Traditionalist Muslim Narratives in Digital Era: A Study on the Narratives of KH. Maimoen Zubair on Tolerance and Nationalism and Their Reproduction in Social Media

FAISHOL GHONI, Dr. M. Iqbal Ahnaf

2022 | Tesis | MAGISTER AGAMA DAN LINTAS BUDAYA

Tesis ini bertujuan membahas tentang narasi Muslim Tradisionalis dalam mensosialisasikan Nasionalisme dan toleransi di dunia digital. Internet menjadi ranah baru untuk menjadi arena kontestasi ide, termasuk bagaimana memahami agama. Baik institusi maupun individu dari kelompok Islam yang beragam bersaing memperebutkan pengikutnya, guna membentuk dan menyalurkan kepentingannya. Namun, dalam beberapa dekade terakhir, aliran percakapan online tentang urusan agama didominasi oleh konservatisme agama dan para Islamis. Akun-akun Islamis ini memiliki potensi viralitas dan respons yang lebih tinggi daripada akun-akun yang moderat. Di sisi lain, banyak santri Traditionalis dan Pesantren yang telah mengubah cara belajar Islam dan menyebarkan ajaran Islam yang sesuai dengan wawasan dan gaya dakwah mereka sendiri. Mereka juga berpeluang menyeimbangkan arus informasi yang beredar di media sosial agar tidak selalu didominasi oleh Muslim konservatif radikal. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui bagaimana narasi Pesantren Islam dan Nasionalisme di era digital muncul ke permukaan dan bagaimana gagasan Pesantren tentang Islam dan nasionalisme kini menemukan ruang baru di media sosial. Dengan menerapkan analisis isi kualitatif, penelitian ini menganalisis konstruksi naratif KH. Maimoen Zubair mengenai narasi tentang Islam, Nasionalisme dan toleransi dan bagaimana mereka direproduksi di media sosial. Hasil penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa Zubair telah membangun narasi yang lengkap tentang Nasionalisme dan toleransi. Narasi-narasi tersebut bertujuan untuk memperkuat rasa Nasionalisme di kalangan umat Islam pada khususnya dan masyarakat Indonesia pada umumnya. Melalui narasi-narasi tersebut, ia ingin menegaskan kepada masyarakat bahwa nasionalisme tidak dapat dipisahkan dari religiusitas dan keduanya dapat dijalani secara bersamaan.

This thesis discusses the narratives of Traditionalist Muslim in disseminating Nationalism and tolerance on the digital world. The internet becomes new sphere to be the arena of contestation ideas, including how to understand religion. Both institutions and individuals from diverse Islamic groups compete for followers in order to shape and channel their interests. Yet, in the last couple decades, the flow of online conversations about religious affairs was dominated by religious conservatism and Islamists. These Islamist accounts have a higher potential for virality and responds than those who are moderate. In other hand, many traditionalist santri and Pesantrens have already changed their way of learning Islam and spreading Islamic teachings through internet that are in accordance with their own insights and their own style of preaching. They also have a chance to balance the flow of information circulating on social media so that it is not always dominated by radical conservative Muslims. This study aims to investigate how the narratives of Pesantren and Traditionalist Muslim in the digital era come to the surface and how the idea of Pesantren about Islam and nationalism is now finding a new space in the social media. By applying qualitative content analysis, this study analyzes the narrative construction of KH. Maimoen Zubair regarding the narratives about Islam, Nationalism and tolerance and how they are reproduced in social media. The result of this study concluded that the Zubair had already constructed well compact narratives about Nationalism and tolerance. Those narratives were aimed to reinforce the sense of Nationalism among Muslim specifically and Indonesian citizens generally. By those narratives, he wanted to encourage people that nationalism cannot be separated from religiosity and both of them can be undergone all together simultaneously.

Kata Kunci : Traditionalist Muslim, Narrative, KH. Maimoen Zubair, Social Media.