Sharingsemangat taqwa: social media and digital Islamic socialities in Bandung

Abstract

Bandung is home to numerous groups or so called komunitas who effectively seize emerging social spaces evolving from the interplay between urban and technological development and the increased use of social media in all spheres of everyday life, including religious practice. Based on ethnographic online and offline research among Muslim groups, this article enquires into contemporary expressions of piety (taqwa) and the formation of pious Muslims selves across online and offline spheres of interaction. As part of daily practice, social media become sites of digital Islamic socialities that distinguish these Muslim groups from other Islamic movements or religious associations. Beyond the purpose of communication, social media enhance forms of affective awareness and exchange required for the integration of multiple and transient relations. Building on insights from anthropological research on the Internet and the use of digital technologies in Indonesia and beyond, this article shows how social media affect the experience and understandings of personal commitment and social engagement that define contemporary Muslim subjectivities. Embedded in the cyberurban space of Bandung, emerging (digital) Islamic socialities offer new orientations and models of sharing the 'zeal of piety' (semangat taqwa) that are appealing and easily adopted by a young generation of pious Muslims.

Education Through Art in Virtual Community: Strengthening Religious Values Through Illustration Artworks

“…Based on two empirical facts related to the use of Instagram social media and mastery of graphic software, it shows that Hijabographic as a virtual community can spread religious values with a future orientation. They master the online spheres of new information and communication technologies, encourage the reinterpretation of Islamic practices in the light of digital media, and attract other social media users who are eager to share, participate, and invest in the production of mutual spaces of dialogue (Lengauer, 2018). Hijabographic facilitates community members to be involved in creating illustration artworks.…”

TAFSIR AL-QUR’AN DI MEDSOS: Nadirsyah Hosen’s Resistance to the Politicization of the Quran in Indonesian Social Media

“…In their development, these three virtual-based applications are the main media that have become the 'soft tool' for the owners of online media accounts which in fact is very influential in the provision of content to its presentation to consumers. Instead of making the application just a distraction without serious meaning, it is evident that many consumers who are interested in da'wah might find inspiration from the information and opinions of certain thoughts and ideas in it (Hakim 2013;Ali, Purwandi, and Firmansyah 2015;Lengauer 2018;Mulawarman and Nurfitri 2017;Omar et al 2015;Pradana and Yuliati 2015;Sharifian et al 2017;Slama 2018).…”

Internet and Islamic Learning Practices in Indonesia: Social Media, Religious Populism, and Religious Authority

“…For religious populism on the internet in an Indonesian context, emerging studies include research on clicktivism in "Aksi Bela Islam" (Islam Defending Action), which has become a mass politico-religious movement (Ahyar and Alfitri 2019). In addition, other studies have described online and offline socialities and the uses of digital technology in the development of Muslim subjectivity among leaders and members of the komunitas (community) (Lengauer 2018). Social media has also become an important forum for expressing Muslim piety in contemporary Indonesia (Husein and Slama 2018).…”

“…The presence of preachers on the internet and social media seems to create its own influence through the formation of communities that then carry this form of Islamic activism into a wider public space (Lengauer 2018). This implies that some Islamic activism does not originate from mainstream Islamic organizations.…”