The negotitation between piety and fun : the islamization of online game in contemporary Indonesia

Abstract

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.