Digital Muslim Review
Vol. 3 No. 1 (2025): June

Faith, Nation, and Digital Piety: The Moral Politics of Kyai Responses to the 212 Action in Banten

Suryani, Ade Jaya (Unknown)
Rohman, Rohman (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
14 Oct 2025

Abstract

This article explores how Islamic authority, digital communication, and moral politics intersect in post-reform Indonesia through the responses of kyai in Banten to the Aksi Bela Islam (ABI 212) movement. Drawing on fieldwork and interviews with nineteen kyai, it analyses how these clerics interpreted the 2016 blasphemy controversy involving Jakarta’s governor and negotiated their moral positions amid rising Islamic mobilisation. The study identifies three orientations: activist-participatory, spiritual-sympathetic, and critical-pragmatic—each reflecting different moral logics linking faith and civic duty. Digital platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp became key arenas for coordination and emotional expression, reshaping kyai authority into a form of “networked Islam.” Rather than mirroring conservatism, the kyai’s engagement reveals an ongoing negotiation between piety, nationalism, and democracy, highlighting the reconfiguration of Islamic authority in Indonesia’s digital and moral public sphere.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

dmr

Publisher

Subject

Religion Arts Humanities Social Sciences

Description

Digital Muslim Review focuses on a landscape view of Islam and Muslim societies in a digital world, paying attention to how its various approaces embody new ways of analysis and critical thinking. The journal discusses ongoing debates in digital Islam within the Muslim world, such as defining the ...