Islamic Religious Education Learning Approaches for Strengthening Students' Empathy and Social Action

Abstract

Literature on implementing PBL, PjBL, and service-learning approaches in Islamic Religious Education to strengthen empathy and social action remains very limited. This study aims to analyze and synthesize the effectiveness of PBL, PjBL, and service-learning in Islamic Religious Education to sustainably strengthen students' empathy and social action. This study uses a qualitative approach through a PRISMA-based Systematic Literature Review (SLR), drawing on secondary data from Scopus (2019–2026). Results: The PBL model transforms passive religious learning into active cognitive engagement, trains critical legal reasoning (ijtihad), and collaboratively addresses global sustainable development issues. The PjBL model effectively provides an applicable, engaging approach to foster tolerance in multi-ethnic and multi-religious classrooms, ecological awareness, inclusivity, and social harmony within the school environment. Meanwhile, the service-learning approach successfully strengthens the affective dimension, ethical commitment, local cultural wisdom, pesantren character building, and students' real-world praxis through direct community service. Conclusion: These three learning models effectively transform Islamic Religious Education into a medium for strengthening students' deep empathy and tangible social action. This study enriches the literature on Islamic education and serves as a practical guide for developing action-oriented Islamic Religious Education curricula.