developing and validating a wisdom scale
TRANSCRIPT
DEVELOPING AND VALIDATING A WISDOM SCALE
INVENTORY (WISI) FROM AN ISLAMIC
PERSPECTIVE BASED ON IBN QAYYIM‟S
CLASSIFICATION OF WISDOM
BY
IBRAHIM ALI
A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the
degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Educational Psychology)
Kulliyyah of Education
International Islamic University Malaysia
JUNE 2015
ii
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument called Wisdom Scale
Inventory (WISI) for measuring wisdom from an Islamic perspective based on Ibn
Qayyim al-Jawziyyah‟s classification of wisdom and to validate its psychometric
properties. The samples of the study were heterogeneous comprising of 700
postgraduate master and PhD students who were randomly sampled from five
outstanding public Universities in Malaysia namely, International Islamic University
Malaysia (IIUM), University of Malaya (UM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM),
Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), and the Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM).
The instrument developed is a wisdom model that composed of two scales namely,
knowledge (‘ilm) and action (‘amal). The knowledge scale has two subscales namely,
understanding (fahm) and realization (idrāk) while the action scale consisted of two
subscales namely; inner action (‘amal bātin) and outer action (‘amal ẓ āhir). The
instrument has 46 items and was empirically tested using several methods of
reliabilities and validities. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Confirmatory
Factor Analysis (CFA) were utilized to analyse the data collected. SPSS version 18
was used to analyse the data for PCA while AMOS version 16 was employed to
analyse the data for CFA. Based on the analysis, the results of the study provided
evidence that the devised instrument achieved sound psychometric properties. The
results of the reliability test indicated that the developed instrument was reliable
yielding the Cronbach‟s Alpha of 0.863. The PCA generated four- factor solution
which accounted for 60.9% approximately of the total variance. The findings of CFA
revealed the revised model overall goodness-of-fit-statistics at RMSEA = .039, GFI =
.976, TLI = .964, CFI = .972, the chi-squared statistics (2 /df) = 2.062, p = .00
showing that the model statistically fits the data. This confirms understanding,
realisation, inner and outer actions as a measure of wisdom in accordance with the
theory of Ibn Qayyim. The results of the invariance analysis showed that the samples
are not statistically significantly different across gender and age in terms of wisdom.
Thus, the results of analyses suggest that wisdom is a valid and reliable measure and
WISI could be used in the Humanities and Revealed Sciences.
iii
ABSTRACT IN ARABIC
(IIUM)(UM) (UPM)
(UiTM) (USIM)
Cronbach Alpha
PCA
CFA
60.9
RMSEA = 0.39, GFI = .976, TLI = .964, CFI = .972,
Chi-Squared statistics (2 /df) = 2.062, p > .00
iv
APPROVAL PAGE
The thesis of Ibrahim Ali Allaafiaji has been approved by the following:
........................................................
Siti Rafiah Abd Hamid
Supervisor
........................................................
Saemah Rahman
Internal Examiner
........................................................
Hairul Nizam Ismail
Internal Examiner
........................................................
Nik Suryani Nik Abdul Rahman
External Examiner
........................................................
Mek Wok Binti Mahmud
Chairperson
v
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this dissertation is the result of my own investigations, except
where otherwise stated. I also declare that it has not been previously or concurrently
submitted as a whole for any other degree at IIUM or other institutions.
Ibrahim Ali Allaafiaji
Signature…………………………………. Date ……………………..
vi
COPYRIGHT PAGE
INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA
DECLARATION OF COPYIGHT AND AFFIRMATION
OF FAIR USE OF UNPUBLISHED RESEARCH
Copyright© 2015 by Ibrahim Ali Allaafiaji. All rights reserved.
DEVELOPING AND VALIDATING A WISDOM SCALE INVENTORY
(WISI) FROM AN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE BASED ON IBN QAYYIM’S
CLASSIFICATION OF WISDOM
No part of this unpublished research may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the
copyright holder except as provided below:
1. Any material contained in or derived from this unpublished research
may only be used by others in their writing with due
acknowledgement.
2. IIUM or its library will have the right to make and transit copies
(print or electronic) for institutional and academic purposes.
3. The IIUM library will have the right to make, store in a retrieval
system and supply copies of this unpublished research if requested
and by other universities and research libraries.
Affirmed by Ibrahim Ali Allaafiaji.
…………………………………… ……………………….
Signature Date
vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I start in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, and may the peace
and blessings of Allah be upon our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Sallallāhu ‘alayhi
wasallam) his household and all his Sahaba (radiyallah ‘anhum). All my thanks first
go to Allah Who gives me everything and enables me to accomplish this work, then; I
thank my parent and my family members for their patience, prayer, and assistance. My
thank goes to my Ustaazah Rosni Binti Yusoff.
My heartfelt thank goes to my supervisor Assistant Professor Siti Rafiah Abd.
Hamid for the assistance rendered to me financially and educationally during the
period of writing this work. I sincerely thank Assistant Professor Shariah Sariah Syed
Hassan and Associate Professor Suhailah Hussein for their good supervision,
assistance and good guidance toward the completion of this thesis. I thank Prof.
Saemah Rahman, Prof. Rosnani Hashim, Assoc. Prof. Hairul Nizam Ismail, Assoc.
Prof. Nik Suryani Nik Abdul Rahman, and Assoc. Prof. Mek Wok Mek Wok Binti
Mahmud for their comments that help improve the thesis.
I thank all my colleagues and teachers who had helped me in the way of
seeking knowledge. My profound gratitude goes to the International Islamic
University Malaysia, particularly, Kulliyyah of Education for giving an opportunity to
further my education and complete it.
Lastly, I thank all my lecturers at the International Islamic University Malaysia
and Centre for postgraduate studies for the well done assistance and guidance. My
thank goes to the Graduate School of Studies at the University of Malaya (UM),
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), and
Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) for allowing me to collect the data. May Allah the
Lord of the universes reward all abundantly and may this thesis be beneficial for me
and for all Mankind.
viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract .................................................................................................................... ii Abstract in Arabic .................................................................................................... iii Approval Page .......................................................................................................... iv
Declaration ............................................................................................................... v Copyright Page ......................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgements .................................................................................................. vii List of Tables ........................................................................................................... xii List of Figures .......................................................................................................... xv
Table of Transliteration ............................................................................................ xvi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION .................................................................. 1 1.1 Background of the Study ........................................................................ 1 1.2 Statement of Problem ............................................................................. 4 1.3 Purpose of Study ..................................................................................... 8
1.4 Research Questions ................................................................................. 9
1.5 Research Hypotheses .............................................................................. 9
1.6 Significance of Study .............................................................................. 10 1.7 Definition of Terms ................................................................................ 10 1.8 Delimitations of the Study ...................................................................... 12
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................... 13 2.1 Introduction............................................................................................. 13
2.1.1 A Brief Biography of Ibn Qayyim ................................................ 13
2.2 Ibn Qayyim’s Classification of Wisdom ................................................ 16 2.3 Knowledge .............................................................................................. 18
2.3.1 Understanding ............................................................................... 19
2.3.2 Realization .................................................................................... 19 2.4 Action ..................................................................................................... 20
2.4.1 Inner Action .................................................................................. 20 2.4.2 Outer Action .................................................................................. 21
2.5 Conceptual Framework ........................................................................... 21
2.6 Knowledge as One of the Indicators of Wisdom .................................... 24 2.7 Understanding as an Indicator of Knowledge-Based Wisdom ............... 27
2.8 Realization as an Indicator of Knowledge-Based Wisdom .................... 28 2.9 Action as One of the Determinants of Wisdom ...................................... 29 2.10 Outer and Inner Action as Dimensions of an Action Based Wisdom .. 30
2.11 Studies on the Significance of Wisdom from an Islamic
Perspective .............................................................................................. 31 2.12 Studies on the Importance of Wisdom from the Western
Perspective .............................................................................................. 32
2.13 Importance of Wisdom in Islam ........................................................... 33
2.14 Wisdom from the Qur'ān ...................................................................... 35 2.15 Wisdom from Sunnah ........................................................................... 45
2.15.1 Examples of Al-Hikmah in the Teachings of the Prophet
(May the peace be upon him) ..................................................... 48
ix
2.16 Tafsīr of Muslim Scholars on Wisdom ................................................. 50 2.17 Wisdom in the Creation of Man and Man‟s Nature ............................. 53
2.18 The Development of Wisdom Through a Lifetime .............................. 55 2.19 The Importance of Wisdom in Decision Making ................................. 57 2.20 Criticism Levelled against Wisdom...................................................... 58
2.20.1 Wisdom is criticized to be vague in terms of its definition ....... 59 2.20.2 Criticism against wisdom is only be related to late
adolescence and early adulthood but not late adulthood ............. 61 2.20.3 Wisdom is not linked with age .................................................. 61 2.20.4 Knowledge does not link with wisdom ..................................... 61
2.21 Likely Responses to the Critiques Levlled against Wisdom ................ 62 2.22 Factors that Might Prevent Wisdom ..................................................... 66
2.23 Spirituality and Wisdom ....................................................................... 67 2.24 Wisdom and Age .................................................................................. 68
2.25 Wisdom and Gender ............................................................................. 68 2.26 Wisdom and Well-Being ...................................................................... 69 2.27 Research Trend on Wisdom from Islamic and Western Perspective ... 70 2.28 Summary of the Chapter ....................................................................... 80
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................... 81 3.1 Introduction............................................................................................. 81
3.2 Research Design ..................................................................................... 81 3.2.1 Type of Investigation .................................................................... 83
3.2.2 Study settings ................................................................................ 83 3.3 Population of the Study .......................................................................... 85 3.4 Determining the Sample Size ................................................................. 89
3.5 Instrument ............................................................................................... 91 3.5.1 Development of the instrument content ........................................ 92
3.5.2 Rationale for the Item construction ............................................... 93 3.5.3 Understanding ............................................................................... 94
3.5.4 Realization .................................................................................... 98 3.5.5 Inner Action .................................................................................. 102
3.5.6 Outer Action .................................................................................. 105 3.5.7 Face Validity ................................................................................. 109 3.5.8 Content Validity ............................................................................ 109
3.5.9 Items‟ Revision ............................................................................. 110 3.6 Pilot Study .............................................................................................. 110
3.6.1 Cohen‟s Kappa Inter-Rater Reliability ......................................... 111 3.6.2 Instrument Internal Consistency ................................................... 114 3.6.3 Correlation Matrix......................................................................... 114
3.7 Data Collection Procedure ...................................................................... 116
3.7.1 Sources of Data Collected ............................................................. 117 3.8 Data Analysis Procedure ........................................................................ 118
3.8.1 Data mining ................................................................................... 119
3.8.2 Construct Validity ......................................................................... 120 3.8.3 Convergent Validity ...................................................................... 120 3.8.4 Discriminant Validity .................................................................... 121 3.8.5 Wisdom Measurement Model ....................................................... 121 3.8.6 Assessing Model Goodness-of-Fit Indices ................................... 122
x
3.9 Summary of the Chapter ......................................................................... 123
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF
FINDINGS .............................................................................................................. 124 4.1 Introduction............................................................................................. 124 4.2 Descriptive Statistics .............................................................................. 125
4.2.1 Missing Data ................................................................................. 126 4.2.2 Outliers .......................................................................................... 126
4.2.3 Test of Normality .......................................................................... 128 4.2.4 Construct Reliability Test ............................................................. 131 4.2.5 Item Analysis ................................................................................ 132
4.3 Principal Component Analysis (PCA) .................................................... 134 4.3.1 Item Analysis ................................................................................ 137
4.3.2 Factors that Determine Wisdom ................................................... 138
4.4 Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) ..................................................... 141
4.4.1 Model Specification ...................................................................... 141 4.4.2 Assessment of Model Adequacy for Wisdom Model
Separately ..................................................................................... 143 4.4.3 Construct of Understanding and Realisation ................................ 146
4.4.4 Outer and Inner Action Construct ................................................. 149 4.4.5 Evidence for the Convergent Validity of the Wisdom
Measurement Model ..................................................................... 151 4.4.6 Evidence for the Discriminant Validity of the Wisdom
Measurement Model ..................................................................... 153
4.4.7 Assessing the Adequacy of Hypothesized Wisdom
Measurement Model ..................................................................... 155
4.4.8 Model Modification ...................................................................... 157 4.4.9 Results of the Research Hypotheses ............................................. 160
4.5 Invariance Analysis for the Wisdom Measurement Model across
Gender and Age of the Respondents ...................................................... 162 4.5.1 Model Fit across the gender and age of the respondents .............. 164
4.6 Summary of the Chapter ......................................................................... 167
CHAPTER FIVE: DISSCUSSION OF FINDINGS,
RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION ................................................. 168 5.1 Introduction............................................................................................. 168 5.2 Discussion of Findings ........................................................................... 168
5.2.1 Discussion of Research Questions ................................................ 170 5.2.2 Discussion of Research Hypotheses ............................................. 182 5.2.3 Summary of the Findings .............................................................. 187 5.2.4 Implication for the theory ............................................................. 187
5.2.5 Implications for the Practice ......................................................... 188 5.2.6 Methodological implications......................................................... 189
5.3 Limitations of the Study ......................................................................... 189
5.4 Recommendations................................................................................... 190 5.5 Conclusion .............................................................................................. 192
BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................. 194
xi
APPENDIX A1 OF THE OLD INSTRUMENT ..................................................... 224
APPENDIX A2 OF THE MODIFIED ORIGINAL INSTRUMENT ..................... 227 APPENDIX B .......................................................................................................... 228
APPENDIX C .......................................................................................................... 233 APPENDIX D .......................................................................................................... 242 APPENDIX E .......................................................................................................... 243
xii
LIST OF TABLES
Table No. Page No.
2.1 Meta Analysis on researches conducted on the construct of wisdom
by Islamic and western scholars 71
2.2 A breakdown of the past literature, theories, their findings, and the
gaps discussed in the current study 73
3.1 The Summary of Postgraduate Students from IIUM for Semester I,
2011/ 2012 86
3.2 The Summary of Graduates from UM for Semester I, 2012/ 2013 86
3.3 The Summary of Postgraduates from UPM for First Semester 2011/
2012 87
3.4 The Summary of Postgraduates from UiTM for Academic Sessions
2011/ 2012 87
3.5 The Summary of Postgraduates from USIM for an Academic Session
2012/ 2013 88
3.6 The total number of samples selected from the five universities 91
3.7 The dimensions of wisdom and their measures 93
3.8 Items used for understanding construct 95
3.9 Items used for realization construct 99
3.10 Items used for inner action construct 102
3.11 Items used for outer action construct 105
3.12 The pilot study of the raters based on Cohen’s Kappa Reliability 111
3.13 The Profile of 5 lecturers and 3 PhD candidates who rated the
instrument 113
3.14 The overall reliability test for the items worded for understanding
and realization as a sub-construct for knowledge based wisdom 114
3.15 The overall reliability test the items constructed for inner and outer
action as a sub-construct for action based wisdom 114
3.16 Correlation between Understanding and Realization 115
xiii
3.17 Correlation between Inner and Outer Action 115
3.18 Summary of the data collection procedure 117
3.19 Matrix of Research Questions and Tests used 118
3.20 Matrix of Research Hypotheses and the Test used 119
3.21 Fit Statistics used and its recommendation 123
4.1 Respondents’ demographic background 127
4.2 Breakdown of descriptive statistics on Understanding Variable 129
4.3 Distribution of Variables for Realisation 129
4.4 Distribution of Variables for Inner Action 130
4.5 Distribution of Variables for Outer Action 131
4.6 The instrument reliability 132
4.7 Variables deleted from understanding, inner and outer action
construct 133
4.8 KMO and Bartlett’s Test 134
4.9 Total Variance Explained 135
4.10 Wisdom Items and their distribution to four components after the
Varimax Rotated Component Matrix 136
4.11 Item deleted from understanding construct 137
4.12 Item deleted from realisation construct 137
4.13 Item deleted from inner action construct 138
4.14 Item deleted from outer action construct 138
4.15 Understanding Variables that can be used to determine wisdom 139
4.16 Realisation Variables that can be used to determine wisdom 140
4.17 Inner Action Variables that can be used to determine wisdom 140
4.18 Outer Action Variables that can be used to determine wisdom 140
4.19 Standard Loadings and Error Variances for Understanding construct 144
4.20 Standard Loadings and Error Variances for realisation construct 145
xiv
4.21 Items deleted from understanding construct 146
4.22 Items deleted from realisation construct 147
4.23 Standard Loadings and Error Variances for Outer Action construct 148
4.24 Standard Loadings and Error Variances for Inner Action construct 149
4.25 Items deleted from Outer Action construct 150
4.26 Items deleted from Inner Action construct 150
4.27 Factor Loadings and calculation of Average Variance Extracted for
Understanding Construct 151
4.28 Factor Loadings and Average Variance Extracted for Realization
Construct 152
4.29 Factor Loadings and Average Variance Extracted for Outer Action
Construct 152
4.30 Factor Loadings and Average Variance Extracted for Inner Action
Construct 153
4.31 Average Variance Extracted for Understanding, Realization
Constructs and their Correlation of Estimates 154
4.32 Average Variance Extracted for Inner and Outer Action Constructs
and their Correlation of Estimates 155
4.33 Items deleted from Inner Action construct 157
4.34 Maximum Likelihood Parameter Estimates of Standardized Factor
Loadings, Standard Errors, Squared Multiple Correlations, Critical
Ratios, Measurement Error of Variances, Direct, and Indirect Effects
for the Revised Wisdom Measurement Model 159
4.35 Invariance Analysis across Gender 164
4.36 Invariance Analysis across the Samples’ Age 166
xv
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure No. Page No.
2.1 A Hypothesized WISI Model 22
2.2 The data connectivity, understanding, information and knowledge, to
wisdom as the peak of all in terms of ICT 25
4.1 Factors represented in the research model 139
4.2 Wisdom third order measurement model 142
4.3 The validation of the measurement model for understanding
construct 143
4.4 Validation of the measurement model for realisation ‚idraak‛ 145
4.5 Depicts the fit validity of outer action ‚al-‘amaluz Zaahir‛ 147
4.6 Measurement model for inner action 148
4.7 The Third-Order-Hypothesized Wisdom Measurement 156
4.8 The Revised Wisdom Measurement Model 158
4.9 The third-order revised wisdom model for gender invariance. 163
4.10 Invariance analysis for the age of respondents 165
xvi
TABLE OF TRANSLITERATION
ARABIC LETTERS TRANSLITERATION
´ ء
B ب
T ت
Th ت
J ج
Í ح
Kh خ
D د
Dh ذ
R ر
Z ز
S س
Sh ش
Î ص
Ì ض
Ï ط
Ð ظ
Ñ ع
Gh غ
F ف
Q ق
K ك
L ل
M م
N ن
W و
H ه
Y ي
1
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
This chapter discusses the background of the study, the importance of wisdom, its
definition, its linkage with psychology and other fields of education. The chapter also
highlights the statement of problem, the purpose behind this study, research questions,
hypotheses, significance of the study. At the end of the chapter, the limitation of this
study was highlighted followed by the delimitation of study.
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Wisdom has become an increasingly popular concept in various fields of study
(Baltes, Glück & Kunzmann, 2002) including education. Wisdom is a term that its
meaning has transformed across different histories. It has been defined differently and
its various definitions advocate for its importance in all walks of life. It is considered
as an ideal highest knowledge and virtuous behavior (Baltes, 2004), the height of
personal growth, self-actualization, and having good life (Quinn, 2011; Scheibe,
Kunzmann & Baltes, 2009).
From the perspective of positive psychology, wisdom is described as a
rediscovered psychological construct that investigates the optimal human performance
(Baltes, Glück, & Kunzmann, 2002; Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000) represented
in an ancient concept which contributes to human development and societal buoyancy.
In modern medicine, wisdom is recognized as a self-healing remedy that
explains the unexplained processes in physiology called ‚Wisdom of the Body‛
(WOB) (Zajicek, 2002). Additionally, wisdom has been recognized by the early
2
philosophers as knowledge that must be pursued, which by the passing of history and
the dominance of English Western language is known as phronesis or Sophia.
Wisdom is defined in numerous studies as the multidimensional construct of
cognition, self-reflection associated with compassion, self-transcendence (Ardelt &
Oh, 2010; Takahashi & Overton, 2005), the power of judging rightly and following
the sound judgment with course of action, based on knowledge, experience, and
understanding (Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 2013).
In the past scriptures, majority of Christians refer wisdom to consciousness
(Griffiths, 2011) while Jews define it as an exhortations to live a righteous life and
fear of God (The great books foundation, 2000). Due to the different theoretical and
methodological approaches in the precise definition of wisdom, most psychologists
conceptualize it into three dimensions namely; a wise process, wise product, and a
wise person (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).
Interestingly, the leading wisdom researchers are from the field of
gerontology, an idea stemming from Erikson’s conceptualization of wisdom as the
eighth and final stage of human development (Arlene, 2002). The intellectual
contribution of Erikson to wisdom as a wholesome body of knowledge is
commendable; however, in order to revivify this concept, it is suggested that, wisdom
can and should be more than an intellectual theoretical activity (Matthew, 2010).
Generally speaking, wisdom known as )hikmah) in Islam has gone through
many interpretations and various indications. It has several synonyms including and
not limited to logical reasoning, intellect, acumen, clear thinking and understanding.
The Qur'ān and the Sunnah have put a great amount of emphasis on wisdom
application in all matters as a result of its importance. Khan (2006) contends that
wisdom entails acquiring thorough understanding of people, events or situations
3
which, in turn, creates the ability to choose or act for producing consistent results
represented by characteristics such as, sagacity, discernment or insights. Crow (1996)
argues that, hikmah is a prudent conduct of life affairs involving thinking (tadbīr)
foresight.
According to Ibn Qayyim in his book the travelers’ stage (Madārij as-Sālikīn,
1997) wisdom is of two major categories namely; knowledge and action. This
knowledge refers to the knowledge of unseen things (ghaybi) and the causal relations
of everything that Allah creates. By this he meant that knowledge which is the true
absolute knowledge. This knowledge is divided into two parts namely; understanding
and realization. Understanding is to comprehend the meaning of the Qur'ān and the
Sunnah. Realization is to experience and live with the meaning of the Qur'ān and the
Sunnah.
The action part of wisdom is the act of putting things in the right order. It also
divided into two parts namely; inner and outer action. The inner action is covert deed
described in the Qur'ān and the Sunnah and the outer action is overt deed described in
the Qur'ān and the Sunnah.
The view of Ibn Qayyim on wisdom is strongly influenced by his teacher
known as Al-Harawi who lived during the period the Greek philosophy was mixed up
with the Islamic philosophy in Syria where Ibn al-Qayyim was born and brought up
(Livingston, 1992; Fakhry, 1998).
Interestingly, the Muslim philosophers from Andalus used wisdom
interchangeably with Ma‘rifa. Most of them employed Ma'rifa with the term cognitive
knowledge ('ilm) and according to Ibn 'Arabi’s epistemology, wisdom is a realization
of the existential identification of the person who became cognizant of travelling
4
spiritually (sālik) towards the Divine power that pours out from the pure light which is
synonymous with wisdom of Allah (al-Hikmah al-Laduniyyah) (Rešid, 2000).
In addition to the abovementioned assertions, hikmah is also referred to the
Sunnah according to Al-Hasan Al-Basri (At-Tabari, 2005). This fact is also asserted
by Imam Shāfi‘who noted that wisdom in Islamic heritage is used to describe the
Qur'ān and the Sunnah according to what he heard from those whose knowledge of
the Qur'ān is deemed satisfactory (Kitab ar-Risālah, 2010). Yet, it is asserted that
education, which is perceived as a panacea to different human dilemmas that
guarantees individual and social well-being could be achieved through wisdom as a
continuing voyage of discovery (Brennen, 1999).
The Islamic golden age (asr dhabi) a period in which the most achievements
and the development of modern Islamic sciences were developed was the age when
wisdom was accorded due cognizance. This age commences with al-Kindi in the 9th
century of Islamic renaissance (nahḍah islamiyah) and elapses with Averroes (Ibn
Rushd) in 12th
century. It is worthy to note that, the deep sleep and the distinction
made by some Muslims in segregating the study of Islamic religion from Islamic
philosophy (hikmah) marked the conscious awareness of the secular thought. For
regaining the lost glory, the Islamic institutions of higher learning must give a concern
to the study of hikmah, because most of the learning institutions today concentrate
solely on cognitive domain (Andrew, 2009).
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Without doubt, hikmah (wisdom) is an important concept in education. However,
studies that examine its psychometric properties in educational psychology are few.
Fauzan (2003) argued that, the practical evaluation of wisdom as a construct in
5
educational research is rare. Ali (2005) was of the opinion that the rarity for the
wisdom is that the Muslim researchers have not duly researched this particular
construct.
Sternberg and Jordan (2005) found that wisdom has been ignored in
mainstream scientific inquiry for decades. Bangen, Meeks and Jeste (2013), and
Roháriková, Špajdel, Cviková, and Jagla (2013) suggested that more studies are still
needed to be done in order to really determine the psychometric properties of wisdom
using conventional scientific methods.
Holden and Edwards (1989) opined that few studies which develop
idiosyncratic measures for wisdom did not validate it. According to Lloyd (2005)
wisdom is virtually ignored. In certain literature, Ardelt (2008) argued that wisdom is
not related to age and not different across gender. These phenomena call for thorough
studies to be conducted in measuring wisdom, particularly from the Islamic
perspective.
Little is known about the development of wisdom in specific situations
(Pasupathi, Staudinger & Baltes, 2001). However, a global use of wisdom suggested a
deeper integration of wise-practices into an individual’s life. This is often viewed as a
higher level of wisdom rather than individuals who are situation-limited in their use of
wisdom (Quin, 2011). However, more work on the use of wisdom is needed to
practically understand how the wisdom could develop into the governing canopy of
mandated standards and accountability (Bauml, 2010). Stop
Wisdom has gained popularity over the past two decades, however, a generally
agreed definition of it does not yet exist (Dittmann-Kohli & Baltes, 1990; Kramer,
2000). There is a consensus among the scholars that wisdom is a multifaceted and
multidimensional concept (Baltes & Staudinger, 2000; Taranto, 1989; Webster, 2003),
6
and that its multifaceted nature tends to evoke different connotations depending on the
philosophical and theoretical orientation among the wisdom researchers (Ardelt,
2003).
As such, wisdom had been defined differently. It has been said to be a form of
advanced cognitive functioning (Dittmann-Kohli & Baltes, 1990), expertise in the
conduct and meaning of life (Baltes & Staudinger, 2000), the art of questioning (Arlin,
1990), the awareness of ignorance (Meacham, 1990), the transformation of
intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal experiences in the domains of
personality, cognition, and conation (Achenbaum & Orwoll, 1991). Virtually, all these
dimensions of wisdom only contain cognitive and reflective elements. Whereas the
affective part of wisdom is often neglected (Ardelt, 2003) and many other
determinants of wisdom have not been examined, predominantly, from either the
Qur'ān or the Sunnah or from the theories of the Muslim scholars.
Despite the wealth of research concerning hikmah, there is a lack of studies
about its psychometric properties. Some of the wisdom’s indicators namely,
forgiveness, psychological well-being (Taylor, Bates & Webster, 2011), self
actualization, cognition, affection, and reflection (Mahmoud, Mohamed & Muwafaq,
2010) are conducted on western population without reference to the Muslim
population. The psychologists have largely ignored wisdom in favor of such items as
intelligence (Stephen, 1983). A few efforts made to improve wisdom performance are
done by western researchers (Andrew, 2009). However, the researcher of the present
study found through the review of existing literature that past research from the
Muslim psychologists have not yet captured the measures of wisdom.
Furthermore, the works of non-Muslim psychologists also to the best of the
researcher’s knowledge have not yielded holistic indicators for wisdom. Put
7
differently, the studies conducted on wisdom as an important tool for human
development have not been validated based on examining the number of factors that
account for its construct. In order to buttress this claim, study shows that philosophers
who researched on wisdom have been ignored and little information were found on
wisdom (Small, 2004). Hikmah which has a wide spectrum of connotation containing
all knowledge within human reach receiving a range of diverse scholarly treatments is
said to not have adequately been addressed in western scholarship and its potential
contribution has not also been explored by the Muslim scholars (Yaman, 2008).
In order to support the argument, Stephen (2008) noted that, research had
remained virtually lacking to scientifically develop and validate wisdom measures for
educators to have ability to see beneath the surface of learning and teaching and have
course of action. This is because, it may be necessary not only to teach students to
recall facts and think critically, but to think wisely as well (Sternberg, 2009; Halpern,
1998).
Modern educational psychology research complacent attitude towards
measuring the multi-dimensionality of wisdom has rendered it difficult for modern
psychometricians to capture it empirically (Bangen, Meeks & Jeste, 2013). This may
be perhaps due attention has not been given to the role played by the wisdom in
education which has further complicated its measurement to explore the interactive
and dynamic process of measuring it appropriately as a significant latent construct
(Ardelt, 2004).
Muslims researchers who see education from the philosophical lens have not
been sufficiently assisted to provide the direction towards the study of wisdom
empirically so as to proffer feasible solutions to many problems facing education in
the Muslim world. Webster (2013) asserts that, the devastating situations in our social
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systems today are an excellent instance which calls for wisdom. Categories of wisdom
into knowledge and action with their sub-scales as in the theory of Ibn Qayyim have
not been explored and conceptualized. Neither has there been any effort to construct
an instrument for it. Thus, this study attempts to develop an instrument from an
Islamic perspective based on Ibn Qayyim’s classification of wisdom and validates its
psychometric properties.
1.3 PURPOSE OF STUDY
The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument for measuring wisdom from
an Islamic perspective called Wisdom Scale Inventory (WISI) based on Ibn Qayyim
al-Jawziyyah’s classification of wisdom. It employed the principal component
analysis (PCA) in examining the number of factors that account for its corroboration
and the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to construct-validate the psychometric
properties of the self developed instrument in order to empirically test for a specified
set of factors influencing that construct in a predicted way (Neill, 2011; DeCoster,
1998).
It is suggested that the first purpose is worthwhile because wisdom is given
due attention in the Qur'ān and the Sunnah of which much has not been done to
examine it among the Muslim scholars. Additionally, the second purpose which is to
validate the developed WISI psychometrically is also important because many studies
on wisdom have not conceptualized it Islamically from the perspective of the Qur'ān
and the Sunnah. So conducting an empirically tested study of the current study from
the Islamic perspective is strongly needed. In order to fulfill these purposes, the
researcher has formulated the following research questions as well as research
hypotheses.