DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS EDUCATION: DEVELOPING THE ULÛ AL-ʼILM MODEL THROUGH THE SMART RELIGIUS APPLICATION

Abstract

This study designs and develops the Smart Religius application based on the Ulû al-ʼIlm Model as a digital response to the persistent dichotomy between religious and general knowledge in Islamic Religious Education (PAI) and to the rising mental-health burden among Indonesian university students. Using a Research and Development (R&D) approach within the ADDIE framework, combined with a Sequential Explanatory Mixed-Methods design, the study involved 80 PAI students (one-group pretest-posttest, non-randomized, purposive sampling) and 12 key informants (lecturers, an educational-technology expert, and an Islamic-psychology expert) across eight weeks. Paired t-test results indicated statistically significant gains (p < .05) across all six learning-outcome domains of the Ulû al-ʼIlm Model: cognitive (37.50%), affective (40.00%), psychomotor (26.25%), ethical (37.50%), social (31.25%), and spiritual (68.75%, high N-Gain). Participatory observation of riyāḍah ʿamaliyah showed a mean increase from 50.75 to 83.50 (very good category). Expert validation confirmed the application's feasibility on content (91.00%) and media (89.58%) aspects. These findings suggest that the Smart Religius application functions as a holistic digital ecosystem integrating a Learning Management System, psychospiritual support features, and prophetic-character monitoring. Given the single-group design and single-institution sample, findings should be interpreted as preliminary evidence of feasibility rather than causal proof, pending controlled and longitudinal replication.