Exploring students’ coping strategies for academic stress through the lens of Islamic principles

University students often experience different levels of stress while completing academic tasks, which may lead to significant stress, especially when dealing with examinations. Numerous studies have highlighted the critical role that religion can play in managing and coping with such stress. This study identifies the symptoms of academic stress that the undergraduate students are facing during examinations and investigates the coping mechanisms utilised by them to manage academic stress through an Islamic perspective and the impacts of these Islamic coping strategies.This study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining surveys with fifty three undergraduates from a local university in Sarawak and in-depth interviews with fifteen selected students. It investigates how Islamic coping strategies are experienced and examines their cognitive, emotional, and behavioral effects. Findings reveal that the students predominantly engage in three forms of Islamic religious coping: worship in the heart (internal spiritual reflection), verbal worship (such as prayer and zikr), and worship by action (observable religious practices). These coping behaviors significantly contribute to mitigating stress by fostering cognitive resilience, emotional calmness, and constructive behavioral responses. The study underscores that awareness of both internal and external stressors alongside religious coping facilitates effective stress management, which in turn improves academic performance. Furthermore, the findings highlight the potential impacts of employing Islamic coping strategies, as suggested by the respondents. Understanding these impacts can help students choose appropriate coping mechanisms to manage academic stress more effectively. Besides, educational institutions and academics may utilise the findings to support students in managing academic stress more effectively and to design targeted programmes that address the identified stressors. This research enriches understanding of Islamic spirituality as a valuable resource for stress relief among students, offering practical insights for educational institutions to integrate spiritual support in student wellness programmes.