INSTAGRAMABLE PILGRIMAGE: SPIRITUALISM, CONSERVATISM AND COMMODIFIED RELIGION ON INDONESIAN CELEBGRAMS POSTS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18592/khazanah.v21i2.10351Keywords:
Commodification, Conservatism, Indonesia, Online Religion, Religious Travel, Social Media Ethics, Spirituality.Abstract
Economic development, technological advances, infrastructure improvements, and religious awakening have increased the practice of religious journey (pilgrimage), including among Muslims in Indonesia. Young celebrities have actively shared their religious journeys on social media as self-expression and religious testimony. These uploads are religion online’ that provide religious information to the public, especially to their followers. This article is a qualitative study on the phenomenon of religious travel in contemporary Indonesia. This study takes the case of three Muslim female celebrities who are public figures in Indonesia. By analyzing their uploads related to religious travel (or what we call instagrammable pilgrimages) on Instagram during the pandemic and post-pandemic period (July 2021 to April 2023), we find that the phenomenon of religious travel can be examined in terms of its impact on human behavior and that an increase in Islamic religiosity can be observed and registered in the space of spiritualism and the use of religion for the economy, rather than simply an increase in conservatism.References
Al-Ajarma, Kholoud, and Marjo Buitelaar. “Social Media Representations of the Pilgrimage to Mecca.” Journal of Muslims in Europe 10 (March 29, 2021): 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1163/22117954-BJA10027.
———. “Social Media Representations of the Pilgrimage to Mecca: Challenging Moroccan and Dutch Mainstream Media Frames.” Journal of Muslims in Europe 10, no. 2 (2021): 146–67. https://doi.org/10.1163/22117954-BJA10027.
Berger, Peter L. The Desecularization of the World: Resurgent Religion and World Politics. Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1999.
Bromley, David G., Douglas E. Cowan, and Jeffrey K. Hadden. Religion on the Internet: Research Prospects and Promises. Bradford: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2001.
Caidi, Nadia, Susan Beazley, and Laia Colomer Marquez. “Holy Selfies: Performing Pilgrimage in the Age of Social Media.” The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion 2, no. 1/2 (2018): 8–31. https://doi.org/10.33137/ijidi.v2i1/2.322099.
Campbell, Heidi A. “Understanding the Relationship between Religion Online and Offline in a Networked Society.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 80, no. 1 (March 1, 2012): 64–93. https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfr074.
Farrell, Justin. “The Divine Online: Civic Organizing, Identity Building, and Internet Fluency Among Different Religious Groups.” Journal of Media and Religion 10, no. 2 (April 29, 2011): 73–90. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2011.572438.
Fealy, Greg. “Consuming Islam: Commodified Religion and Aspirational Pietism in Contemporary Indonesia.” In Expressing Islam: Religious Life and Politics in Indonesia, edited by Greg Fealy and Sally White, 15–39. Books and Monographs. ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, 2008. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/expressing-islam/consuming-islam-commodified-religion-and-aspirational-pietism-in-contemporary-indonesia/C816FFBF005DBB5805EA850148B9CD2A.
Grant, August E., Amanda Colson Sturgill, Chiung Hwang Chen, and Daniel A. Stout. Religion Online: How Digital Technology Is Changing the Way We Worship and Pray. California: Praeger, 2019.
Greenia, George. “What Is Pilgrimage?” International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage 6, no. 2 (June 25, 2018). https://arrow.tudublin.ie/ijrtp/vol6/iss2/3.
Hafizah, Yulia. “Fenomena Jilbab Dalam Masyarakat Kosmopolitan: Interpretasi Teks Dan Konteks Atas Ayat Jilbab.” Khazanah: Jurnal Studi Islam Dan Humaniora 16, no. 2 (2018): 203–26. https://doi.org/10.18592/khazanah.v16i2.2336.
Hasan, Noorhaidi. “The Making of Public Islam: Piety, Agency, and Commodification on the Landscape of the Indonesian Public Sphere.” Contemporary Islam 3, no. 3 (October 1, 2009): 229–50. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-009-0096-9.
“Instagram Users in Indonesia December 2021.” Accessed January 18, 2024. https://napoleoncat.com/stats/instagram-users-in-indonesia/2021/12/.
Karić, Dženita. “Online Bosniak Hajj Narratives.” In Muslim Pilgrimage in Europe. London: Routledge, 2017.
Latif, Mukhlis, and Muh Ilham Usman. “Fenomena Ziarah Makam Wali Dalam Masyarakat Mandar.” Khazanah: Jurnal Studi Islam Dan Humaniora 19, no. 2 (December 29, 2021): 247–63. https://doi.org/10.18592/khazanah.v19i2.4975.
Mayasari, Nuki. “Recharging Faith: The Practice of Multiple Umrah Trips Among Middle Class in Yogyakarta.” Universitas Gadjah Mada, 2014. https://etd.repository.ugm.ac.id/penelitian/detail/74747.
Nisa, Eva F. “Creative and Lucrative Daʿwa: The Visual Culture of Instagram amongst Female Muslim Youth in Indonesia.” Asiascape: Digital Asia 5, no. 1–2 (February 14, 2018): 68–99. https://doi.org/10.1163/22142312-12340085.
Niu, Song. “Virtual Hajj as a Response to Demographic and Geopolitical Pressures.” Contemporary Islam 17, no. 1 (April 1, 2023): 95–108. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-023-00512-1.
Rastogi, Vaishali, Eddy Tamboto, Dean Tong, and Sinburimsit Tunnee. “Asia’s Next Big Community: Indonesia’s Rising Middle-Class and Affluent Consumers.” Boston: The Boston Consulting Group, 2013.
Sakai, Minako. Muslimah, Kewirausahaan Dan Pemberdayaan Masyarakat. Ciputat: Dompet Dhuafa, 2018.
Sakai, Minako, and Amelia Fauzia. “Islamic Orientations in Contemporary Indonesia: Islamism on The Rise?” Asian Ethnicity 15, no. 1 (January 2, 2014): 41–61. https://doi.org/10.1080/14631369.2013.784513.
Saudigazette. “Indonesians Top among 1.2 Million Pilgrims Performed Umrah during Current Season,” October 5, 2022. http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/625732.
Toft, Monica Duffy, Daniel Philpott, and Timothy Samuel Shah. God’s Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics. New York City: W. W. Norton, 2011.
Triantoro, Dony Arung, Bifa Fanisa Basri, and Mansurni Abadi. “Upper Middle-Class Muslims and Market-Oriented Umroh Program Dissemination on Social Media.” Idarotuna 5, no. 1 (April 30, 2023): 15–29. https://doi.org/10.24014/idarotuna.v5i1.22298.
Van Bruinessen, Martin. Contemporary Developments in Indonesian Islam: Explaining the" Conservative Turn". Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2013.
“World Development Report 2019: The Changing Nature of Work.” Washington, DC: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 2019. https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2019
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Amelia Fauzia, Haryo Mojopahit
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
