Identifying the Components of Critical Thinking with Reference to the Training in a Verse of the Holy Surah Al-Baqarah

Critical thinking is recognized as a basic skill in wise training of human beings in Islamic community. The Holy Quran, as a source of appreciating thinking for all human beings, contains the components of critical thinking. This research is aimed at identifying the components of critical thinking with reference to the training in a verse of the holy Surah of Al-Baqarah. This is a descriptive-analytical research. It is descriptive because the aim of the researcher is to describe the issue objectively, realistically and systematically. It is analytical in that it is intended to explain the nature of the critical thinking as a result of studying a special verse in Surah Al-Baqarah. Hence, the relevant verses were purposively selected from the Holy Quran. Then, using inductive-deductive content analysis in an open coding method, the collected data were analyzed through qualitative analysis. The findings of the research indicated that critical thinking is a special topic in the Islamic education and the Holy Qur'an contains its components. Finally, special examples were extracted from Surah Al-Baqarah for each of the identified components. The results of the study resulted in the identifications of the components of critical thinking including storytelling, questioning, judging with specific criteria, allegory, reasoning, critical analysis, avoiding personal bias and intentions, justice and truth-seeking.