Tawakkul in the Qur’an and Stoicism: A Thematic-Comparative Tafsir Study Toward Spiritual Resilience
Keywords:
Al-Qur’an, Stoicism, Tawakkul, Spiritual Resilience, Tafsir Maudhu’iAbstract
The escalation of anxiety and the erosion of existential meaning in contemporary life have renewed interest in spiritual resources that reconcile human effort with acceptance of what lies beyond human control. Two traditions offer influential answers to this problem: the Qur’anic concept of tawakkul and the ethical system of Stoicism. This study analyzes tawakkul thematically through the tafsir maudhu’i (thematic exegesis) method and compares it with the Stoic principles of the dichotomy of control and amor fati, then extends the comparison toward contemporary resilience psychology. Using qualitative library research, the study examines Qur’anic verses containing the root w-k-l together with primary Stoic texts by Epictetus, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius, read alongside classical and contemporary tafsir. The findings show that tawakkul and Stoicism converge functionally around self-regulation and the acceptance of fate, yet diverge epistemologically: tawakkul is anchored in revelation and a personal, trusting relationship with God, whereas Stoicism rests on impersonal cosmic rationality (logos). Building on this comparison, the study proposes a Tawakkul–Stoic Resilience Model that reframes both traditions as complementary, theologically distinct pathways to what modern psychology terms meaning-based coping, offering a framework with practical implications for Islamic counseling and character education.
Abstrak
Meningkatnya kecemasan dan memudarnya makna eksistensial dalam kehidupan kontemporer telah menghidupkan kembali minat terhadap sumber-sumber spiritual yang menyeimbangkan usaha manusia dengan penerimaan atas hal-hal di luar kendalinya. Dua tradisi pemikiran menawarkan jawaban berpengaruh atas persoalan ini, yakni konsep tawakkul dalam Al-Qur’an dan sistem etika Stoikisme. Penelitian ini menganalisis tawakkul secara tematik melalui metode tafsir maudhu’i dan membandingkannya dengan prinsip Stoik dichotomy of control dan amor fati, kemudian memperluas perbandingan tersebut ke ranah psikologi ketahanan (resilience) kontemporer. Dengan pendekatan penelitian kepustakaan kualitatif, kajian ini menelaah ayat-ayat Al-Qur’an yang memuat akar kata w-k-l bersama teks-teks primer Stoik karya Epictetus, Seneca, dan Marcus Aurelius, dibaca bersama tafsir klasik dan kontemporer. Temuan menunjukkan bahwa tawakkul dan Stoikisme memiliki kesamaan fungsional dalam pengendalian diri dan penerimaan takdir, namun berbeda secara epistemologis: tawakkul berakar pada wahyu dan relasi personal-penuh-kepercayaan kepada Allah, sedangkan Stoikisme bertumpu pada rasionalitas kosmik yang impersonal (logos). Berdasarkan perbandingan ini, penelitian mengajukan Model Ketahanan Tawakkul–Stoik yang memposisikan kedua tradisi sebagai jalan yang saling melengkapi namun berbeda secara teologis menuju apa yang dalam psikologi modern disebut meaning-based coping, serta menawarkan kerangka dengan implikasi praktis bagi konseling Islam dan pendidikan karakter.
References
Achmad. “Tawakal dalam Perspektif Islam.” Syaikhuna: Jurnal Pendidikan dan Pranata Islam 10, no. 2 (2019): 181–92. https://doi.org/10.36835/syaikhuna.v10i2.3721.
Al-Farmawi, ‘Abd al-Hayy. Al-Bidayah fi al-Tafsir al-Mawdu’i: Dirasah Manhajiyyah Mawdu’iyyah. Cairo: Maktabah Jumhuriyyah, 1977.
Al-Faruqi, Achmad Reza Hutama, Husnul Ma, and Rais Tandra Haibaiti. “Konsep Tawakal Menurut Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah dan Relevansinya.” Spiritual Healing: Jurnal Tasawuf dan Psikoterapi 3, no. 2 (2022): 80–95. https://doi.org/10.19109/sh.v3i1.13487.
Alhafiza, Rahma Ghania, Sarmida Hanum, and Fatima Funun. “Tawakkul in the Qur’an as Coping Mechanism for IIUM Student Mastery in Coping with the COVID-19 Challenges.” Mashdar 4, no. 2 (2022): 205–18. https://doi.org/10.15548/mashdar.v4i2.4824
Dimyathi, Muhammad Afifuddin. Hidayat al-Qur’an fi Tafsir al-Qur’an bi al-Qur’an. Vol. 1. Cairo: Dar al-Nibras, 2023.
Eggen, Nora S. “Conceptions of Trust in the Qur’an.” Journal of Qur’anic Studies 13, no. 2 (2011): 56–85. https://doi.org/10.3366/jqs.2011.0020.
Epictetus. The Complete Works: Handbook, Discourses, and Fragments. Translated by Robin Waterfield. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2022.
Fajrin, Dea Indriani, H. Mud’is, and Y. Yulianti. “Konsepsi Pengendalian Diri dalam Perspektif Psikologi Sufi dan Filsafat Stoisisme: Studi Komparatif dalam Buku Karya Robert Frager dan Henry Manampiring.” Jurnal Riset Agama 2, no. 1 (2022): 162–80. https://doi.org/10.15575/jra.v2i1.17122.
Gill, Christopher, ed. Learning to Live Naturally: Stoic Ethics and Its Modern Significance. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198866169.003.0007.
Gusti, Yelliza MA, Rusydi AM, and Riki Saputra. “Teras Philosophy: The Concept of Stoicism in Guiding Modern Life and Islamic Education.” Al-Mudarris (Jurnal Ilmiah Pendidikan Islam) 8, no. 1 (2025): 175–88. https://doi.org/10.23971/mdr.v8i1.9860.
Ibn ‘Arabi, Muhyiddin. Tafsir al-Qur’an al-Karim. 2 vols. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-’Ilmiyyah, n.d.
Ibn Kathir, Isma’il ibn ‘Umar. Tafsir al-Qur’an al-’Azim. Edited by Sami ibn Muhammad Salamah. Riyadh: Dar Tayyibah, 1999.
Ilmi, Maulida Ilhami Zuhruful, and Ganjar Eka Subakti. “Islam dan Filsafat Stoisisme: Kajian Buku Filosofi Teras Karya Henry Manampiring.” Cakrawala: Jurnal Studi Islam 18, no. 1 (2023): 39–48. https://doi.org/10.31603/cakrawala.8399.
Izutsu, Toshihiko. Ethico-Religious Concepts in the Qur’an. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1966.
Karl, Johannes Alfons, Paul Verhaeghen, Shelley N. Aikman, Stian Solem, Espen R. Lassen, and Ronald Fischer. “Misunderstood Stoicism: The Negative Association between Stoic Ideology and Well-Being.” Journal of Happiness Studies 23, no. 7 (2022): 3531–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-022-00563-w.
Lacy, Phillip de. “The Logical Structure of the Ethics of Epictetus.” Classical Philology 38, no. 2 (1943): 112–25. https://doi.org/10.1086/362698.
Marcus Aurelius. Meditations. Translated by Robin Hard. Introduction by Christopher Gill. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
Maulidiyah, Izatul Muhidah. “Konsep Tawakal Syaikh Al-Akbar Muhyiddin Ibnu ‘Arabi: Studi atas Kitab Tafsir al-Qur’an al-Karim.” Jurnal Moderasi 2, no. 1 (2022): 60–71. https://doi.org/10.14421/jm.2022.21.05.
Nurmiati, N., Ahmad Abubakar, and Aan Parhani. “Nilai Tawakal dalam al-Qur’an.” Palita: Journal of Social Religion Research 6, no. 1 (2021): 81–98. https://doi.org/10.24256/pal.v6i1.1985.
Nurul Widyamirza Sujan @ Jan, Salasiah Hanin Hamjah, and Sabiruddin bin Juli. “Systematic Literature Review on the Use of the Concept of Tawakkal in Islamic Counseling to Address Anxiety and Depression.” Al-Hikmah 17, no. 1 (2025). https://doi.org/10.17576/alhikmah.2025.1701/566.
Pambudi, Muhammad Sidiq, Sab’ati Mela Matsania, and Bimba Valid Fathony. “Keterkaitan Konsep Tawakal dalam Islam dan Filsafat Stoikisme: Sebuah Analisis Implementatif.” Canonia Religia 3, no. 1 (2025): 49–62. https://doi.org/10.30762/cr.v3i1.3139.
Rahman, Taufik, Lola Pertiwi, and Ariyandi Batubara. “Hakikat Kebahagiaan Hidup: Konsensus antara al-Qur’an dan Filsafat Stoikisme.” Jurnal Riset Agama 2, no. 3 (2022): 807–821. https://doi.org/10.15575/jra.v2i3.19326.
Rist, J. M. “Zeno and Stoic Consistency.” Phronesis 22, no. 2–3 (1977): 161–74. https://doi.org/10.1163/156852877X00056.
Robertson, Donald J., and Tim Codd. “Stoic Philosophy as a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy.” The Behavior Therapist 42, no. 2 (2019): 40–45.
Robertson, Donald J. How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2019.
Sandria, M. “Konsep Tawakal Menurut Syekh Abdus Shomad Al-Palembani dalam Kitab Hidayatussalikin.” Undergraduate thesis, IAIN Pekalongan, 2023.
Sellars, John. Stoicism. Ancient Philosophies. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006.
Seneca, Lucius Annaeus. Letters from a Stoic. Translated by Robin Campbell. London: Penguin Classics, 1969.
Shihab, M. Quraish. Tafsir Al-Mishbah: Pesan, Kesan dan Keserasian Al-Qur’an. Jakarta: Lentera Hati, 2002.
Southwick, Steven M., and Dennis S. Charney. Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life’s Greatest Challenges. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
Sulaiman, S. “Konsep Tawakal Menurut Imam Ghazali dalam Kitab Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din.” Ameena Journals 1, no. 1 (2023): 44–55.
The Qur’an. Translated by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem. Oxford World’s Classics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Wahyuni, Oktavia, Zulmuqim, and Radhiatul Hasnah. “Konsep Tawakkal dalam Q.S. Ali ‘Imran dalam Pendidikan Islam.” Jurnal Cerdas Mahasiswa 3, no. 1 (2023): 45–53. https://doi.org/10.15548/jcm.v3i1.3491.
Zahrotin, Novia Niken. “Tawakkul dalam al-Qur’an (Studi al-Qur’an Tematik).” Undergraduate thesis, UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, 2016.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Kholifatur Rofiah, Muhammad Yusuf Pratama (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercial purposes.
- Adaptation — mixing, changing, and developing materials for any purpose, even commercial ones.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
