Reconstructing Critical Thinking in Islamic Higher Education: Integrating Classical Epistemology and Contemporary Pedagogy
Abstract
ABSTRAK
Artikel ini merekonstruksi pemikiran kritis dalam pendidikan tinggi Islam di Indonesia melalui sintesis integratif antara epistemologi Islam klasik dan pedagogi kontemporer. Alih-alih menggunakan pemetaan bibliometrik, penelitian ini menerapkan tinjauan literatur integratif yang mempertemukan tiga rumpun kajian, yaitu pemikiran kritis dalam pendidikan tinggi, epistemologi dan pendidikan Islam, serta pedagogi aktif-reflektif. Literatur dipilih secara purposif berdasarkan relevansi konseptualnya terhadap pendidikan tinggi Islam dan kontribusinya terhadap penalaran, dialog, refleksi, etika, dan pembelajaran aktif. Analisis dilakukan melalui identifikasi konsep, pembacaan komparatif, kategorisasi tematik, dan sintesis interpretatif. Temuan menunjukkan bahwa pemikiran kritis dalam pendidikan tinggi Islam tidak dapat direduksi secara memadai menjadi keterampilan kognitif yang bebas nilai. Pemikiran kritis lebih tepat dipahami sebagai praktik penalaran yang menghubungkan wahyu dan akal, teks dan konteks, verifikasi berbasis bukti, dialog argumentatif, refleksi diri, adab, dan tanggung jawab sosial. Sintesis ini menghasilkan suatu kerangka rekonstruktif yang mencakup lima dimensi: landasan epistemik, verifikasi analitis, interpretasi dialogis, regulasi diri reflektif, dan tanggung jawab etis-praksis. Berbagai pedagogi kontemporer—termasuk problem-based learning, case-based learning, penulisan reflektif, diskusi isu kontroversial, dan pembelajaran kolaboratif—dapat digunakan untuk mengoperasionalkan kelima dimensi tersebut. Dengan demikian, artikel ini menawarkan jembatan konseptual antara tradisi epistemologi Islam dan pendidikan tinggi abad ke-21 tanpa mengaburkan perbedaan historis di antara keduanya.
ABSTRACT
This article reconstructs critical thinking in Indonesian Islamic higher education through an integrative synthesis of classical Islamic epistemology and contemporary pedagogy. Rather than employing bibliometric mapping, the study uses an integrative literature review that brings together three bodies of scholarship: critical thinking in higher education, Islamic epistemology and education, and active-reflective pedagogies. Literature was purposively selected for its conceptual relevance to Islamic higher education and its contribution to reasoning, dialogue, reflection, ethics, and active learning. The analysis involved concept identification, comparative reading, thematic categorisation, and interpretive synthesis. The findings show that critical thinking in Islamic higher education cannot be adequately reduced to value-neutral cognitive skills. It is better understood as a practice of reasoning that connects revelation and reason, text and context, evidential verification, argumentative dialogue, self-reflection, adab, and social responsibility. The synthesis produces a reconstructive framework comprising five dimensions: epistemic grounding, analytical verification, dialogical interpretation, reflective self-regulation, and ethical-praxical responsibility. Contemporary pedagogies—including problem-based learning, case-based learning, reflective writing, controversial-issue discussion, and collaborative learning—can operationalise these dimensions. The article thus offers a conceptual bridge between Islamic epistemological traditions and twenty-first-century higher education without collapsing their historical differences.
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