Nature of Intention Education According to al-Ghazzal？

Since intention (niyyah) directly supplies the value of action, it is taken to have different meanings and accordingly approached in different ways in the tradition of Islamic thought. This study aims to discuss and raise the subject of the meanings of intention from the point of view of Religious Education based on the views of al-Ghazzal？ one of the most important figures of Islamic thought. The idea of intentions in Islamic thought has evolved around the hadith, which is known as the “niyyah hadith”. In tradition, it is seen that the intention has the meaning layers that lead the action and the action itself. al-Ghazzal？ developed understanding of intent by distinguishing various acts of intention from each other, blending purpose (ghaye) as the intention of why the action is done with responsibility as the intention of consciously undertaking an action, and thereby developed an original body of thought on the issue. Accordingly, the training of one’s intention is made up of the following stages: understanding the human being, training of the heart and changing ones intention with sincerity (ikhlas). Niyyah denotes the realization of an action with the purpose of seeking Gods pleasure as well as the moral validity of the action. According to Ghazzali, intent education includes not only consciousness of action but also which action should be preferred. The literature review was used in our study and it is based on the text analysis of the works of al-Ghazzali, especially the book Ihya’ ‘ulum al-din. This study argues that al-Ghazzal？’s vision of intention offers a new perspective to Religious Education, especially in terms of the conditions to properly choose ones intention