Exploring the Characteristics of the Ideal Citizen in Qur’anic Narratives and Their Representation in Children’s Literature

Abstract

Objective: This study explored the characteristics of the “ideal citizen” in Qur’anic narratives and examined how these characteristics are represented in children’s literature. It was conducted in two complementary stages. First, an inductive approach combining conceptual analysis and interpretation was used to identify and formulate components of the ideal citizen from Qur’anic verses and narratives with social implications. Second, the resulting categories served as an a priori framework for a deductive content analysis of the verbal and visual content of children’s storybooks intended for age groups B and C.

Findings: The characteristics derived from Qur’anic narratives were organized into 14 main categories and 39 subcategories. Analysis of the children’s books identified 353 instances corresponding to the citizenship categories. Empathy-oriented dispositions were most frequent (approximately 21%), whereas public monitoring and oversight were least frequent (approximately 1.4%). Of all instances, 312 (approximately 88.4%) occurred in the text and 41 (approximately 11.6%) in the images.

Conclusion: Across the learning domains, 68% of the representations concerned skills, 24% attitudes, and 8% knowledge. The books therefore emphasized citizenship behaviors and skills more than conceptual knowledge. A more balanced approach to citizenship education requires stronger representation of knowledge-related components, public oversight, and justice-oriented conduct in both the verbal and visual dimensions of children’s literature.