Religious Moderation in the Social Media Era: The Contestation of Islam Kaffah, Radicalism, and Wasathaniyah Narratives Among Young People
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59944/postaxial.v3i4.2235Keywords:
Religious moderation, Social media, Islam kaffah, Radicalism, WasathaniyahAbstract
Social media has changed how young people obtain, understand, and disseminate religious knowledge. Digital space is no longer merely a communication channel; it has become an arena for identity formation and for the contestation of various Islamic narratives, including Islam kaffah, radicalism, and wasathaniyah. This study aims to analyze how these three narratives appear in digital space and how relevant they are to strengthening religious moderation among young people. Its novelty lies in analyzing the three narratives within a single analytical framework, whereas earlier studies have tended to examine them separately or on a single platform. It employs a qualitative approach with a library research method. The data comprise 24 sources published between 2022 and 2025, consisting of scholarly works and official documents of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, which were analyzed descriptively and analytically through identification, thematic grouping, comparison, and interpretation. The findings show that social media has become a space where religious thought is contested. Islam kaffah is fundamentally a comprehensive concept of religiosity, yet its meaning can broaden and be used in the construction of particular discourses online. Radicalist narratives exploit the characteristics of social media to spread exclusive understandings, which increases the need for digital religious literacy. Wasathaniyah, in turn, develops as a moderation narrative that stresses balance, tolerance, appreciation of diversity, and the rejection of violence. Strengthening religious moderation among young people cannot rely solely on conveying religious values; it also requires the ability to verify sources, understand context, think critically, and produce moderate religious content. The main analytical contribution is a comparative mapping of the three narratives and a framework of three capacities, namely understanding, evaluating, and producing, through which digital religious literacy supports religious moderation among young people. This study thus enriches perspectives on religious moderation in Islamic education and digital literacy
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