The identity and image he builds, Felix Siauw, belongs to the category of reciprocal figures, which is from the discourse as well as the activities carried out on social media or cyberspace |
Hijrah is sometimes characterized as a phenomenon of digitizing religious discourse developed on the internet. Hijrah is sometimes characterized as a phenomenon of digitizing religious discourse developed on the internet. Hijrah in the world as a theological and social phenomenon, indeed, cannot be separated from the background of the concept of hijrah itself. Hijrah is an old discourse historically recorded as an actual event in Islamic literature.
Hijrah was interpreted by the Prophet Muhammad
to mean traveling from one place to another. The Prophet was instructed to
leave Mecca for Medina since Islam was not tolerated there either.
The lives of the Prophet and his followers
were threatened. So that the hijrah request here is by its meaning in terms of
terms, namely moving (Firmansyah, 2021: 10).
From these events, it appears that hijrah is an alternative chosen by the
Prophet Muhammad after Islam experienced a precarious situation, and hijrah is
presumably a solution to the problems encountered by Islam.
In the early days of Islam, whose followers
were known as assabiqunal awwalun, Islam did not have enough strength and
followers to fight. This phenomenon can also be represented as a way of
proselytizing by the Prophet for the threats directed at the people of Mecca
who rejected Islam.
Is this the phenomenon of today? Hijrah is now
defined as "Islamic renewal." Those originally from half-and-half
Islam enter Islam kaffah (read: whole or perfect). From the quotation of the
verse in the Qur'an, Surah al-Baqarah verse 208 is explained.
That the narrative "Udkhulu fi as-Silmi Kaaffah" there is
often interpreted as entering Islam as a whole. Thus, this verse is often used
as an argument to establish and voice the state of unity of Muslims with the
khilafah government system or Islamic reform.
If we look at the asbabun nuzul (read: the
causes of its occurrence), the verse is addressed to the Jews who have just
converted to Islam to leave anything related to their former religion and enter
Islam as a whole.
Hijrah in the
current era is also romanticized as a form of return to Islam in its heyday, where
Islam is echoed as a source of reference for science, as the inventor of
various scientific goods, and as the largest religion in the world with a vast
territory.
This is illustrated by the phenomenon or discourse of hijrah in cyberspace,
which always shows the glory days of Islam and invitations to return to that
past glory. When referring to the original meaning of hijrah, of course, this
is not a blurring of meaning. However, it is necessary to clarify the concept
of hijrah in this social media.
Representation of Hijrah Discourse for the Millennial Generation
Through the
discourse built on social media, the author uses Felix Siauw's social media
account as a representation of da'wah for the millennial generation. By using
digital ethnographic analysis, the image, discourse, influence, and reality of
the account owner can be found in the social activities carried out.
Because this ethnographic analysis focuses on social activities that occur
on social media, of course, youth as active users of social media are the
object of research in responding to the discourse built on social media.
Felix Siauw is a Chinese-Indonesian writer, influencer, and Islamic
activist who was born in Palembang on January 31, 1984. He was born into a
Catholic family and converted to Islam in 2002 while studying at the Bogor
Agricultural Institute.
Previously, Felix attended Xaverius 1 Catholic High School in Palembang.
His works include "Beyond The Inspiration," "Muhammad Al-Fatih
1453", "How to Master Your Habits," "Udah Putusin Aja,"
"Yuk Berhijab," "The Chronicles of Ghazi: Rise of The Ottomans,"
"Khilafah," and "Khilafah
Remake."
Most of his books take the perspective of the Islamic revival period. The
millennial generation is often built in cyberspace. This is reflected in the
image built by Felix Siau through his Twitter account, @felixsiauw. The account
now has 3.3 million followers.
The identity
and image he builds, Felix Siauw, belongs to the category of reciprocal figures,
which is from the discourse as well as the activities carried out on social
media or cyberspace in accordance with what is done in the real world.
In his Twitter
bio, it is written, 'writer, da'wah bearer, together with those who want the
revival of Islam, a servant who really hopes to be forgiven by Allah on the day
of reckoning.' This is corroborated by his participation in a demonstration
with Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia for the revival of Islam, which in this case is
the khilafah.
His header also shows his works, representing the pro-Khilafah Islamic
revival discourse. However, the profile picture on his Twitter account looks
like other non-Muslim ethnic Chinese with no kopiah or songkok (skullcap) and does not show he is a
preacher. It is different when he gives a lecture or recitation.
However, of his 3.3 million followers, from a bit of analysis of the
author, it is found that his followers consist of various communities (cross-community).
For example, from NU, there are Gus Mus and Habibburahman, some of whom are
writers.
Those in the
ministry who have formerly associated with fundamentalist preachers. And from
our analysis, we did not find out who his followers on Twitter consist of.
However, we found several fake accounts from a glance at his followers.
In conveying his discourse, he has the originality of speech. He shows this by taking lessons from the caliph's story, which is the specialty of his da'wah, to invite a return to the glory of Islam. Although the pro-Khilafah community has explored the discourse on the acknowledgment of Islam before, he presented it in a new way.
#digitalethnography #religous #felixsiauw
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