Tazkiyah al-Nafs in the Islamic Counseling Process from al-Ghazali’s Perspective

Abstract

Discussions about the counseling process typically revolve around structuring, building rapport, exploring, implementing strategies, terminating and following up. Eventually, many researchers began to recognize the need for religious elements to be implemented in counseling because the religious approach can solve the client’s problems effectively. Nevertheless, the question remains at what level it is appropriate to implement Islamic teachings in counseling. Accordingly, this research tried to identify the method of applying tazkiyah al-nafs in the process of Islamic counseling according to al-Ghazali’s perspective. The research methodology used was content analysis. The results of the study The results of the study found that there are five stages that need to be undergone in al-Ghazali’s perspective counseling process; the first stage involves building rapport, the second stage involves knowing oneself and identifying the cause of the problem, the third stage involves implementing the tazkiyah al-nafs approach with mujahadah al-nafs (takhalli), the fourth stage includes the implementation of the tazkiyah al-nafs approach with the riyadah al-nafs (tahalli). The fifth stage involves evaluation (muhasabah) and happiness (al-sa’adah). This process can guide counselors in using the tazkiyah al-nafs approach for the well-being of the client’s life and the empowerment of Islamic counseling services.