Digital Authority and Sacred Knowledge: The Reformation of Islamic Authenticity In Algorithmic Spaces
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20414/yk9tm013Keywords:
Islamic authority, algorithmic mediation, digital religiosity, Indonesia, netnography, platform studiesAbstract
This study examines how Indonesian Islamic influencers construct authority claims within algorithmically-mediated digital spaces, and how religious audiences navigate the relationship between digital authority and institutionally-rooted Islamic traditions. Employing netnographic methodology combined with algorithmic analysis and institutional interviews, we analyze five prominent Islamic content creators across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok platforms over an 18-month period. Our findings reveal that Islamic authority in digital environments emerges through dynamic negotiation among: (1) content creators' rhetorical authority strategies; (2) algorithmic visibility mechanisms; and (3) audience interpretive frameworks rooted in Indonesian institutional traditions. Rather than representing wholesale displacement of institutional Islamic authority, digital authority constitution involves sophisticated engagement with multiple legitimation mechanisms. The study offers practical insights for Islamic institutions navigating digital transformation and policy implications for platform designers and regulators.
References
Alatas, I. F. (2021). What is religious authority? Cultivating Islamic communities in Indonesia. Princeton University Press.
Andok, M. (2023). Religious filter bubbles in digital environments. Religions, 14(11), 1359. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14111359
Arifianto, A. R. (2020). Rising Islamism and the struggle for Islamic authority in post-Reformasi Indonesia. TRaNS: Trans-Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia, 8, 37–50. https://doi.org/10.1017/trn.2019.10
Astor, A., Khir-Allah, G., & Martinez-Cuadros, R. (2024). Anonymity and digital Islamic authority. Religions, 15(12), 1507. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15121507
Beta, A. R. (2019). Commerce, piety and politics: Indonesian young Muslim women’s groups as religious influencers. New Media & Society, 21(10), 2140–2159. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444819838774
Burhani, A. N. (2012). Al-Tawassut wa-l i’tidal: The NU and moderatism in Indonesian Islam. Asian Journal of Social Science, 40(5–6), 564–581. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685314-12341262
Campbell, H. A. (2013). Digital religion: Understanding religious practice in new media worlds. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203076910
Costello, L., McDermott, M., & Wallace, R. (2017). Netnography: Range of practices, misperceptions, and missed opportunities. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917700647
Fakhrullah, A., Bakti, A. F., Hermansah, T., & Fanshoby, M. (2023). The salafi da’wa movement in Jakarta from the perspective of media glocalization. IJISH: International Journal of Islamic Studies and Humanities, 6(2), 113–130. https://doi.org/10.26555/ijish.v6i2.8728
Gillespie, T. (2010). The politics of platforms. New Media & Society, 12(3), 347–364. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444809342738
Hannan, A., & Mursyidi, A. F. (2023). Social media and the fragmentation of religious authority among Muslims in contemporary Indonesia. Digital Muslim Review, 1(2), 84–104. https://doi.org/10.32678/dmr.v1i2.10
Hoover, S. M. (2016). The media and religious authority. Penn State University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780271072388
Kozinets, R. V. (2012). Marketing netnography: Prom/ot(ulgat)ing a new research method. Methodological Innovations Online, 7(1), 37–45. https://doi.org/10.4256/mio.2012.004
Latour, B. (2007). Reassembling the social: An introduction to actor-network-theory. Oxford University Press.
Li, Y., Cheng, Z., & Gil de Zúñiga, H. (2025). TikTok’s political landscape: Examining echo chambers and political expression dynamics. New Media & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251339755
Livingstone, S. (2004). Media literacy and the challenge of new information technologies. The Communication Review, 7(1), 3–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/10714420490280152
Lohlker, R., & Wahid, S. H. (2026). The transformation of Islamic religious authority. Religions, 17(4), 493. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17040493
Ma’rufah, H. (2023). The transformation of religious authority in the era of new media: Analyzing disparities in opportunities between female and male ulama in the Nahdlatul Ulama online media. Jurnal Sosiologi Reflektif, 18(1), 63–88. https://doi.org/10.14421/jsr.v18i1.2956
Reinis, S., & Laughlin, C. (2025). “God is my sponsored ad!! My algorithm!”: The spiritual algorithmic imaginary and Christian TikTok. New Media & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251315128
Tsuria, R. (2021). Digital media: When God becomes everybody—the blurring of sacred and profane. Religions, 12(2), 110. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12020110
Weber, M. (1978). Economy and society: An outline of interpretive sociology (G. Roth & C. Wittich, Eds.). University of California Press.
Zaid, B., Fedtke, J., Shin, D. D., El Kadoussi, A., & Ibahrine, M. (2022). Digital Islam and Muslim millennials: How social media influencers reimagine religious authority and Islamic practices. Religions, 13(4), 335. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13040335
