Muslim homeschooling parents carry the responsibility of tarbiyah, the holistic Islamic upbringing of their children, yet structured educational frameworks rooted in the Islamic concept of fitrah remain scarce. The Fitrah-Based Education Operational Framework (FBE-OF) organises a child’s upbringing around eight aspects of fitrah and four developmental stages, but how parents understand this framework in relation to their tarbiyah needs has not been examined. This study explored Muslim homeschooling parents’ understanding of the FBE-OF and its perceived relevance to their tarbiyah needs. A qualitative phenomenological design was adopted, in which five experienced Muslim homeschooling parents viewed a video introduction to the framework and participated in semi-structured interviews, with transcripts analysed thematically. Parents responded positively to the framework, recognising familiar Islamic concepts while identifying the eight-fold categorisation of fitrah and the age-staged structure of tarbiyah as novel learning. Their tarbiyah needs proved stage-specific, spanning developmental knowledge, socialisation, managing digital exposure, and child psychology, and the FBE-OF was perceived as relevant to these needs, although practical detail and resources were considered essential for genuine comprehension. The findings inform framework developers, Islamic educators, and homeschooling communities seeking fitrah-grounded educational guidance.
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