Faculty of Islamic Studies

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Browsing Faculty of Islamic Studies by Subject "Ambivalence"

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    Desacralizing Islamic symbol and gender inclusivity : viewers' attitude toward cross-dressing accounts on social media
    (Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia, 2023) Husni Mulyawati; Noorhaidi
    The entanglement of religious behavior and social media leads to a new form of religious expression which is manifested within 'posting Islam" -as Slama contended- Computer literate content creators, primarily Muslim youths, produce creative youthful Islamic content to engage and help viewers to gain a better understanding of the messages conveyed. However, some content creators use uncommon ways to promote their content. One of them is by parodying the opposite sex and resembling them in dressing as a so-called cross-dresser. In Indonesia, the existence of cross- dressers is still perceived as taboo and stigmatized as immoral. However, it seems different when someone views what happens on social media. Whereas people try to refuse the existence of the LGBT community and everything associated with them including cross-dressing- in real life, enormous people unconsciously give validation on the existence of cross-dressers in the digital realm proven with millions of followers. Cross-dressing contents wrapped in Islamic symbols in social media are seemingly successful in shifting the perception of society toward the contradictive phenomenon. This research aims to examine the motives of viewers to watch the contents of cross- dressing parody and elaborate on the impacts engendered for Muslims' perception by engaging his contents, especially related to gender and religious symbols. To explain this case, I choose two content creators doing this parody namely Mak Beti and Fadlan Holao. The research was conducted by employing qualitative methods which the process of gaining primary data uses observation of social media, sharing questionnaires with the viewers, and interviewing some respondents. The result affirms that most of the viewers conceive cross-dressing as a deed violating religious norms and they are reluctant to accept it in real life, but they unconsciously showcase an accepting attitude toward cross-dressing in social media because of entertainment and it has become a common thing. This case displays the ambivalence and self-conflicting coming from contestation between self-idealism and what Schielke called moral registers and also coming from social media. It also asserts the power of social media to shift paradigms. It is subtle but potentially powerful. Furthermore, this research also amplifies the assumption that hijab as a religious symbol no longer becomes a Muslim's identity but shifts to become a lifestyle and commodified good. In other words, the religious symbol has been desacralized.
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    The negotitation between piety and fun : the islamization of online game in contemporary Indonesia
    (Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia, 2023) Rizal Fadlillah Nurhida; Bhirawa Anoraga
    Scholars on Muslim societies often highlight the use of new media by radical groups, while broadly, the internet is used more for accessing entertaintment and playing games. This study aims to investigate this often-overlooked use of the internet which i argue has been more significant as a strategy to propagate islam. Even Muslims who utilize this new media not only share Islamic da'wah content such as preaching videos, but they also participate in games, particularly online games. Even though it is widely accepted that games are against Islam, a decent Muslim will not engage in them since they will cause him to be inconsistent and ambivalent towards his Islamic rules, according to well-known scholarly views. However, it turns out that Muslims can negotiate while having fun; for example, in Indonesia, there are already social media influencers who play games while preaching. An example of how fun and piety are not as completely understood as they formerly were. With the continuing development of new media, particularly online games, which are becoming increasingly popular, it has been discovered that the impact of games is no longer limited to entertainment. Therefore, games, and particularly online games, can no longer be ignored, as in earlier studies that mostly only covered new media and fun piety in general, without mentioning online games specifically.