Reconstructing Tawhid: Tawhid as the Foundation of Social Reform (An Analysis of Ibn Taymiyyah's Thought in the Contemporary Context)

  • Baidlawi Bukhari Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Madura, Indonesia
  • Siswanto Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Madura, Indonesia
  • Atiqullah Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Madura, Indonesia
Keywords: Keywords: Tawhid; Ibn Taymiyyah; Social Reform; Islamic Ethics; Contemporary Islamic Thought

Abstract

This study examines Ibn Taymiyyah's concept of tawhid and explores its reconstruction as a foundation for social reform in the contemporary context. Although tawhid has traditionally been discussed within theological discourse, its broader social, moral, and political implications remain highly relevant for addressing contemporary challenges such as social injustice, corruption, declining public integrity, and moral crises. This research employs a qualitative normative approach using library research. Primary data are derived from Ibn Taymiyyah's principal works, while secondary sources include scholarly books and peer-reviewed journal articles. Data were collected through document analysis and interpreted using content analysis and a hermeneutic approach. The findings demonstrate that Ibn Taymiyyah conceptualizes tawhid as a comprehensive ethical framework encompassing the dimensions of rububiyyah, uluhiyyah, and asma' wa al-sifat. Beyond its theological significance, tawhid functions as a normative foundation for justice, accountability, ethical governance, and social solidarity. Reconstructing this concept provides an Islamic ethical paradigm capable of promoting social transformation and responding effectively to the moral, social, and political challenges faced by contemporary Muslim societies.

Keywords: Tawhid; Ibn Taymiyyah; Social Reform; Islamic Ethics; Contemporary Islamic Thought

References

Alkhattaf, H. (2024). Ibn Taymiyya and Divinities: A Critical Study of the Concepts of Affirmation, Anthropomorphism and Sense Organs. Jordan Journal of Islamic Studies. https://doi.org/10.59759/jjis.v20i2.446
Alshaar, N. (2022). Interplay of Religion and Philosophy in al-Tawḥīdī’s Political Thought and Practical Ethics. Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies. https://doi.org/10.5617/jais.9382
Amaliyah, N., Musawamah, A., Usnia, Ummah, I. I., Rosa, A., & Muhsin, M. (2024). Makna Filosofis dan Saintifik Terkait Tauhid (Keesaan Tuhan). Hamalatul Qur’an : Jurnal Ilmu Ilmu Alqur’an. https://doi.org/10.37985/hq.v5i2.287
Amirullah, M., Nasution, S., Kanggas, F. Z. H., Arif, A., & Wicaksana, F. A. (2026). Good governance according to Ibn Taimiyyah and it’s impression on community development. Priviet Social Sciences Journal. https://doi.org/10.55942/pssj.v6i2.1593
Andini, I. R., Indra, N. Z., Ash-Shadiqin, H., Berutu, N. F., & Wismanto, W. (2024). Tauhid Kepada Allah dan Fondasi Utama Ajaran Islam dan Pentingnya dalam Kehidupan Sehari-Hari. Faidatuna. https://doi.org/10.53958/ft.v5i4.608
Aqbar, K., & Iskandar, A. (2021). Prinsip Tauhid dalam Implementasi Ekonomi Islam. AL-KHIYAR: Jurnal Bidang Muamalah Dan Ekonomi Islam. https://doi.org/10.36701/al-khiyar.v1i1.446
Arifah, A., Sinaga, S. F., & Pasaribu, R. (2024). Tauhid dan Moral Sebagai Karakter Utama dalam Pendidikan Islam. Integrasi: Jurnal Studi Islam Dan Humaniora. https://doi.org/10.56114/integrasi.v2i1.11328
Asyari, N., Ishomuddin, Tobroni, & Khozin. (2024). Tawhid Education in Building Rabbani Character in Islamic Boarding School in Indonesia. International Journal of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education. https://doi.org/10.20431/2349-0381.1101002
Dalillah, A., Fadhalah, E., & Ekawati, E. (2025). The Concept of Faith in Ibn Taimiyah’s Perspective Between Belief, Verbal and Action. Maklumat: Journal of Da’wah and Islamic Studies. https://doi.org/10.61166/maklumat.v3i4.88
Fernández, A. T. (2024). TAWHID AND ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY. An-Nahdlah: Journal of Islamic Studies. https://doi.org/10.62261/annahdlah.v1i2.6
Gaffar, A., & Anees, M. (2025). Inclusive Tawhid as an Epistemology of Islamic Education. FIKROTUNA: Jurnal Pendidikan Dan Manajemen Islam. https://doi.org/10.32806/jf.v15i1.833
Hadita, C., & Thamrin, M. H. (2026). Nurcholish Madjid, Liberation Theology, and the Reconstruction of Islam as a Religion of Humanity: A Contemporary Analysis. Pharos Journal of Theology. https://doi.org/10.46222/pharosjot.107.24
Hairani, E., & Putri, E. M. (2024). Peran Ilmu Kalam dalam Memperkuat Spiritualitas Umat Islam. Al-Qalam: Jurnal Kajian Islam Dan Pendidikan. https://doi.org/10.47435/al-qalam.v16i1.2975
Hakim, L., Nuraeni, & Badawi, A. (2025). Analisis Tentang Konsep Mekanisme Pasar Dan Moneter Menurut Pandangan Ibnu Taimiyah. Al-Urban: Jurnal Ekonomi Syariah Dan Filantropi Islam. https://doi.org/10.22236/alurban_vol9.i1/12992
Hotimah, H., & Salsabila, S. (2025). Theological Divergence and Political Convergence in Salafiyyah and the Muslim Brotherhood. An-Nur International Journal of Islamic Thought. https://doi.org/10.62032/aijit.v3i1.87
Huringiin, N., Pramono, M. F., Mudin, M. I., & Faruqi, A. R. H. Al. (2026). Spiritual Governance and Ethical Politics: Reconstructing Islamic Political Thought in the Works of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi. Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization. https://doi.org/10.32350/jitc.161.19
Jalili, I., Syaifuddin, H., Ulfa, F., Sa’diah, H., & Solihu, A. K. H. (2024). IBN TAYMIYYA’S VISION ON PUBLIC INTEREST AND SOCIETAL PROSPERITY WITHIN ISLAMIC LAW. ULUL ALBAB Jurnal Studi Islam. https://doi.org/10.18860/ua.v25i2.28774
Jameelah, M., & Aiman, R. (2025). Universal Values as a Meeting Point in Abrahamic Religions. Peradaban Journal of Religion and Society. https://doi.org/10.59001/pjrs.v4i1.284
Kamil, I. M. M., Yusof, A., Sarkam, M. K. A. M., Muhammad, A., & Rahim, R. A. A. (2025). Membina Semula Tadbir Urus Islam: Sintesis Falsafah Ketuhanan, Institusi dan Sejarah. Online Journal of Research in Islamic Studies. https://doi.org/10.22452/ris.vol12no2.8
Karingayi, T. H. (2025). Islamic Political Thought and The Crisis of Global Governance: Towards a Non-Western Theory of Order. International Journal of Islamic Khazanah. https://doi.org/10.15575/ijik.v15i1.49657
Kusmanto, A., & Nasrulloh. (2026). Konsep Tarbiyah Menurut Ibnu Taimiyyah: Studi Filosofis tentang Fondasi Keimanan, Akhlak, dan Pembiasaan dalam Pendidikan Islam. Al-Mudarris (Jurnal Ilmiah Pendidikan Islam). https://doi.org/10.23971/mdr.v9i1.11252
Lazuardi, K., Mursalim, M., & Masrohatin, S. (2025). Paradigma Holistik Bimbingan Konseling Islam: Integrasi Dimensi Spiritual, Psikologis, dan Sosial dalam Kerangka Tauhid. Itqan: Jurnal Ilmu-Ilmu Kependidikan. https://doi.org/10.47766/itqan.v16i2.6722
Lubis, R. F., Mursal, Z., Nasution, B., & Info, A. (2026). Internalizing Moral Education Values in Sufism: A Comparative Study of Al-Ghazali’s and Ibn Taymiyyah’s Thought. Al Qodiri : Jurnal Pendidikan, Sosial Dan Keagamaan. https://doi.org/10.53515/alqodiri.v24i2.78
M, G. A. W., Alif, M., & Milah, M. (2025). Studi Tematik tentang Etika Politik dan Kepemimpinan Islam (Pendekatan Al-Qur’an dan Hadis). Al-Tarbiyah : Jurnal Ilmu Pendidikan Islam. https://doi.org/10.59059/al-tarbiyah.v3i3.2616
Maevskaya, L., & Aga, K. (2021). Philosophical aspects of the historical development of Islamic civilization and the interest in the teachings of Ibn Taymiyyah (1263-1328). Linguistics and Culture Review. https://doi.org/10.21744/lingcure.v5ns4.1735
Maevskaya, L., & Aga, K. (2023). Concepts of what is allowed and forbidden in Islam through the analysis of Ibn Taymiyyah’s fatwa. Trans/Form/Ação. https://doi.org/10.1590/0101-3173.2024.v47.n2.e0240016
Mahanis, J., & Zamsiswaya. (2025). Ibnu Taimiyah’s Islamic Educational Thinking. International Journal of Global Sustainable Research. https://doi.org/10.59890/ijgsr.v3i5.17
Mahtir, S., Fathorrahman, Hidayat, A., Azka, I., & Haramain, F. B. (2025). From Theocentric to Anthropocentric: Reconfiguring Tawḥīd in Contemporary Islamic Thought. Indonesian Journal of Islamic Literature and Muslim Society. https://doi.org/10.22515/islimus.v10i1.12570
Pizzi, P. (2024). Tawḥīd as Social Justice: The Anthropocentric Hermeneutics of the Syrian Theologian Jawdat Saʿīd. Journal of Qur’anic Studies. https://doi.org/10.3366/jqs.2024.0569
Putra, A. D., Zahir, R., Razak, S. A., & Kurniati. (2024). Kontribusi Etika Politik Islam Terhadap Penyelesaian Korupsi di Indonesia. Jurnal Ilmu Pendidikan Dan Sosial. https://doi.org/10.58540/jipsi.v3i2.583
Ruhullah, M. E., & Ushama, T. (2024). TAWHIDIC LEADERSHIP IN THE MODERN WORLD: BRIDGING ISLAMIC GOVERNANCE WITH UNIVERSAL VALUES FOR PEACE AND INTEGRITY. Al-Shajarah Journal of the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC). https://doi.org/10.31436/shajarah.v29i2.1970
Rusdin, R., Kahar, M., & Anggraeni, D. (2025). Implications of Ibn Taymiyyah’s Trilogy of Tawheed Thought Against the Radicalism Movement in Islamic Education. IJORER : International Journal of Recent Educational Research. https://doi.org/10.46245/ijorer.v6i5.1080
Saffari, S. (2023). Tawhid Paradigm and an Inclusive Concept of Liberative Struggle. Religions. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14091088
Salsabila, S., & Malahayatie, M. (2026). Relevance of Ibn Taimiyah’s Economic Thought on Fair Prices, Markets, and State Intervention from The Perspective of Islamic Economics. Journal of Indonesian Islamic Studies. https://doi.org/10.24256/jiis.v5i2.10556
Sinaga, S. H., Ahmad, R. Z., Albab, M. S. U., Setiawan, A. V. A. G., & Achmad, N. F. (2025). The Principle of Justice and Equality in the Perspective of Islamic Law on the Modern Concept of Human Rights. Muhâdarah: Journal of Islamic Studies. https://doi.org/10.57060/muhqdarah.v1n1t26.2
Sokolovskyi, O., Kobetiak, A., Melnychuk, M., & Chaplinska, O. (2021). Reconstruction of the Religious Paradigm in the Modern Globalized World. WISDOM. https://doi.org/10.24234/wisdom.v18i2.467
Solahudin, S., Yasyakur, M., Sarifudin, A., & Thalib, M. (2025). THE INTRINSIC ATTRIBUTES OF ALLAH FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF IBN JARIR AL-TABARI IN HIS TAFSIR JAMI’ AL-BAYAN. Al-Tadabbur: Jurnal Ilmu Al-Qur’an Dan Tafsir. https://doi.org/10.30868/at.v10i01.8435
Sukma, H. N. (2025). Tauhid dalam Tafsir Ibnu Katsir: Kajian Al-Fatihah 5 dan Al-Baqarah 21-22 untuk Akhlak. IHSANIKA : Jurnal Pendidikan Agama Islam. https://doi.org/10.59841/ihsanika.v3i2.2682
Suleiman, F. (2020). Schuldfähigkeit trotz fehlender Willensfreiheit? Eine Analyse der Position Ibn Taymiyyas. Mit einer Übersetzung seiner al-Qaṣīda at-tāʾiyya. Der Islam, 97, 172–202. https://doi.org/10.1515/islam-2020-0007
Untung, S. H., & Nofriyanto, N. (2016). al-Imam Ibnu Taymiyah wa Arauhu fi al-Qadaya al-’Aqaidiyyah. 14, 115–140. https://doi.org/10.21111/klm.v14i1.364
Wahidi, R., Afwadzi, B., Syafril, & Rahman, R. (2025). Tawhid and Qur’anic Interpretation in Early 20th-Century Minangkabau: A Philological-Theological Study of Abdul Latif Syakur’s al-Tawḥīd (1882–1963). Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu Al-Qur’an Dan Hadis. https://doi.org/10.14421/qh.v26i2.6268
Yusof, M., Mustafa, L., Ariffin, M. F. M., & Azlin, A. M. N. (2025). The Concepts of Rububiyyah and Uluhiyyah According to the thought of Abu Mansur al-Maturidi: A Study of Surah al-Ikhlas in the Ta’wilat Ahl al-Sunnah. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences. https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v15-i8/26182
Published
2026-07-05
How to Cite
Bukhari, B., Siswanto, & Atiqullah. (2026). Reconstructing Tawhid: Tawhid as the Foundation of Social Reform (An Analysis of Ibn Taymiyyah’s Thought in the Contemporary Context). International Journal of Technology and Education Research, 4(03), 46-58. https://doi.org/10.63922/ijeter.v4i03.5009