A Ruler of Critical Thinking of Muslim Students: the role of Quran Recitation and Sunnah Food Consumption

Abstract

Graduates are believed to lack in the critical thinking ability particularly when this skill is one of the important criteria for employability. However, this is just a claim made without an empirical evidence. This prompted the conduct of this study that measured the level of critical thinking among students from renowned universities in Malaysia and Indonesia. Two variables have been added to verify that critical thinking level of a Muslim student has been contributed by Quran recitation and sunnah food consumption. Out of 290 students who participated in the survey via google form, 59.8% were from Indonesia and 40.2% from Malaysia.Rasch analysis was performed and the outcome generated comprised 5 groups with varying critical thinking levels. The first and second groupare  identified as high critical thinking (HCT) students because they are committed to recite the Quran and consume sunnah food. The third and fourth group (moderate critical thinking(MCT)) recite the Quran  and consume sunnah food moderately, while the last group (low critical thinking (LCT))are those who recite the Quran the least and do not favour to eat sunnah food as their regular food intake. The findings revealed important insightsconcerning Quran recitation and sunnah food. The government of the two countries should pay serious attention on the two variables if they wanted to enhance critical thinking of tertiary education students.  It is recommended that if many studies were performed similar in nature to this study, then there is adequate proof to suggest both Quran recitation and Sunnah food consumption as stimulant and reinforcer of the critical thinking skill.  Additionallyand most importantly for Muslims, the two components are able to generate deliverables in the form of quality worship to Allah and His messenger, the Prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h.