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

Chapter 1

Discourse on Motivation
and Children

Medieval Muslim Writings on Motivation

Medieval Muslim scholars paid considerable attention to the role of motivation as a primary means of directing human beings to that which is good. They recognised motivation as a fundamental aspect of the human psyche and how it drives behaviour, both good and bad. This is demonstrated by a whole class of motivational literature, otherwise known as the writings of targhb (inducing desire) and tarhb (inducing fear). However, targhb and tarhb literature were generally aimed at adults, encouraging them to do righteous deeds by citing their merits and associated rewards and exhorting them to abstain from sin and vice by mentioning their evils and punishment in this life and in the Hereafter. Nevertheless, they provide useful insight into how medieval Muslim scholars wrote about motivation.