Integrating Islamic values into global education strategies: challenges and sustainable practices

Abstract

Existing scholarship extensively discusses the normative compatibility between Islamic ethical principles and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, limited attention has been given to the structural, pedagogical, and policy-related challenges involved in operationalizing these values within contemporary global education systems. This study addresses this gap by systematically examining how Islamic values are integrated into global education strategies, with a particular emphasis on curriculum reform, multicultural pedagogy, teacher preparedness, and institutional sustainability. Utilizing a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach adhering strictly to the PRISMA guidelines, this study expanded its bibliographic search scope across premier indexed databases including Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, and Google Scholar. Applying explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria, an initial pool of 1,420 records was systematically filtered down to a final analytical sample of 28 high-quality, peer-reviewed sources. The selected literature was analyzed using a formalized six-phase thematic analysis framework to identify recurring patterns, implementation barriers, and sustainable educational practices. The findings reveal that while Islamic educational ethics strongly resonate with global educational goals like social justice, inclusivity, moral responsibility, and environmental stewardship, implementation remains constrained by five major factors: tensions between secular and faith-based educational frameworks, inadequate teacher training in multicultural pedagogy, fragmented curriculum structures, institutional resource limitations, and societal resistance to pluralistic educational models. Successful integration is most effective when Islamic ethical principles are embedded across disciplines through interdisciplinary curricula, value-based pedagogy, continuous professional development, and collaborative cross-sector partnerships. The study contributes to current scholarship by shifting the discourse from abstract compatibility between Islam and the SDGs toward a more implementation-oriented analysis of educational transformation, culminating in the proposed Holistic Sustainable Islamic Education Integration (HSIEI) model. It concludes that sustainable integration requires adaptive curricula, inclusive policy frameworks, and pedagogical models capable of balancing religious identity with global citizenship in multicultural societies. Future research should prioritize longitudinal empirical research to quantitatively measure the impact of integrated value-based curricula on civic behavior and intercultural tolerance.