A Synthesis of Spiritual Intelligence Themes from Islamic and Western Philosophical Perspectives

Spiritual intelligence is an emerging term that is widely discussed and accepted as one of the main components that addresses and solves many life problems. Nonetheless there is no specific study being done to synthesize the spiritual intelligence themes from Western and Islamic philosophical perspectives. This research aimed to identify common spiritual intelligence themes from these two perspectives and elucidated its contents by the view of two well-known Islamic scholars; al-Ghazali and Hasan Langgulung. Seven spiritual intelligence themes were identified through thematic analysis; meaning/purpose of life, consciousness, transcendence, spiritual resources, self-determination, reflection-soul purification and spiritual coping with obstacles. These findings will be the groundwork for centered theory of spiritual intelligence themes that synthesize the Islamic and Western philosophical perspectives. It is hoped that this study will contribute significantly to the development of valid and reliable spiritual intelligence themes beyond the social and cultural boundaries.