Tazkiyah as the Ultimate Goal of Education; Analysis of the Systematic Pattern in Shiite and Sunni Exegeses

Document Type : Academicm and Research

Authors

1 PhD student in Theoretical Foundations, Instructor at University of Qom

2 Associate Professor,Islamic Studies Department, Qom University

10.22091/ptt.2026.14905.2566

Abstract

In Islamic thought, purification (tazkiyah) and teaching (ta‘līm) as two fundamental pillars of human education have always been central to the Qur’an and its commentators. The difference in the sequence of mentioning these two concepts in the verses on prophethood raises an essential question about their teleological and functional relationship in the process of human guidance. This research, aiming to explain this relationship, conducts a comparative analysis of the views of Shi‘a and Sunni commentators on key verses of prophethood (Baqarah: 129 & 151; Āl ‘Imrān: 164; Jumu‘ah: 2). The research method is descriptive-analytical with a comparative approach. Data were collected through library research and direct examination of authoritative exegeses from both schools, and through conceptual and comparative analysis, the governing model of the relationship between teaching and purification was extracted. Findings indicate that the difference in sequence refers to differences in context, rhetorical situation, and teleological perspective of the verses, not a conceptual contradiction. Accordingly, purification is explained as the ultimate goal of prophethood and teaching as its prerequisite and means of realization, within an interactive and hierarchical model—a model that can provide a theoretical basis for designing a Qur’an-based educational system.

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Comparative Interpretation Research

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 28 April 2026

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