Journal of Contemporary Islam and Muslim Societies
Vol 9, No 2 (2025)

CONTESTING INFIDELITY AND RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY IN DIGITAL INDONESIA: The Discursive Contestation of the Hadith al-Ḥamw al-Mawt on Social Media

Zairina, Wardah (UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya)
Zamzami, Mukhammad (UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya)
Muktafi, Muktafi (UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya)
Albaar, Abdullah (UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya)
Hegazy, Wael (University of California of Santa Barbara)



Article Info

Publish Date
25 Dec 2025

Abstract

This study examines the discursive contestation surrounding the hadith al-Ḥamw al-Mawt (The in-law is Death) within Indonesian digital Islam. Drawing on Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis approach and Campbell's theory of Digital Religion, the study analyzes the Instagram-based da‘wah content produced by the account @ismaelkholilie as a site where religious meaning and authority are actively constructed and contested. It argues that the hadith is recontextualized from a classical moral injunction into a digital narrative addressing infidelity, family ethics, and mahram boundaries in contemporary Muslim households. The findings demonstrate that social media functions not merely as a medium of religious dissemination but as a discursive arena in religious authority negotiated and reconfigured through digital credibility, algorithmic visibility, and audience interactivity. By situating Indonesia as a critical site of digital religious practice, this article contributes to broader debates on religious authority and meaning-making in Digital Islam.Keywords: Digital hadith, infidelity, al-Ḥamw al-Mawt, religious authority, digital religion

Copyrights © 2025






Journal Info

Abbrev

JCIMS

Publisher

Subject

Social Sciences

Description

Journal of Contemporary Islam and Muslim Societies (JCIMS) is a peer reviewed academic journal, established in 2016 as part of the Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Sumatera Utara, Medan, dedicated to the publication of scholarly articles in various branches of contemporary Islam and Muslim societies ...