Journal of Asian Wisdom and Islamic Behavior
Vol. 3 No. 2 (2025)

Figuring And Disfiguring: Audience Participation In Qur’anic Exegesis on Instagram

Rusydiana, Naili Rosa Urbah (Unknown)
Rosyada, Melynia (Unknown)
Sholiha, Marwa Mar’atus (Unknown)
Mohammad Afri Muadom (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
28 Sep 2025

Abstract

This study examines how audience participation on Instagram shapes the dynamics of digital interpretation, particularly through the processes of figuring (affirming meaning) and disfiguring (reinterpretation or critique) in comments on Quranic verse posts. The research is motivated by the shifting paradigm of religious authority in the social media era, where interpretation is no longer monopolized by authoritative figures but openly negotiated and contested by users. The study focuses on two public accounts: @ismaelalkholilie, representing a sufistic-affective style, and @nadirsyahhosen, reflecting a contextual-critical approach. Using a descriptive qualitative method and digital hermeneutics, data were collected through online observation, caption documentation, and analysis of comments on two posts (January–May 2025). Findings show that audiences are active co-interpreters rather than passive recipients. Comments on Ismael’s account are mainly affective and affirm spiritual narratives, while those on Nadirsyah’s account are more reflective, intellectual, and critical. Digital interpretation thus emerges as dialogical, decentralized, and shaped by audience participation.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

JAWAB

Publisher

Subject

Religion Humanities Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media Social Sciences Other

Description

Journal of Asian Wisdom and Islamic Behavior with ISSN number: 2987-6915 is a double-blind review method international journal that publishes authentic scientific articles relating to valuable ideas that contain findings of various local wisdom in the field of Islamic studies in Asia. The journal is ...