Elementary Education and Motivation in Islam: Perspectives of Med ...

arouse desire’.¹⁶ According to al-‘Akk, medieval scholars of Arabic stated that targhb is ‘desiring something and coveting it, and connotes inciting desire [tashwq] and motivating [hathth] someone to do something’.¹⁷ The opposite of targhb is tarhb, the verbal noun of rahhaba, meaning ‘to intimidate’.¹⁸

Motivation, as it was understood by medieval Muslim scholars, may be addressed by looking at its related terms and concepts in Arabo-Islamic terminology. These include irda, mash’a, murd, malab, ikhtiyr, raghba (also ir and ibtigh’),¹⁹ niyya, ghya, qad, nuz‘, mayl (also haw),²⁰ and maabba. Likewise, the state of motivation also connotes determination and resolve (‘azm), as well as ishtiyq or shawq (desire and longing) and himma.²¹ The English equivalents of these terms are all listed in the ensuing discussion.

Of all these terms, irda (or ‘want’) deserves special attention. In medieval Muslim scholarship, irda was used to entail an all-encompassing notion of want, which connotes the state of being motivated in its most comprehensive sense.

Want

To demonstrate the range of medieval Muslim opinions on ‘want’, I have divided the following definitions into four categories: (1) linguistic and psychological, (2) ‘ilmu-l-sulk (knowledge of spiritual wayfaring), (3) theological, and (4) philosophical. I have also included a brief discussion on himma (desire) and niyya (intention), both of which feature prominently in the medieval Muslim discourse on motivation.

Linguistic and Psychological Definitions

In Arabic, a linguistic equivalent of ‘want’ is irda. It is said that irda is the verbal noun of arda—yurdu.²² Its active participle (ism f‘il) is murd, whereas its passive participle (ism maf‘l) is murd. The expression arda-l-shay’ means ‘to will, want, desire or wish for something [sh’ahu]’.²³ The verbal noun of sh’a—yash’u is mash’a, meaning ‘will, want, wish, desire’.²⁴ Therefore, as mentioned by al-Jawhar (d. 393/1003) and others, ‘al-irda is al-mash’a’.²⁵ Tha‘lab (d. 291/904)