PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

The discussion on the literacy of Taqwa had been carried out for many centuries among Islamic scholars. However, empirical studies examining the concept of Taqwa as a construct at the fundamental level are rather scarce or almost non-existent. Hence, the purpose of the present study is to empirically analyze the traits of Taqwa within the context of the language of the Quran in surah Ali-'Imran, the third surah in the Holy Quran. The data for this study were obtained from surah Ali-'Imran using purposive sampling. A validity procedure was conducted for the extracted verses, which were inferred to reflect the traits of Taqwa in the selected Surah. The data were analyzed using manifest and latent content analyses. The findings reveal 21 categories of traits of Taqwa presented in Surah Ali-'Imran, which are Tawheed, Patience, Tawbah, Consciousness of Allah, Gratefulness, Calling to Allah's Path (Da'awah), Obedience, Reliance on Allah, Steadfast/Istiqomah, Performing Solah, Do Good to Others, Zakat/Charity/Alms and Humbleness, Controlling/Suppressing Anger, Forgiving, Honesty, Keeping Promise, Praising Allah/Tasbeeh, Fear of Allah's Punishment and Travel to Learn. The major emphases are on believing in the Oneness of Allah/Tawheed and Doing Good Deeds. The findings help in building a model of traits of Taqwa as a general guideline for Muslims to better understand the meta-framework of traits of Taqwa of which model is useful in the teaching of the literacy of Taqwa in the educational realm.