Hadith Amplification in Indonesia’s Digital Religion

Abstract

This article examines the amplification of hadith on the internet as a manifestation of contemporary digital religion. Drawing on a netnographic approach and qualitative content analysis, the study examines how hadith are circulated, interpreted, and incorporated into religious practices across selected digital platforms in Indonesia, using Campbell’s (2013) typology of religion online as an analytical framework. The analysis identifies four interrelated forms of hadith amplification. First, digital information and interaction services provide spaces for disseminating religious knowledge and discussing the role of hadith as a source of Islamic guidance. Second, online worship and ritual practices constitute forms of living hadith through which prophetic traditions are expressed in digitally mediated forms of religious practice. Third, preachers and religious scholars use digital platforms to extend their reach and develop forms of religious authority through the circulation and interpretation of hadith. Fourth, online Islamic communities incorporate hadith into collective religious activities that contribute to shared identities and a sense of belonging. The findings suggest that digital media do more than expand access to hadith. They also reshape how hadith are interpreted, shared, and incorporated into religious practice, while creating new spaces in which religious authority is negotiated. Rather than representing a simple shift from offline to online religion, these developments reflect an increasing interaction between digital and everyday religious life. The study contributes to the literature on digital religion by showing how the circulation of hadith is connected to changing forms of knowledge, authority, identity, and piety in contemporary Muslim communities.