AN ANALYSIS OF TAQWA IN THE HOLY QURAN: SURAH AL- BAQARAH

Within the context of the Islamic religion, having Taqwa or the traits of righteousness is imperative because Taqwa reflects the level of a Muslim’s faith. Hence, the purpose of the present study was to identify the traits of Takwa in surah Al-Baqara in the Holy Quran. The data for this study were obtained from verses in surah Al-Baqara. Purposive sampling was used to select the verses that contain the traits of Taqwa using an established tafseer (Quranic interpretation) in the Qurainic field as a guideline in marking the Taqwa traits in sampling the verses. Two experts in the field of Quranic tafseer validated the traits of Taqwa extracted from each selected verse. The data were analyzed using manifest and latent content analyses. The findings reveal 10 categories of traits of Taqwa which are tawheed or monotheism, do good to others, performing solah, paying of zakat, honouring rights, repentance, doing good deeds, righteous communication, being grateful, being sincere, and recognition of the absoluteness of Allah’s sovereignty. Sequential emphasis-based analysis was used to tabulate the reiteration of each trait of Taqwa in order to find out the trait that is most frequently emphasized in the form of reiteration. Among the Taqwa category traits, the major emphasis is on tawheed or believing the oneness of Allah. The findings help in enhancing the understanding and the meta-framework of the traits of Taqwa, which is particularly useful for non-scholarly Muslims in strengthening their Islamic faith in accordance to what is commanded in the Holy Quran .