New Media dan Pergeseran Otoritas Keagamaan Islam di Indonesia

Abstract

New media affects fundamental changes in religious life. The change was apparent in the shift from traditional religious authorities, such as ulama (clergy), murshid, religious teachers or ustad, government, and non-govern­mental organizations, to modern religious authorities. With the wa­ning of tra­ditional religious authority, due to the development of infor­mation tech­nology of new media, religious authorities are now in the hand of imper­sonal media, such as books, websites, blogs, and the like. New media has created new social environments that facilitate spiritual interaction, create new au­tho­rities and legitimize actions of the religious community. Pro­gres­sive­ness and openness of new media has driven the acceleration process of “reju­ve­na­tion of ulamaâ€.