Transcending Mortality: Existential Dynamics and Spiritual Resilience among Late-Life Beginners through the Sufi Ethics of Al-Ghazali’s Ayyuhal Walad

Late-life learning is mostly described as cognitive and functional literacy and often overlooks the concerns that accompany aging and the anxious, restless spirit that may be present. This phenomenological research investigates the ‘late-life beginners’ of the Darusalam Mengaji community in Indonesia. In particular, it examines how these individuals psychologically address the social uncertainties of the aging process by internalizing the Sufi ethics of Al Ghazali’s Ayyuhal Walad. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), participants aged between 60 to 77 years were identified and interviewed in-depth. Findings indicated three transformative outcomes. First, participants experienced an awareness of the proximity of their own death, which was not a fear for them, but a motivational force for them to resist the social stigma that is generally associated with the aging process and golek sangu (spiritual preparation). Second, participants perceived the social construct of qana’ah (satisfaction) and tawakkul (trust) not as an imposition of social peace but as a transformation of the time left to them as equally a valuable and sacred opportunity for them. In conclusion, this research offers an innovative educational gerontology model based in Sufi ethics that provides a psychologically safe peer community within educational settings that encourages the integration of Sufi meaning-making for Ego Integrity and Gerotranscendence.