Worldly Success and Otherworldly Felicity in the Qur'anic Teleological System: A Conceptual Model Based on Divine Trial (Ibtilā')

Abstract
This research aims to design a conceptual model for explaining the relationship between worldly success and otherworldly felicity based on the Qur'anic teleological system. The main problem is the common conceptual confusion among believers who regard faith as a prerequisite for worldly success, while the Qur'an introduces faith as one of the fundamental conditions for attaining ultimate felicity and depicts worldly life as a constant arena of divine trial (ibtila'). This study employs a directed qualitative content analysis method, with the entire Qur'anic verses as the research population. Purposeful sampling was conducted based on relevant keywords, and coding was carried out in three stages. The findings reveal that the model consists of three main components: the world as the arena of trial, which is based on the principle of human effort and free will; the ultimate goal of otherworldly felicity, whose essential conditions are faith and righteous deeds; and human voluntary responses, which determine one's orientation in the arena of trial. By distinguishing worldly success from otherworldly felicity, the proposed model explains the relationship between the two through human voluntary responses in the arena of trial. While challenging two common attitudinal pitfalls, it offers practical applications in the fields of religious education, Islamic counseling and psychotherapy, and public religious discourse.