Deradicalizing Digital Islamic Space Through The Ahl Al-Sunnah Wa al-Jama’ah (Aswaja) Thoughts: Indonesia and Malaysia Cases

Abstract

The digitalization of Aswaja’s moderate understanding in the digital space is essential to counter religious extremist narratives. Focusing on the context of Indonesia and Malaysia, two countries where the majority of Muslims adhere to Aswaja teachings, this research aims to answer the question of how is Aswaja preserved in the digital space to deradicalize radical Islamic movements in Indonesia and Malaysia? This study employs a qualitative research method using the Religious Social Shaping of Technology (RSST) approach. Data were obtained through interviews, observation, and documentation. The research found that the practice of Aswaja in these two countries has transformed new media. The digitalization of Aswaja is based on its moderate principles. Aswaja’s moderate values have influenced the new religious environment as an antithesis to the more extreme and closed religious spaces controlled by extremist Puritan communities. In Malaysia, Aswaja’s digital narratives tend to be more controlled and less contested, whereas in Indonesia, Aswaja’s narratives tend to be less controlled and face more contestation. This study contributes to the development of a new religious space, where the more moderate the ideological basis of new religious media, the more moderate the appearance of the religious media.