Potret Pemikiran
Vol 29, No 2 (2025)

Psycho-Spiritual Consciousness and Its Relevance to Muslim Minority Communities: Integrating William James and Al-Ghazali

Arroisi, Jarman (Unknown)
Anam, Hafidz Muhammad (Unknown)
Amrullah, Khasib (Unknown)
Nasuha, Moh Yordan (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
30 Dec 2025

Abstract

This study examines the concept of consciousness in the thought of William James and Abu Hamid al-Ghazali through an ontological, epistemological, and teleological comparison, and explores its relevance to the psycho-spiritual experience of Muslim minority communities. Employing a qualitative philosophical-comparative method based on library research of primary and secondary texts, the study proceeds through four analytical stages: hermeneutical reading, conceptual mapping, comparative analysis, and integrative synthesis. The findings reveal that James conceives consciousness as a continuous, selective, and adaptive stream of subjective experience grounded in empirical-pragmatic epistemology, while al-Ghazali conceives it as a spiritually illuminated state of the soul (nafs) attained through tazkiyat al-nafs, muraqabah, and muhasabah, oriented toward ma'rifatullah. Despite their divergent metaphysical foundations, both thinkers affirm the transformative, ethical, and meaning-making dimensions of inner experience. This study formulates a three-axis psycho-spiritual integrative model, namely the cognitive-adaptive, spiritual-purification, and ethical-social axes, which demonstrates that James's adaptive consciousness and al-Ghazali's spiritual disciplines function as complementary resources for Muslim minority communities navigating identity negotiation, spiritual resilience, and social participation in non-Muslim majority pluralistic contexts. The model contributes to Islamic psychology and minority religious studies while offering a conceptual foundation for consciousness-based approaches to Islamic education and community empowerment.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

PP

Publisher

Subject

Religion Humanities Environmental Science

Description

Potret Pemikiran terdaftar dengan nomor ISSN 1693-1874 (Cetak), ISSN 2528-0376 (Online) adalah jurnal peer-review yang diterbitkan dua kali setahun pada bulan Juni dan Desember oleh Lembaga Penelitian dan Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat (LP2M) Institut Agama Islam Negeri (IAIN) Manado. Potret Pemikiran ...