A Muhasabah-Based Self-Reward Model for Students' Self-Regulation and Moral Education: Al-Ghazali's Sufi Perspective

The phenomenon of self-reward in contemporary life cannot be separated from two mutually reinforcing forces: global consumer culture and the social media ecosystem, and it is felt most acutely among students, whose self-regulation and moral character are still forming. What was originally a psychological reinforcement mechanism rooted in behavioral theory has undergone a fundamental functional shift from internal reinforcement to external performance, from self-recovery to consumption justification — a shift with direct implications for how students learn to regulate their conduct and internalize moral values. This study raises three central questions: first, how is self-reward distortion systematically formed within the digital consumerism ecosystem, and what does it imply for students' self-regulation? Second, how does Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali's Sufi critique through mujāhadah al-nafs, zuhud, and qanāʼah respond to that distortion? Third, what kind of conceptual reconstruction can be formulated through the encounter of these two horizons within Gadamer's hermeneutical framework? This research employs a qualitative-library approach using Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics, explicitly operationalized through three stages: pre-understanding, hermeneutic circle, and fusion of horizons. Primary sources include Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali's three major works: Iḥyāʼ ʼUlūm al-Dīn, Mīzān al-ʼAmal, and Kimīyā al-Saʼādah. The findings reveal that self-reward distortion is not merely an individual psychological weakness, but a systemic consequence of the absence of a transcendental dimension and ethics of proportionality in the modern psychological framework, which intentionally operates within a secular domain. Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali's thought does not present itself as a rejection of modern psychology but as a corrective supplement to these absences, offering a normative framework for moral education. The resulting reconstruction model is muḥāsabah-based self-reward: a proportional, spiritually-oriented act of self-appreciation integrated within the consciousness of murāqabah, positioned as a practical model for strengthening students' self-regulation and moral education.