Lived Experiences of Students Attending Islamic Thought I and II Courses at the University of Tehran

Abstract

This study aimed to explore and interpret the lived experiences of University of Tehran students attending Islamic Thought I and II courses and to identify the underlying meanings and thematic structures shaping their perceptions of these compulsory general education classes. This qualitative study employed an interpretive phenomenological approach based on Van Manen’s methodology. Participants consisted of 18 undergraduate students (10 women and 8 men) from various faculties of the University of Tehran who had completed both Islamic Thought I and II courses. Purposeful sampling with maximum variation was used until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis following Van Manen’s six-stage framework with the assistance of MAXQDA 2020 software. Trustworthiness was ensured through credibility, transferability, confirmability, and dependability criteria proposed by Guba and Lincoln. Five major themes emerged from the analysis: “Perceived Compulsion and Mandatory Enrollment,” “The Gap Between Course Content and Students’ Lifeworld,” “The Instructor as a Mediator or Barrier,” “Strategies of Survival and Resistance in the Classroom,” and “Turning Points in Religious Identity Reflection.” Findings indicated that students largely perceived these courses as imposed experiences disconnected from their real-life concerns and existential questions. The instructor’s teaching style played a decisive role in shaping either constructive or negative classroom experiences. Students adopted various coping strategies, including mental disengagement, grade-oriented participation, collective humor, and critical questioning. Despite predominantly negative perceptions, some participants reported meaningful moments of religious reflection, questioning, and identity reconstruction. The lived experience of students in Islamic Thought courses was characterized more by compulsion, disconnection from students’ lifeworlds, and limited relevance to contemporary concerns than by genuine intellectual engagement. Nevertheless, the emergence of reflective and dialogical moments suggests significant untapped potential. Transforming these courses through dialogical pedagogy, problem-centered content, reduced coercion, and greater responsiveness to students’ lived realities may substantially enhance their educational and formative value.