Environmental education in Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) can promote ecological sustainability. Although eco-pesantren studies have examined environmental programs, sanitation, and institutional management, the interrelationship between ecological knowledge, emotional engagement, everyday practices, and spiritual meaning-making in students’ lived experiences warrants further examination. This study examines how students experience and interpret ecospiritual education in relation to environmental awareness at El-Azzam Islamic Boarding School, Indonesia. Employing a qualitative phenomenological design, the study involved seven purposively selected participants: five students and two caregivers. Data were collected over six months through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and document analysis, and were analysed through data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification. The findings identify four interrelated dimensions: ecological literacy, emotional engagement, experiential learning, and spiritual internalization. Ecological literacy is reflected in environmental learning and interaction with nature; emotional engagement in empathy, gratitude, and care for living beings; and experiential learning in farming, livestock care, waste management, and environmental maintenance. Spiritual internalization emerges as students interpret environmental care in terms of worship, gratitude, divine trust (amānah), and obedience to Allah. These dimensions transform routine ecological practices into moral and religious commitments. By foregrounding students’ lived experiences, this study extends eco-pesantren research and positions Islamic spirituality as a transformative foundation for holistic and sustainable environmental education.
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