interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, and explanation. Data were collected through an open-ended prism problem instrument validated by two mathematics education experts, followed by semi-structured interviews with the classroom teacher and nine selected students. The interactive analysis model of Miles and Huberman was used with source and method triangulation.Findings. Critical thinking developed unevenly across the five components. Evaluation and inference appeared relatively well developed, whereas interpretation consistently emerged as the weakest component across all performance levels; even high-performing students found it difficult to articulate the meaning of mathematical information. The pattern suggests that critical thinking does not automatically follow content mastery, but requires deliberately designed instructional support.Research Implications. Mathematics instruction in elementary madrasah should explicitly scaffold interpretive and analytical processes, for example by training students to restate problems, identify relevant information, and explain their reasoning before engaging in higher-order evaluation.Originality. Unlike studies that rely on public elementary schools or written-test scores alone, this study combines a validated open-ended instrument with interviews to profile critical thinking difficulties in the under-represented madrasah ibtidaiyah context.]]>
