A Philosophical-Educational Analysis of Sincerity (Ikhlas) and its Boundaries within the Theistic Ethics System of Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi

The present study aims to conduct a philosophical-educational analysis of Ikhlās (pure intention) and its boundaries with the foundational concepts of monotheistic ethics (Niyyah, Riyā’, Taqwā, Tawhīd, and 'Ubudiyyah) within the intellectual system of 'Allāmah Mohammad-Taqi Misbāh Yazdi. By transcending psychological reductionism and mystical abstraction, this research elucidates the position of this concept as the central core of religious education. This study was structured within a qualitative content analysis paradigm, employing an inductive categorization system based on Philipp Mayring’s model. From the statistical population of 183 volumes of 'Allāmah Misbāh Yazdi’s works, 101 volumes were selected via purposive sampling until theoretical saturation was achieved, and the data were coded and analyzed using MAXQDA software. The inductive analysis of the data reveals that within this perfectionist geometry, Niyyah (intention) is the point of departure and the necessary condition for moral value, whereas Ikhlās is its monotheistic purification and perfection. Furthermore, Taqwā (piety) possesses a negative function to safeguard the educational path, but Ikhlās, with its positive nature, guides the educand toward the ultimate goal of Divine Love. Moreover, Riyā’ (ostentation) stands as the entropy of Niyyah in opposition to Ikhlās; while Ikhlās is the inner essence of Tawhīd (monotheism) and the life-giving spirit of the 'Ubudiyyah (servitude) structure. The results indicate that the ultimate mission of the Islamic philosophy of education is the transition from the “phenomenology of behavior” to the “ontology of motivation”; an approach that necessitates shifting the epicenter of educational systems from consequentialist and quantitative evaluations toward the “engineering of motivations” and the perfected cultivation of the moral goodness of the agent (Husn-e Fā’eli).