Hashtag Islam: How Cyber-Islamic Environments are Transforming Religious Authority

Authors : Benjamin ALEEBRAHİM

Pages : 333-335

View : 31 | Download : 10

Publication Date : 2019-12-31

Article Type : Other Papers

Abstract :Gary Bunt’s Hashtag Islam presents a survey of how diverse communities of Muslims around the world are using internet-based technologies to “fulfill spiritual, mystical, and legalistic agendas” insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(3);. Through an investigation of what he defines as “cyber-Islamic environments insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(CIEs);” - a broad category of analysis encompassing everything from social media posts, online fatwa insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(Islamic legal opinion); services, transnational media conglomerates, and digitally-published magazines, to name a few examples - Bunt argues that the internet has played a critical role in transforming the ways in which Muslims engage with religious authorities, allowing greater access to religious knowledge beyond the bounds of traditional Islamic scholarship and providing a platform for alternative or minoritarian approaches to Islamic practice. Hashtag Islam is Bunt’s fourth book on digital media in Islamic contexts, focusing on recent developments in the spread of internet communication technologies between 2009- 2017 in the Muslim-majority world.
Keywords : internet, Islam, authority