A Study of At-Takhalli and At-Tahalli Practices among University Students

of Abstract Al-takhalli and at-tahalli are among the most important practices in Sufism to develop Muslim spiritual and attitude. Al-takhalli means to fight or remove from the character and spiritual the abominable things, while al-tahalli means to adorn the Muslim character and spiritual with good things. Studies show that al-takhalli and at-tahalli practices can form a good religious personality and avoid immoral behavior, while weakness is seen as one of the causes of various social problems among Muslim. In universities, statistics of social problems show that a few of Muslim students involved in the problems and have low levels of religious personality. Thus, the main objective of this study is to examine the level of al-takhalli and and at-tahalli practices among university students. A survey was conducted at Universiti Teknologi MARA Perlis Branch. A total of 112 students were selected at simple random as respondents. Data were collected through survey techniques using 6 likert scale instruments that had gone through validity and reliability procedures. Descriptive analysis using SPSS 26.0 software was conducted to see the mean and percentage of findings. Overall, the findings of the study indicate that university students perform the at-takhalli and at-tahalli practices in their lives. However, the findings show that the practice of al-tahalli (mean=4.78) is given less attention than the practice of at-takhalli (mean=5.16). It needs to be improved in order to ensure the Muslim not only abandons munkar or bad things but continues to do good deeds and in turn can produce excellent ummah.


Introduction
The formation of morals and religious appreciation among students, especially in university must be given attention by all parties. This is because they are the educated who will contribute to the development of human capital and subsequently take over the reins of the country's leadership. Thus, issues related to moral defects and social problems involving students in university are often discussed. Although the percentage of involvement is relatively small when compared to the total number of students, it remains a concern and needs to be addressed appropriately (Abu et al., 2008). Many studies have been conducted related to the appreciation of religion and the formation of students' morals from school to university (Jusoh et al., 2018;Bakar & Majid, 2016;Tan & Abiddin, 2016;Noor et al., 2016). Several studies have suggested that studies related to the elements and factors that motivate and assist in improving the appreciation of religious life be implemented to help the university plan and improve student development programs (Marzuki et al., 2019;Ismail et al., 2019;Tan & Abiddin, 2016;Noor et al., 2016).
However, there is still a lack of research on the practice of the concept of at-takhalli and attahalli among university students. Thus, this study will focus on the practice of at-takhalli and at-tahalli among university students. Both of these practices are very important to be practiced to form good spirituality and morality among university students. Every shortcoming needs to be improved, so that the process of forming students as holistic human capital is successfully achieved.

Literature Review
According to Al-Ghazali (1988), al-takhalli and at-tahalli are the most important practices in the process of tazkiyat al-nafs (purification of the soul). At-takhalli is the process of cleansing the heart from evil deeds such as pride, envy, nifaq, ghurur etc. On the other hand, the process of at-tahalli includes admirable moral qualities such as taubah, zuhd, patience, shukr etc. Studies show that the implementation of at-takhalli and at-tahalli can produce a direct and positive effect on the soul and Muslim attitude (Salleh, 2014). Therefore, all believers should practice this principle in order to free themselves from the shackles of lust and in turn their soul will be the catalyst for admirable values as required by Islam.
Al-takhalli and al-tahalli practices complement each other in the development of Muslim personalities (Sham et al., 2013). Therefore, studies show that these two practices have been used in building Muslim character (Supriyadi & Jannah, 2020;Wan Yusnee Abdullah et al., 2017) and produce individuals who are balanced physically and spiritually (Mahpol et al., 2020). A study by Sugianto (2018) show that the implementation of at-tahalli and at-takhalli concepts can be used as a solution to stress and depression problem. The study found that the concept of at-takhalli, at-tahalli and at-tajalli can serve as a cure for human psychology by building physical, spiritual and mental strength during mental and stress situations. Wahidah (2018), have highlighted the concepts of at-takhalli and at-tahalli in enhancing resilience among the Muslim community in her study. These concepts can build spiritual and emotional strength in the face of various difficulties in life.
All studies show that the practice of at-takhalli and at-tahalli can increase the level of religious personality of the Muslim community. Thus, in facing various social problems involving the Muslim community, this approach should be implemented. The Muslim community needs to be given awareness to practice these two practices and improve what is lacking. In order to solve problems among university students, the implementation of these two practices needs to be implemented in balance and complementary. As a result, it will produce good Muslim students and well-balanced human capital for the nation.

Research Methodology
A survey was conducted at Universiti Teknologi MARA Perlis Branch. A total of 112 students were selected at simple random as respondents. Data were collected through survey techniques using 6 likert scale instruments that had gone through validity and reliability procedures. Descriptive analysis using SPSS 26.0 software was conducted to see the mean of findings.

1)
A-Takhalli Practices Among University Students The construct of at-takhalli practices is divided into 4 dimensions, i) Physical purification from feces and hadas, ii) Physical purification from sinful acts, iii) Spiritual purification from personal sin, and iv) Spiritual purification from sin involves others. The findings for these 4 dimensions are shown in table 1 to table 4 below: Trying hard to avoid hate others 5.14 3 Trying hard to avoid bad suspicion 5.03 4 Trying hard to avoid irritable 4.98 5 Trying hard to avoid slandering others 5.16 6 Trying hard to avoid betrayal others 5.30 7 Trying hard to avoid gossip 5.09 Average Mean 5.13 The findings in table 1 to table 4 show that university students practice the at-takhalli elements very well (mean = 5.13). They strive to avoid sins that can lead to inner defilement and the wrath of Allah SWT. The high mean on all tables indicates that the students not only shun sinful and evil deeds from the physical aspect but also in the spiritual aspect. The lowest mean is in table 2 (mean = 4.98) which is the element of physical purification from practices that lead to sin, while the highest overall mean is table 1 (mean = 5.56) which is the physical purification from feces and hadas. This shows that students are more concerned with the purification of physical impurities visible to the eye than physical impurities due to invisible sins. The lower mean in table 2 (mean = 4.98) compared to table 3 (mean = 5.17) and table 4 (mean = 5.13) also showed that students had more difficulty abandoning physical sins than sins because of spirituality aspects. This element of al-takhalli has a great impact on the formation of students' religious personalities. The imbalance in the aspects of physical and spiritual purification needs to be improved in order to produce better Muslim individuals.

2)
At-Tahalli Practices Among University Students The construct of at-tahalli practices is divided into 2 dimensions, i) Performing daily worship and ii) Practicing noble morals. The findings for these 2 dimensions are shown in table 5 and table 6 below: The findings in table 5 and table 6 show that the practice of at-tahalli is also very well. Even so, there are some practices in table 5 that are given less attention in an effort to equip oneself with the aspects of at-tahalli. The practices are performing sunnah prayers (mean = 3.79), performing sunnah fasts (mean = 3.68) and performing qiyamullail (mean = 3.33). These three practices are routine worship for the pious ulama' in Islam. Many verses of the Qur'an and the Hadith of the Prophet SAW emphasize the importance of these three practices. Therefore, every Muslim, including students, needs to make improvements by making this practice a habit in the effort of self-purification or tazkiyyah al-nafs. Table 6 shows the very excellent noble moral practices among students. This shows that university students care about good moral practices. The highest mean morality is to love Allah SWT (mean = 5.36) and the lowest is to fear the punishment of Allah SWT (mean = 4.37). These findings indicate that there is still much aspects for improvement in practicing at-takhalli and at-tahalli among students. Both of these practices need to be improved in order to form good and pious students in university and then contribute to the well development of the country.

3)
Average mean scores for at-takhalli and at-tahalli practices among university students The overall mean for the practices of at-tahalli and at-takhalli as in table 7 below:  Table 7 shows that the mean value of at-takhalli practice is higher (mean = 5.16) when compared to the mean value of at-tahalli (mean = 4.78). This shows that students pay more attention to the practice of at-takhalli which is they avoid vile things from themselves compared to at-tahalli which is they adorning themselves with noble things. Even so, both are still in the range of high mean values, indicating that both are becoming practical among students and only a small number need improvement.

Conclusion
Allah SWT says: "Whoever does good (as big as a dzarrah seed), he will see it. And whoever does evil (as big as a dzarrah seed), he will see it anyway" (Az-Zalzalah: 7-8). This verse show that the priority in leaving munkar and vile and also practicing makruf and admirable in Muslim life. Every kindness or evil done even as big as the dzarrah seeds (mustard) will be rewarded by Allah SWT. Therefore, rather than just prevent wickedness (al-takhalli), every Muslim is also obliged to do good practice (at-tahalli). The practice that prioritizes al-takhalli and at-tahalli has shown good impacts in producing Muslims with good religious personalities. In universities, the social problems that are happening demand more universities to take immediate action to curb from getting worse. Therefore, it is highly hopped the outcome of this research will help the university to overcome the problems among university students. The findings of this study can be used as a guide for the university in looking for the priority of spirituality elements and planning the best student development activities especially in developing moral and spiritual aspect and strengthening religious personalities of the students. Good spiritual development will produce good moral students. This also can be a guide to a further field of study to see how these two concepts affect the construction of religious personalities significantly among university students.