Background/purpose. Islamic Religious Education (IRE) in higher education serves as a foundation for shaping students' spiritual insight, moral reasoning, and critical reflection. However, conventional instructional approaches often lack contextual relevance and fail to engage learners deeply. This study explores the transformative potential of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) as a pedagogical innovation to enhance students' comprehension and application of Islamic religious concepts. Materials/methods. A Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods design was employed, involving 143 undergraduate students from a public Islamic university in Indonesia. The study began with a pre- and post-test to assess changes in students' comprehension of core IRE concepts, followed by semi-structured interviews to explore student perceptions. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired t-tests, while qualitative data underwent thematic analysis. Results. Quantitative findings revealed a statistically significant improvement in post-test scores, indicating PBL's effectiveness in enhancing conceptual understanding. Qualitative insights identified four major themes: increased conceptual clarity, improved critical thinking, enhanced classroom engagement, and challenges related to time constraints and facilitator support. These results underscore PBL's capacity to foster reflective and meaningful religious learning experiences. Conclusion. Problem-Based Learning significantly enhances students' comprehension and engagement in Islamic Religious Education by fostering critical thinking, contextual understanding, and reflective learning. While previous studies have explored PBL in religious contexts, this research deepens the evidence by integrating quantitative improvements with rich qualitative insights from higher education learners. It highlights the pedagogical potential of PBL in bridging doctrinal understanding with real-life application. The study recommends curriculum-level integration, educator training, and time-structured implementation to optimize its use in Islamic educational settings. © The Author(s), 2025.
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