Perception of meaning in life among muslim students at the International Islamic University Malaysia

Abstract

Meaning in life as a psychological phenomenon is only understood based on the Western perspective. However, looking at the comprehensive nature of human existence, Islam upholds a complete and meaningful platform as to what makes life meaningful to an individual. Exploring Muslims’ perception about meaning in life which is the aim and objective of this study does not only add to existential psychological literature, but also assist therapists and researchers in their services and research respectively. 15 Muslim postgraduate students from the International Islamic University Malaysia IIUM participated in the study. They comprised of ten males and five females, and their age ranged from 21 to 40 years. With the use of a semistructured interview that lasted for 12-25 minutes for each participant, six themes emerged from the transcribed data. Findings reveal that Muslim students perceive that having a close relationship with God and serving His purpose helps them to perceive life to be meaningful. Besides, it was observed that both spiritual and material values and goals in life are what make life meaningful to Muslim students. Moreover, findings were found to be related to previous existential psychological literatures. Implications for the study based on cultural and existential factors and religion were also discussed.