Reconstructing a Zuhd-Based Psycho-Spiritual Framework for Materialistic Hedonism: Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah’s Thought

Jarman  Arroisi; Tistigar  Sansayto; Nadia Pratiwi

doi:10.15408/refleksi.v25.i2.53282

Authors

Jarman Arroisi University of Darussalam Gontor
Tistigar Sansayto University of Darussalam Gontor
Nadia Pratiwi University of Darussalam Gontor

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15408/refleksi.v25.i2.53282

Keywords:

Materialistic Hedonism, Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, Islamic Psychology, Psycho-Spiritual Framework, Zuhd

Abstract

Hedonistic and materialistic orientations in digital consumer culture have been associated with impulsive consumption, dependence on external validation, and lower psychological well-being. Contemporary psychology offers valuable accounts of self-regulation, meaning, and well-being, yet comparatively few frameworks derive a systematic spiritual-transcendental account from classical Islamic sources. This study distinguishes ordinary pleasure-seeking from maladaptive materialistic hedonism and conceptually reconstructs zuhd in the thought of Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah as a psycho-spiritual self-regulation framework. It uses qualitative library research with a descriptive-analytical and critical-interpretive approach, drawing on Madārij al-Sālikīn, Al-Fawāʾid, Ighāthat al-Lahfān, and Ṭarīq al-Hijratayn. Three findings are presented. First, zuhd in Ibn al-Qayyim’s thought is an ethical-spiritual concept with a psychologically relevant dimension: it concerns the heart’s attachment to worldly objects rather than the possession of them. Second, this dimension can be read as operating through three mechanisms: value reorientation, desire regulation, and emotional regulation in relation to material objects. Third, these mechanisms can be organized into a five-stage conceptual framework (muḥāsabah, value reorientation through zuhd, mujāhadah al-nafs, qanāʿah–ṣabr–tawakkul, and ṭumaʾnīnah), which remains hypothetical. The framework is not a tested therapy: it has no assessment procedure, protocol, or outcome validation, and the relations among its stages are hypothesized pathways that require empirical, ethical, and clinical examination.

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