Abstract
Social media have influenced millennials of ulama or Muslim scholars in fatwa production. They access and use online knowledge to make daily fatwa according to community requests. However, limited is known about how the millennial ulama acquire and use the knowledge. We carried out an interpretive case study using a theoretical lens from knowledge creation and use in an information technology context and Islamic sociology. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews involving 36 millennial ulama as informants. The interviews were used to understand the respondents’ perspectives on knowledge acquisition and use in their daily fatwa making within a provincial level of Indonesia Ulama Council (MUI). The findings show that Indonesia’s millennial ulama have intensively acquired and trusted online Islamic knowledge. Also, they construct and use knowledge from online social network interaction in daily fatwa making. This study has implications for the simplicity of Islamic knowledge acquisition and fatwa making. Online knowledge acquisition might have reduced the roles of traditional Islamic education institutions and muftis. Therefore, further research should examine how new knowledge sources have caused this reduction.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abualqumboz, M., Chan, P. W., Bamford, D., & Reid, I. (2021). Temporal dimensions of knowledge exchanges in horizontal knowledge networks. Journal of Knowledge Management, 25(4), 899–919. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-05-2020-0346
Adrian, W. T., Ciężkowski, P., Kaczor, K., Ligęza, A., & Nalepa, G. J. (2012). Web-based knowledge acquisition and management system supporting collaboration for improving safety in urban environment. In A. Dziech & A. Czyżewski (Eds.), Multimedia Communications, Services and Security.
Al-Emran, M., & Teo, T. (2019). Do knowledge acquisition and knowledge sharing really affect e-learning adoption? An empirical study. Education and Information Technologies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-019-10062-w
Al-Emran, M., Mezhuyev, V., & Kamaludin, A. (2021). Is M-learning acceptance influenced by knowledge acquisition and knowledge sharing in developing countries? Education and Information Technologies, 26(3), 2585–2606. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-020-10378-y
Ali, S. S. (2010). Cyberspace as emerging Muslim discursive space? Online Fatawa on women and gender relations and its impact on Muslim family law norms. International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, 24(3), 338–360. https://doi.org/10.1093/lawfam/ebq008
Ali-Karamali, S. P., & Dunne, F. (1994). The ijtihad controversy. Arab Law Quarterly, 9, 238–257.
Aliyu, M., Mahmud, M., Tap, A. O. M., & Nassr, R. M. (2013). A preliminary investigation of Islamic websites’ design features that influence use: A proposed model. EJISDC, 58(5), 1–21.
Ammirato, S., Felicetti, A. M., Della Gala, M., Aramo-Immonen, H., Jussila, J. J., & Kärkkäinen, H. (2019). The use of social media for knowledge acquisition and dissemination in B2B companies: An empirical study of Finnish technology industries. Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 17(1), 52–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/14778238.2018.1541779
Baran, S. J., & Davis, D. K. (2012). Mass communication theory: Foundations, ferment, and future (Wadsworth series in mass communication and journalism) (6th ed.). Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Barendregt, B. (2011). Pop, politics and piety: Nasyid boy band music in Muslim Southeast Asia. In A. N. Weintraub (Ed.), Islam and popular culture in Indonesia and Malaysia (pp. 235–256). Routledge.
Barlow, C. M. (2000). The knowledge-creating cycle http://www.cocreativity.com/handouts/nonaka.pdf
Becker, C. (2009). Gaining knowledge: Salafi activism in German and Dutch online forums. Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology, 3, 79–98 http://www.digitalislam.eu/article.do?articleId=2348
Beckerlegge, G. (2017). Computer-mediated religion: Religion on the internet at the turn of the twenty-first century. In G. Beckerlegge (Ed.), From sacred text to internet (Vol. 1, pp. 46). Routledge.
Black, A., & Hosen, N. (2009). Fatwas. Griffith Law Review, 18(2), 405–427. https://doi.org/10.1080/10383441.2009.10854648
Bögels, S. M., Alden, L., Beidel, D. C., Clark, L. A., Pine, D. S., Stein, M. B., & Voncken, M. (2010). Social anxiety disorder: Questions and answers for the DSM-V. Depression and Anxiety, 27(2), 168–189. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.20670
Boose, J. H. (1989). A survey of knowledge acquisition techniques and tools. Knowledge Acquisition, 1(1), 3–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1042-8143(89)80003-2
Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2008). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), 210–230. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.x
Brockner, M. (2001). Islamicity Creating an Islamic Cyber society. https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/17513/ISIM_8_IslamiCity_Creating_an_Islamic_Cybersociety.pdf?sequence=1. Accessed 29 Nov 2018
Bunt, G. R. (1999). http://www.islam@britain.net: 'British Muslim' identities in cyberspace. Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations, 10(3), 353–362. https://doi.org/10.1080/09596419908721192.
Bunt, G. R. (2000). Interface Dialogues:and the Online Fatwa https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/17426/ISIM_6_Interface_Dialogues_and_the_Online_Fatwa.pdf?sequence=1
Bunt, G. R. (2003). Islam in the digital age, E-Jihad, online fatwas and cyber Islamic Environments. Pluto Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt18fs6ck
Bunt, G. R. (2009). iMuslims: Rewiring the house of Islam. University of North Carolina Press.
Burke, M., Marlow, C., & Lento, T. (2010). Social network activity and social well-being proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems. Atlanta.
Caeiro, A. (2011). The making of the fatwa: The production of Islamic legal expertise in Europe. Archives de sciences sociales des religions, 155, 81-100.
Chai, S., & Kim, M. (2010). What makes bloggers share knowledge? An investigation on the role of trust. International Journal of Information Management, 30(5), 408–415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2010.02.005
Chawki, M. (2010). Islam in the digital age: Counselling and fatwas at the click of a mouse. Journal of International Commercial Law and Technology, 5(4), 165–180.
Chryssochoidis, G., Strada, A., & Krystallis, A. (2009). Public trust in institutions and information sources regarding risk management and communication: Towards integrating extant knowledge. Journal of Risk Research, 12(2), 137–185. https://doi.org/10.1080/13669870802637000
Cole, G., Smith, R., & Lucas, L. (2002). The debut of generation Y in the American workforce. Journal of Business Administration Online, 2(1), 10.
Compton, P., & Jansen, R. (1990). A philosophical basis for knowledge acquisition. Knowledge Acquisition, 2(3), 241–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1042-8143(05)80017-2
Corbin, J. M., & Strauss, A. (1990). Grounded Theory Research: Procedures, Canons, and Evaluative Criteria Retrieved 21 August 2011, from http://zfs-online.org/index.php/zfs/article/viewFile/2741/2278
Curtis, M. F. (2014). Fiqh, the science of Islamic jurisprudence. In C. Bennett (Ed.), The Bloomsbury companion to Islamic studies (pp. 207–226). Bloomsbury.
De Leeuw, E., & Hussein, A. A. (1999). Islamic health promotion and interculturalization. Health Promotion International, 14(4), 347–353. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/14.4.347
de Mesa, A. (2009). The emergence and characteristics of virtual worlds. In Brand avatar: Translating virtual world branding into real world success (pp. 7-18). Palgrave Macmillan UK. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230233713_2.
Eickelman, D. F., & Anderson, J. W. (2003). New Media in the Muslim World: The emerging public sphere. Indiana University Press.
Esposito, J. (2003). The Oxford dictionary of Islam. Oxford University Press.
Fleischman, M., Hovy, E., & Echihabi, A. (2003). Offline strategies for online question answering: Answering questions before they are asked Proceedings of the 41st annual meeting on Association for Computational Linguistics - volume 1, Sapporo, .
Franceschi, K., Lee, R. M., Zanakis, S. H., & Hinds, D. (2009). Engaging group E-learning in virtual worlds. Journal of Management Information Systems, 26(1), 73–100. https://doi.org/10.2753/mis0742-1222260104
Gardner, V., & Hameed, S. (2018). Creating meaning through science: “The meaning of life” video and Muslim youth culture in Australia. Journal of Media and Religion, 17(2), 61–73. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2018.1531622
Glavas, C., Mathews, S., & Russell-Bennett, R. (2019). Knowledge acquisition via internet-enabled platforms: Examining incrementally and non-incrementally internationalizing SMEs. International Marketing Review, 36(1), 74–107. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMR-02-2017-0041
Hosen, N. (2004). Behind the scene : Fatwas of Majelis Ulama Indonesia (1975-1998). Journal of Islamic Studies, 15(2), 147–179.
Hosen, N. (2008). Online fatwa in Indonesia: From fatwa shopping to googling a Kiai. In G. F. S. White (Ed.), Expressing Islam: Religious life and politics in Indonesia (pp. 159–173). University of Wollonggong.
Howe, N., & Strauss, W. (2000). Millennials rising: The next great generation. Vintage Books.
Ichwan, M. N. (2013). Towards a puritanical moderate Islam: The Majelis Ulama Indonesia and the politics of religious or orthodox. In ISEAS (Ed.), Contemporary developments in Indonesian Islam : Explaining the 'Conservative Turn'. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS).
Iman, R. (2015). MUI Kota Sukabumi Kaderisasi Ulama Muda. Republika. https://www.republika.co.id/berita/dunia-islam/islam-nusantara/15/08/20/ntd3x3346-mui-kota-sukabumi-kaderisasi-ulama-muda. Accessed 07 June 2020
Inkpen, A. C. (1998). Learning and knowledge acquisition through international strategic alliances. Academy of Management Perspectives, 12(4), 69–80. https://doi.org/10.5465/ame.1998.1333953
Jamaa, L. (2018). Fatwas of the Indonesian council of ulama and its contributions to the development of contemporary Islamic law in Indonesia. Indonesian Journal of Islam and Muslim Societies, 8(1), 29–56.
Janicke, S. H., & Ramasubramanian, S. (2017). Spiritual media experiences, trait transcendence, and enjoyment of popular films. Journal of Media and Religion, 16(2), 51–66. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2017.1311122
Jin, L., & Robey, D. (2008). Bridging social and technical interfaces in organizations: an interpretative analysis of time-space distanciation. Information and Organization, 18(3), 177–204.
Johnson, S. D., Suriya, C., Won Yoon, S., Berrett, J. V., & La Fleur, J. (2002). Team development and group processes of virtual learning teams. Computers & Education, 39(4), 379–393. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0360-1315(02)00074-X
Jouili, J. S., & Amir-Moazami, S. (2006). Knowledge, empowerment and religious authority among pious Muslim women in France and Germany. The Muslim World, 96(4), 617–642. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-1913.2006.00150.x
Jouili, J. S., & Amir-Moazami, S. (2008). Knowledge, empowerment and religious authority among pious Muslim women in France and Germany. In A. Kynsilehto (Ed.), Islamic feminism: Current perspectives. University of Tempere.
Kasyfi, H. (2019). Indonesia has 171 million internet users: Study. The Jakarta Post. https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2019/05/18/indonesia-has-171-million-internet-users-study.html. Accessed 17 Oct 2019
Kendall, J. (1999). Axial coding and the grounded theory controversy. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 21(6), 743–757. https://doi.org/10.1177/019394599902100603
Klein, A. (2017). Fanaticism, racism, and rage online: Corrupting the digital sphere. Palgrave Macmillan.
Kozup, J., & Hogarth, J. M. (2008). Financial literacy, public policy, and consumers’ self-protection—More questions, fewer answers. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 42(2), 127–136. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6606.2008.00101.x
Kusoy, H. (2015). MUI Didik 80 Kader Ulama Muda https://www.republika.co.id/berita/koran/news-update/15/08/24/ntl2k833-mui-didik-80-kader-ulama-muda
Larsson, G. (2006a). Religious communities on the internet. In P. Halldén (Ed.), Militant Salafism on the Internet: ‘Alneda.com’ and the Legacy of Yusuf al-‘Ayyiri (Vol. 29, pp. 62–85). Swedish Science.
Larsson, G. (2006b). Religious communities on the internet: Proceedings from a conference. Uppsala.
Lengauer, D. (2018). Sharing semangat taqwa: Social media and digital Islamic socialities in Bandung. Indonesia and the Malay world, 46(134), 5–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639811.2018.1415276
Ling Lim, H. (2012). Generation Y workforce expectations: Implications for the UAE. Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, 5(4), 281–293. https://doi.org/10.1108/17537981211284452
Maheshwari, B., Sarrion, M., Motiani, M., O'Sullivan, S., & Chandwani, R. (2021). Exploration of factors affecting the use of web 2.0 for knowledge sharing among healthcare professionals: An Indian perspective. Journal of Knowledge Management, 25(3), 545–558. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-02-2020-0105
McKenna, K. Y. A., & West, K. J. (2007). Give me that online-time religion: The role of the internet in spiritual life. Computers in Human Behavior, 23(2), 942–954. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2005.08.007
Metzger, M. J., & Flanagin, A. J. (2013). Credibility and trust of information in online environments: The use of cognitive heuristics. Journal of Pragmatics, 59, 210–220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2013.07.012
Muhamad Hashim, N., & Mizerski, D. (2010). Exploring Muslim consumers' information sources for fatwa rulings on products and behaviors. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 1(1), 37–50. https://doi.org/10.1108/17590831011026213
Muilwijk, R. (2012). Trust in online information: Comparison among high school students, college students and PhD students with regard to trust in Wikipedia. University of Twente.
Müller, D. (2019). Appropriating and contesting ‘traditional Islam’: Central Asian students at the Russian Islamic University in Tatarstan. Central Asian Survey, 38(3), 400–416. https://doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2019.1636767
Nahdatul-Ulama (2014). Hasil Survei: 58,8% Muslim Kota Mengaku NU. https://www.nu.or.id/post/read/52495/hasil-survei-588-muslim-kota-mengaku-nu. Accessed 11 Apr 2020
Naif Marouf, L. (2007). Social networks and knowledge sharing in organizations: A case study. Journal of Knowledge Management, 11(6), 110–125. https://doi.org/10.1108/13673270710832208
Nasrollah, S. (2018). Knowledge sharing behavior in Islam and technology enabler [Master, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM)]. Kuala Lumpur.
Nawi, M. A. M., & Hamzah, M. I. (2014). Mobile fatwa (M-fatwa): The integration of Islamic fatwa through Mobile technology. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education-TOJDE, 15(2), 108–116.
Nduka, E.-L., & McGuire, J. (2017). The effective use of new media in disseminating evangelical messages among Catholic college students. Journal of Media and Religion, 16(3), 93–103. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2017.1361707
Nikander, P. (2002). Age in action: Membership work and stage of life categories in talk (Vol. 321). Academia Scientiarum Fennica.
Nisa, E. F. (2018). Creative and lucrative Daʿwa: The visual culture of Instagram amongst female Muslim youth in Indonesia. Asiascape: Digital Asia, 5(1–2), 68–99.
Nonaka, I., & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The knowledge-creating company: How Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation. Oxford University Press.
Nurdin, N., & Yusuf, K. (2020). Knowledge management lifecycle in Islamic bank: The case of syariah banks in Indonesia. International Journal of Knowledge Management Studies, 11(1), 59–80. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijkms.2020.105073
Nzabonimana, E., Isyagi, M. M., Njunwa, K. J., Hackley, D. M., & Razzaque, M. S. (2019). Use of an online medical database for clinical decision-making processes: Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice of oral health care providers. Advances in Medical Education and Practice, 10, 461–467. https://doi.org/10.2147/AMEP.S146451
Panahi, S., Watson, J., & Partridge, H. (2013). Towards tacit knowledge sharing over social web tools. Journal of Knowledge Management, 17(3), 379–397. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-11-2012-0364
Panahi, S., Watson, J., & Partridge, H. (2016). Conceptualising social media support for tacit knowledge sharing: Physicians’ perspectives and experiences. Journal of Knowledge Management, 20(2), 344–363. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-06-2015-0229
Peter, F., & Arigita, E. (2006). Introduction: Authorizing Islam in Europe. The Muslim World, 96(4), 537–542. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-1913.2006.00146.x
Piela, A. (2012). Muslim women online: Faith and identity in virtual space. Routledge.
Rahman, A. A., Hashim, N. H., & Mustafa, H. (2015). Muslims in cyberspace: Exploring factors influencing online religious engagements in Malaysia. Media Asia, 42(1–2), 61–73. https://doi.org/10.1080/01296612.2015.1072343
Ratcliff, A. J., McCarty, J., & Ritter, M. (2017). Religion and new media: A uses and gratifications approach. Journal of Media and Religion, 16(1), 15–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2017.1274589
Raudeliuniene, J., Albats, E., & Kordab, M. (2021). Impact of information technologies and social networks on knowledge management processes in middle eastern audit and consulting companies. Journal of Knowledge Management, 25(4), 871–898. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-03-2020-0168
Reychav, I., & Aguirre-Urreta, M. I. (2014). Adoption of the internet for knowledge acquisition in R&D processes. Behaviour & Information Technology, 33(5), 452–469. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929x.2013.765035
Rusli, R. (2015). Progressive Salafism in online fatwa. Al jamiah, 52(1), 205–229.
Sarker, S., Xiao, X., & Beaulieu, T. (2013). Guest editorial: Qualitative studies in information systems: A critical review and some guiding principles. MIS Quarterly, 37(4), iii-xviii. www.jstor.org/stable/43825778
Schrank, P. (2012). The online ummah. https://www.economist.com/international/2012/08/18/the-online-ummah
Schuppel, J., Muller-Stewens, G., & Gomez, P. (2000). The knowledge spiral. In G. V. Krogh, J. Roos, & D. Kleine (Eds.), Knowing in firms: Understanding, managing and measuring knowledge (p. 223). SAGE Publication.
Shah, S. A. M., Khan, I., & Amjad, S. (2013). The role of social media in developing an effective knowledge management process in professional service firms. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 4(14), 775–782.
Šisler, V. (2007). The internet and the construction of Islamic knowledge in Europe. Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology, 1(2), 205–217 https://journals.muni.cz/mujlt/article/viewFile/2476/2040
Sisler, V. (2011a). Cyber counselors. Information, Communication & Society, 14(8), 1136–1159. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2011.579140
Sisler, V. (2011b). The internet, new media, and Islam: Production of Islamic knowledge and construction of Muslim identity in the digital age Charles University. Praha.
Šisler, V. (2014). European courts’ authority contested? The case of marriage and divorce fatwas on-line. Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology, 3(1), 51–78 https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/mujlt3&div=7&id=&page=
Song, S. (2002). An internet knowledge sharing system. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 42(3), 25–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/08874417.2002.11647499
Soukup, P. A. (2012). Islam and Islamic teaching online. Communication Research Trends, 31(1), 178.
Statista. (2019). Number of internet users in Indonesia from 2017 to 2023. https://www.statista.com/statistics/254456/number-of-internet-users-in-indonesia/. Accessed 24 Dec 2019
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. M. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques (2nd ed.). Sage Publications Inc.
Taylor, A. (2012). A study of the information search behaviour of the millennial generation. Information Research: An International Electronic Journal, 17(1), 20.
Tohir, J. R. (2018). Menteri Agama Sebut Rujukan Utama Generasi Milenial dalam Beragama Saat Ini adalah Internet. http://jakarta.tribunnews.com/2018/04/16/menteri-agama-sebut-rujukan-utama-generasi-milenial-dalam-beragama-saat-ini-adalah-internet#gref. Accessed 16 Nov 2018
Tootell, A., Kyriazis, E., Billsberry, J., Ambrosini, V., Garrett-Jones, S., & Wallace, G. (2021). Knowledge creation in complex inter-organizational arrangements: Understanding the barriers and enablers of university-industry knowledge creation in science-based cooperation. Journal of Knowledge Management, 25(4), 743–769. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-06-2020-0461
Umar, M., Wilson, M., & Heyl, J. (2021). The structure of knowledge management in inter-organisational exchanges for resilient supply chains. Journal of Knowledge Management, 25(4), 826–846. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-06-2020-0488
Wheeler, D. L. (2006). The internet in the Middle East: Global expectations and local imaginations in Kuwait. State University of New York Press.
Yin, R. K. (2003). Case study research - design and method (3rd ed.). Sage.
Yli-Renko, H., Autio, E., & Sapienza, H. J. (2001). Social capital, knowledge acquisition, and knowledge exploitation in young technology-based firms. Strategic Management Journal, 22(6–7), 587–613. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.183
Zhou, K. Z., & Li, C. B. (2012). How knowledge affects radical innovation: Knowledge base, market knowledge acquisition, and internal knowledge sharing. Strategic Management Journal, 33(9), 1090–1102. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.1959
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rusli, R., Nurdin, N. Understanding Indonesia millennia Ulama online knowledge acquisition and use in daily fatwa making habits. Educ Inf Technol 27, 4117–4140 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10779-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10779-7