School Counselor Competencies in Islamic Education through Taʿlīm al-Mutaʿallim: A Reflective Hermeneutic Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18326/pamomong.v7i2.7716Keywords:
Counselor Competencies, Taʿlīm Al-Mutaʿallim, Reflective Hermeneutics, Islamic Educational Counseling, Culturally Responsive CounselingAbstract
School counselor competencies encompass pedagogical, personal, social, and professional domains, yet their enactment in Islamic educational settings requires attention to culturally embedded ethical traditions. This study examined how values in Burhān al-Dīn al-Zarnūjī’s Taʿlīm al-Mutaʿallim inform the contextual interpretation of school counselor competencies. Guided by reflective hermeneutics, the study integrated classical textual analysis, interviews with three guidance and counseling teachers from three madrasahs in Pamekasan, Indonesia, and researcher reflexivity. Interpretations were developed iteratively through dialogue among textual evidence, participants’ professional experiences, contemporary competency frameworks, and reflexive analysis. The findings indicate that ḥalīm and ṣabūr inform personal competence through patience and self-regulation; al-ʿadl and al-iḥsān support fairness and responsiveness; musyfiq, nāṣiḥ, and ghayr ḥāsid illuminate compassion and sincere guidance; and al-jidd, al-himmah, integrity, and lifelong learning inform professional and pedagogical competence. Spiritual and moral values emerged as contextual orientations shaping the enactment of established competencies rather than as additional competency domains. The study contributes a culturally grounded perspective that distinguishes professional competency structures from the spiritual-moral orientations informing their enactment, while maintaining professional ethics and counselee autonomy. Its interpretive scope is limited to one classical text and three counselors within a single Indonesian region. Future research should examine these interpretations across diverse cultural and educational settings and investigate their empirical relevance to counselor competence and ethical practice.
References
Al Musafiri, M. R., Hafifah, N., Intiha, C. Y., & Fatmawati, N. F. (2023). Analisis kebutuhan dan penguatan kompetensi guru bimbingan konseling di PP. Darussalam Blokagung. Jurnal At-Taujih: Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam, 3(1), 44–66. https://doi.org/10.30739/jbkid.v3i1.2299
Alvesson, M., & Sköldberg, K. (2018). Reflexive methodology: New vistas for qualitative research (3rd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.
Al-Zarnūjī, B. al-D. (2007). Terjemah Ta’limul Muta’allim: Bimbingan bagi penuntut ilmu pengetahuan (A. As’ad, Trans.). Kudus: Menara Kudus.
Al-Zarnūjī, B. al-D. (n.d.). Taʿlīm al-Mutaʿallim Ṭarīq al-Taʿallum. Surabaya: Maktabah al-Hidayah.
Ariani, R., & Shanti, T. I. (2020). Gambaran persepsi guru bimbingan konseling lulusan pendidikan strata satu bimbingan konseling terhadap kompetensi dalam berperan sebagai guru BK di Jakarta Selatan. INQUIRY: Jurnal Ilmiah Psikologi, 11(2), 80–97. https://doi.org/10.51353/inquiry.v11i2.244
Azzahrah, H., Yusuf, S., Saripah, I., Syahril, M. F., & Abdullah, N. Z. M. (2024). Subjective well-being of students in vocational high schools: Portraits from the Sundanese and Javanese ethnic groups. Pamomong: Journal of Islamic Educational Counseling, 5(2), 101–115. https://doi.org/10.18326/pamomong.v5i2.1932
Bakke, I. B., & Harjula, S. (2025). The professionalization of the counsellor role: A comparative study of Finland and Norway. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, 11(1), 4–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/20020317.2024.2348033
Cao, J., Abu Mansor, N. N., & Li, J. (2024). Impact of work competencies on job performance among university counsellors. PLOS ONE, 19(12), Article e0315494. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0315494
Casmini, C., & Hasanah, E. (2024). Professional and personality competency in prophetic counseling: A phenomenological study of school counselors. International Journal of Islamic Educational Psychology, 5(1), 21–42. https://doi.org/10.18196/ijiep.v5i1.20651
De Sousa, A. (2023). Client centered therapy: An overview. Indian Journal of Mental Health, 10(3), 145–150. Retrieved from https://indianmentalhealth.com/pdf/2023/vol10-issue3/EDITORIAL%20AD.pdf
Di Malta, G., Cooper, M., O’Hara, M., Stephen, S., & Gololob, Y. (Eds.). (2024). The handbook of person-centred psychotherapy and counselling (3rd ed.). London, England: Bloomsbury Academic.
Dianovi, A., Siregar, D., Mawaddah, I., & Suryaningsih, S. (2022). Guidance and counselling in education. World Psychology, 1(2), 27–35. https://doi.org/10.55849/wp.v1i2.95
Duncan, S., & Pond, R. (2025). Effective burnout prevention strategies for counsellors and other therapists: A systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative studies. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 38(3), 526–555. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2024.2394767
Dwiyono, E., & Eliasa, E. I. (2025). The role of guidance and counseling teachers in developing student potential. Golden Ratio of Data in Summary, 5(1), 49–55. https://doi.org/10.52970/grdis.v5i1.947
Ertelt, B.-J., Schulz, W. E., & Frey, A. (2022). Counsellor competencies: Developing counselling skills for education, career and occupation. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87413-1
Esat, G., Pasha-Zaidi, N., Rizvi, S., Parker, J. S., & Smith, B. H. (2025). Integration of religion and spirituality into culturally responsible school psychology practice. School Psychology Review, 54(5), 655–670. https://doi.org/10.1080/2372966X.2024.2317699
Ganjvar, M. (2025). From concept to practice: Integrating ethical spirituality into philosophical counseling training. Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, 18(7), 7. https://doi.org/10.18502/jmehm.v18i7.19421
Habsy, B. A., Rizal, A., Madoni, E. R., Rachmania, N., & Kadri, N. M. (2024). Construction of Ta’lim Muta’allim counseling based on the book of Imam Al-Zarnuji: A hermeneutical study. Al-Hayat: Journal of Islamic Education, 8(2), 649–664. https://doi.org/10.35723/ajie.v8i2.546
Hakim, A. A., Irawan, A. W., & Nazaruddin, A. R. B. (2025). Counselors’ multicultural competence in working with male counselees. Pamomong: Journal of Islamic Educational Counseling, 6(2), 201–229. https://doi.org/10.18326/pamomong.v6i2.5116
Hanafi, H., Hidayah, N., Mappiare, A., & Mamat, N. B. (2025). Syncretic cognitive behavioral counseling: Developing students’ meaning of life through the blended values of Islamic and Osing culture. Pamomong: Journal of Islamic Educational Counseling, 6(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.18326/pamomong.v6i1.3900
Hanemann, U., & Robinson, C. (2022). Rethinking literacy from a lifelong learning perspective in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals and the International Conference on Adult Education. International Review of Education, 68(2), 233–258. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-022-09949-7
Harrichand, J. J. S., Mwendwa, J. M., & Gummaluri, S. (2025). Cultural responsiveness in community counselling. In S. Sisko (Ed.), Culturally responsive psychotherapy, counselling & psychology: Practices for inclusion and accountability (pp. 227–257). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-81831-8_9
Hartini, L., Hunadar, J., & Pujiastuti, T. (2024). Emotional Spiritual Quotient (ESQ) approach and its relevance to problem solving in individual counseling: An examination of Ary Ginanjar Agustian’s thought. International Journal of Counseling and Psychotherapy, 1(2), 72–81. https://doi.org/10.64420/ijcp.v1i2.168
Huda, M., Selamat, A. Z., & Salem, S. (2024). Investigating respect in learning as character education: A review of al-Zarnūjī’s Ta‘līm al-Muta‘allim. Nazhruna: Jurnal Pendidikan Islam, 7(2), 209–232. https://doi.org/10.31538/nzh.v7i2.4187
Islamy, M. R. F., Abdussalam, A., Budiyanti, N., & Parhan, M. (2021). Conceptual reformulation of ta’lim as a paradigm of Islamic education learning in building educational interactions through Rahmaniyyah principles. Al-Fath, 15(1), 19–31. https://doi.org/10.32678/alfath.v15i1.4542
Jaber, F., & Al-Hroub, A. (2023). School counselors’ perceptions of virtual counseling in Lebanon: A qualitative study. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 1083644. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1083644
Johan, B., Nate, F., Dewanti, N. A. D., Fatihah, T. A., Syahman, Y. A.-Z., & Rahman, Z. B. A. (2025). Counselor’s code of ethics in the perspective of Islamic education. Al-Musyrif: Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam, 8(2), 145–155. https://doi.org/10.38073/almusyrif.v8i2.3124
Lubis, S. R., Maulida, N., & Fatalisa, N. (2025). The integration of professional ethics and guidance counselor competence in improving the quality of counseling services in senior high schools. Journal of Management and Islamic Education, 3(1), 37–52. Retrieved from https://jurnal.uinsu.ac.id/index.php/IJMIE/article/view/24924
Mahmood, F., Full, W., Salaminios, G., Pybis, J., Critchley, S., Postings, T., Longhurst, P., Johnson, K., & Wynn, G. (2026). Developing a counselling and psychotherapy competency framework for addictions: A systematic review. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 26(1), Article e70083. https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.70083
Maidu, N., Haron-Boquia, A., Mohamad, H., Sinsuat, D. R. R., Maguid, N., Luyugen-Omar, S., Guiaselon, B., Tuvieron, J. M., Sandialan, H., Esmael, N., Maidu-Kalipa, H., Maidu, Z., & Guiamal, J. (2022). Experiences of designated teacher as guidance and counselor in secondary school of Maguindanao I Division. Psychology and Education: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 5(6), 469–480. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7312053
Maslani, M., Suntiah, R., Karman, K., & Nursaid, N. (2026). The hermeneutic interpretation of Ta’lim Mutaallim by Al-Zarnuji in shaping the morals of santri at pesantren. Nazhruna: Jurnal Pendidikan Islam, 9(1), 18–32. https://doi.org/10.31538/nzh.v9i1.206
Menteri Agama Republik Indonesia, & Menteri Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia. (1987). Keputusan bersama Menteri Agama dan Menteri Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia Nomor 158 Tahun 1987 dan Nomor 0543b/U/1987 tentang transliterasi Arab–Latin. Retrieved from https://uu.vlsm.org/SKB/AGAMA-DIKBUD/SKB-1987-AGAMA-158-DIKBUD-543b-TRANSLITERASI-ARAB-LATIN.pdf
Menteri Pendidikan Nasional Republik Indonesia. (2008). Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan Nasional Republik Indonesia Nomor 27 Tahun 2008 tentang standar kualifikasi akademik dan kompetensi konselor. Retrieved from https://repositori.kemendikdasmen.go.id/4798/1/Permen_27_Th-2008.pdf
Mohd Jais, S., Mohaiyuddin, N., Mohamed Arip, M. A. S., & Yaakob, K. (2025). The impact of the mental health and trauma counselling module on mental health and trauma counselling practices among management staff of daily boarding schools: An Islamic ethical perspective. Global Journal Al-Thaqafah, 15(2), 129–140. https://doi.org/10.7187/GJAT122025-7
Mufid, M., & Tamam, A. M. (2024). Islamic education theory Al-Zarnuji’s perspective in the book Ta’lim Al-Muta’allim. Interdiciplinary Journal and Hummanity (INJURITY), 3(1), 9–16. https://doi.org/10.58631/injurity.v3i1.158
Nadhirah, N. A., Baiti, L. Z., & Budiman, N. (2024). Professional competence of school counselors in guidance and counseling services. ProGCouns: Journal of Professionals in Guidance and Counseling, 5(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.21831/progcouns.v5i1.64247
Nurbatin, S., & Sanyata, S. (2025). Building a professional counsellor identity: The mediating role of competence in the relationship between mind skills and professional identity among school counsellors. KONSELOR, 14(3), 253–265. https://doi.org/10.24036/02025143137-0-86
Oktaviani, E. C., Tajiri, H., & Kurnia, A. (2026). Countertransference in Islamic counseling: A tazkiyah-based model for ethical self-regulation and professional integrity. IHDINA: Journal Guidance Counseling and Islamic Psychotherapy, 1(2), 180–200. Retrieved from https://ejournal.uinsgd.ac.id/index.php/ihdina/article/view/3525
Ramadhani, D., & Prabawa, A. F. (2024). Perpaduan teknik modelling dengan doa Sapu Jagat dalam konseling kelompok behavioral untuk pemantapan pengambilan keputusan karier: Efektif atau tidak? Jurnal Bimbingan Konseling Flobamora, 2(1), 11–20. https://doi.org/10.35508/jbkf.v2i1.14436
Rosyidi, F., Saputri, N. D., Mursithi, E., & Sally, N. U. (2024). Openness and warmth in the digital world: Examining therapeutic relationships in online counseling in Javanese culture. Pamomong: Journal of Islamic Educational Counseling, 5(2), 174–190. https://doi.org/10.18326/pamomong.v5i2.2661
Rozi, M. F., Sariman, S., & Khasanudin, M. (2022). Development of religious character through the implementation of Ta’lim al-Muta’allim. Scaffolding: Jurnal Pendidikan Islam dan Multikulturalisme, 4(2), 83–98. https://doi.org/10.37680/scaffolding.v4i2.1449
Rusmana, N., Hafina, A., Yustiana, Y. R., Kurniati, E., Azzahrah, H., & Diba, S. F. (2024). A hybrid framework for guidance and counseling in Indonesia: Integrating ASCA and ABKIN for teacher competence development. KONSELOR, 13(4), 340–354. https://doi.org/10.24036/0202413498-0-86
Sa’idah, I., & Fauziah, A. H. (2025). A data-driven approach: Integration of competency Asesmen Kompetensi Madrasah Inonesia (AKMI) in guidance and counseling services in madrasah. DA’WA: Jurnal Bimbingan Penyuluhan & Konseling Islam, 5(1), 34–43. https://doi.org/10.36420/n32k3x26
Salmi, K., Samsurizal, S., Sabri, A., & Zalnur, M. (2023). Character education in the Kitab of Ta’limul Muta’allim by Shaykh Al-Zarnuji. Ri’ayatu Al-Qur’an: Jurnal Pendidikan Islam, 5(2), 8–15. https://doi.org/10.63061/rajupi.v5i2.17
Sepriati, E., Qurniati, Q., Dharminto, M., Hoiriyah, E., & Zahara, E. (2022). Implementasi Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan Nasional RI Nomor 27 Tahun 2008 tentang standar kualifikasi akademik dan kompetensi konselor di SMA Bhakti Suci Jaya Tanjung Batu Kabupaten Ogan Ilir. Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi dan Studi Kebijakan (JIASK), 4(2), 97–112. https://doi.org/10.48093/jiask.v4i2.85
Sperry, L., & Sperry, J. (2023). Core clinical competencies in counseling and psychotherapy: Becoming a highly competent and effective therapist (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003251262
Sue, D. W., Sue, D., Neville, H. A., & Smith, L. (2022). Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice (9th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Walcott, J. R. (2024). Culturally responsive and sustaining education: Implications for Christian school. Journal of Research on Christian Education, 33(3), 99–114. https://doi.org/10.1080/10656219.2024.2439092
Zahrah, R., Lubis, L., & Sitorus, M. (2025). Islamic guidance and counseling practices for strengthening student adjustment: A multisite study in urban modern pesantren of Medan. Jurnal Pendidikan Islam, 14(2), 209–224. https://doi.org/10.14421/jpi.2025.142.209-224
Zaki, M. (2024). Integrating Islamic teachings into school counselling: Bridging spiritual and educational guidance. Ittesaal – Journal of Connecting Discourses, 1(2), 61–75. https://doi.org/10.64984/ijcd.1.2.2024.05
Zhai, Y., & Prescod, D. J. (2025). Promoting multicultural and social justice counselling competency of international counselling students. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 25(1), Article e12803. https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12803
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Arinal Haq Fauziah, Arina Mufrihah, Arini Elya Nura Hanun
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
.png)
