From the Spotlight to the Shadows: Ex-HTI's Digital Da’wah Rebuilding Authority through Social Media
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47655/dialog.v48i2.1009Keywords:
dakwah, ex-HTI, social mediaAbstract
The dissolution of HTI by the Indonesian government in 2017 has given birth to a new form of religious authority facilitated by da’wah through social media. This group utilizes various digital platforms such as Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, and websites to continue spreading the Caliphate ideology. This research analyzes how the Ex-HTI group conducts its da’wah, as represented by the Muslimah News and Back to Muslim Identity accounts across different social media platforms. Researchers used a qualitative content analysis using Wilson’s framework to examine the da’wah strategies on the BMI, Muslimah News, and Felix Siauw accounts. The findings show that the Ex-HTI group has transformed into a different way of da'wah to continue propagating the ideology of the Caliphate. The transformation is not limited to the way of da'wah from offline to online. However, the da'wah of the HTI group before it was dissolved, which was carried out openly (spotlight), has now been transformed into a more covert form (shadows). In addition, the use of social media in this new da'wah model has also created a new kind of religious authority for the Ex-HTI group through the figure of Felix Siauw, an Ustadz who is widely accepted by the public.
Downloads
References
Bibliography
Åhman, H., & Thorén, C. (2021). When Facebook Becomes Faithbook: Exploring Religious Communication in a Social Media Context. Social Media and Society, 7(3), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051211041644
Benrazek, Y. (2022). The Role of Social Media as a Public Sphere in the Algerian Protests: An Analytical Study. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 51(2), 153–173. https://doi.org/10.1080/17475759.2021.1955223
Buckley, D. T., Gainous, J., & Wagner, K. M. (2023). Is Religion the Opiate of the Digital Masses? Religious Authority, Social Media, and Protest. Information Communication and Society, 26(4), 682–698. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2021.1971279
Chaqoqo, S. G. N., & Ma’mun, S. (2022). the Islamic Discourses of Indonesian Islamist Organizations. El Harakah: Jurnal Budaya Islam, 24(1), 109–125. https://doi.org/10.18860/eh.v24i1.16616
Cheong, P. H. (2017). The vitality of new media and religion: Communicative perspectives, practices, and changing authority in spiritual organization. New Media and Society, 19(1), 25–33. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816649913
Choirin, M., Adabi, F., Kadir, A., & Setiyanti, A. (2025). A Decade of Digital Da’wah: Global Research Trends and Thematic Evolution (2013-2025). El Harakah: Jurnal Budaya Islam, 27(1), 21–48. https://doi.org/10.18860/eh.v27i1.33487
Ciptadi, S. G. (2024). The Social Construction of Tolerance Discourse through Online Media: Study of NU Online. Komunika: Jurnal Dakwah dan Komunikasi, 18(1), 113–123. https://doi.org/10.24090/komunika.v18i1.8431
Dulkiah, M., Setia, P., & Rosele, M. I. (2023). Religious Movements and the Adoption of New Media: The Internet Used by Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia After Disbanded. Religious: Jurnal Studi Agama-Agama dan Lintas Budaya, 7(1), 11–26. https://doi.org/10.15575/rjsalb.v7i1.21409
Fadilla, Q. Y. (2023). Muslimahnews . com ’ s ’ Toxic Discourse ’: Women Definition in Khilafah Ideological Power Dominance El ’ Discurso Tóxico ’ de Muslimahnews . com : Definición de Mujer en el Dominio del Poder Ideológico del Khilafah. Sociologia Y Tecnociencia, 1(13), 187–202. https://doi.org/10.24197/st.1.2023.187-202
Fröh, J., & Robinson, M. R. (2024). Digital Religious Communication and the Facilitation of Social Resilience, Part 1: Theoretical Model and Proposal. Journal of Religious and Theological Information, 23(1–2), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/10477845.2023.2232622
Gao, Q., Woods, O., Kong, L., Shee, S. Y., Gao, Q., Woods, O., & Kong, L. (2024). Lived Religion in a Digital Age : Technology , Affect and the Pervasive Space-times of ‘ New ’ Religious Praxis. Social & Cultural Geography, 25(1), 29–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649365.2022.2121979
Haq, A. M. I. (2023). Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia’s ( HTI ) Efforts The Idea of Caliphate and Recruit Members After Being Banned. Islam Transformatif : Journal of Islamic Studies, 2(2), 97–111. https://doi.org/10.30983/it.v7i1.6188
Haq, S. U., & Kwok, R. Y. keung. (2024). Encountering “the Other” in Religious Social Media: A Cross-Cultural Analysis. Social Media and Society, 10(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051241303363
Herdiansah, A. G., Wahidin, D., & Saputra, A. (2023). Beyond Disbandment of Islamist Organization: Examining the Adaptive Resistance of Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (Hti). JWP (Jurnal Wacana Politik), 8(2), 235. https://doi.org/10.24198/jwp.v8i2.49870
Ibrahim, M. (2024). Islam in the digital infrastructure: the rise of Islamic cyber practices in Northern Nigeria. Religion, State and Society, 52(2–3), 114–132. https://doi.org/10.1080/09637494.2024.2353956
Ichwan, M. N., & Slama, M. (2022). Reinterpreting the first pillar of the nation: (Dis)continuities of Islamic discourses about the state ideology in Indonesia. Politics, Religion and Ideology, 23(4), 457–474. https://doi.org/10.1080/21567689.2022.2139687
Kołodziejska, M., Fajfer, Ł., Hall, D., & Radde-Antweiler, K. (2023). Religious media settlers in times of deep mediatization. Religion, 53(2), 199–223. https://doi.org/10.1080/0048721X.2022.2083032
Niam, K. (2023). Mediatisasi Tafsir Al-Quran di Media Baru (Analisis Isu Propaganda dalam Website Muslimahnews.net [Master’s thesis]. UIN Sunan Kalijaga.
Qadaruddin, M., & Bakri, W. (2022). Postmillenial Netizens’ Reception of Da’wah Messages on Social Media. Komunika: Jurnal Dakwah dan Komunikasi, 16(2), 117–128. https://doi.org/10.24090/komunika.v16i2.6428
Rifai, A. (2021). the Discourse of Women’S Piety and Gender Bias Construction on Muslimah Websites in Indonesia. Al-Balagh : Jurnal Dakwah dan Komunikasi, 6(2), 303–328. https://doi.org/10.22515/al-balagh.v6i2.3402
Schmidt, L. (2021). Aesthetics of authority: ‘Islam Nusantara’ and Islamic ‘radicalism’ in Indonesian film and social media. Religion, 51(2), 237–258. https://doi.org/10.1080/0048721X.2020.1868387
Selby, J. A., & Funk, C. (2020). Hashtagging “Good” Muslim Performances Online. Journal of Media and Religion, 19(2), 35–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2020.1770543
Setia, P. (2021). Kekhilafahan Islam , Globalisasi dan Gerilya Maya : Studi Kasus Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia. Fikrah: Jurnal Ilmu Aqidah dan Studi Keagamaan, 9(2), 241–264. https://doi.org/10.21043/fikrah.v8i1. 11603
Wai Weng, H. (2024). Packaging, Persuasion and Propaganda: Popular Preaching and Islamic Counter-publics in Indonesia. Asian Studies Review, 48(1), 70–85. https://doi.org/10.1080/10357823.2022.2052801
Wilson, S. L. (2022). Social Media as Social Science Data. Cambridge University Press.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Dialog
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
