Keywords

1 On the Way to Leading the Global Islamic Economy

According to recent estimates, the 1.9 billion Muslims in the world spent $2 trillion in 2021 on items related to food, medicine, cosmetics, fashion, travel, and media/recreation (DinarStandard 2022, p. 3). This spending reflects a growth of 8.9% year-on-year over 2020. The top 1 place on the Global Islamic Economy Indicator is Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, holds the second position, and the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia follow (Ibid).

Indonesia continues to rise in overall rankings. On the halal food indicator, Indonesia moved up eight places due to its exports to OIC countries, 47 places to fifth place in the “media and recreation” indicator, and 19 places to rank six in the “pharma and cosmetics” indicator. Within Islamic finance, Indonesia has seen an increase in the value of sukuk (sharia-compliant bonds used in Islamic finance) and the value of Islamic funds. Awareness of and demand for Islamic finance is also strong, with Indonesia holding the largest number of events on the topic and ranking second in the number of research papers. In the area of media and recreation, Indonesia held 20 related events in 2019, significantly increasing its ranking in the media and recreation indicator. An impetus for the growth of the Islamic economy was the Halal Product Assurance Law No. 13/2014 that came into effect in October 2019, requiring mandatory halal certification for all halal products. The entry into force of this law has led to significant growth in the halal food, pharma, and cosmetics sectors—a trend that is expected to continue.

Indonesia’s focus on the growth of the Islamic economy is also evident in their Halal Economy Master Plan 2019–2024 (MEKSI, Masterplan Ekonomi Sharia Indonesia), which was released through its National Shariah Finance Activity. Its key objective is to boost Islamic finance as an engine of economic growth. This plan reinforces cumulative efforts to strengthen the country’s position in halal tourism and develop a stable environment for businesses involved in halal food and products, modest fashion, and Islamic finance. The declared aim of the Masterplan is to turn Indonesia into the ‘center of the world’s leading Islamic economy’ (Indonesian Ministry of National Development Planning 2019, p. xv). Notable initiatives that fall within the plan’s scope include the launch of the halal Lifestyle District, a 21,000 m2 industrial park with an investment of $18 million. The Muslim Fashion Project (MOFP) includes competitions and incubation programs for fashion startups and provides a road map for the development of the Muslim fashion industry. An estimated 656 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and 60 designers are involved (State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2019, p. 99). The potential of halal products has prompted Incumbent Indonesian Vice President K.H. Ma’ruf Amin to announce in June 2021 that Indonesia aims to become the largest producer and exporter of halal goods globally (Silaban 2021). The decision to gradually introduce mandatory halal certification for all products placed on the market will further boost the development of this sector and improve the market’s perception of the significant commercial opportunities for halal cosmetics.

2 The Halal Cosmetics Market in Indonesia

As demand for cosmetics that cater to consumer preferences increases, halal cosmetics are set for solid growth. Muslim spending on cosmetics is estimated at US$70 billion in 2021; according to recent projections, US$93 billion will be spent on halal cosmetics by 2025 (DinarStandard 2022, p. 29). Halal cosmetics sales have grown faster in East Asia than in any other market, driven by Indonesian brands of all shapes and sizes, from small independent startups to established players expanding their market presence. Such growth in a challenging environment created by the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates the growth potential of halal cosmetics. Major ingredient manufacturers like Hourglass Cosmetics and Unilever, for instance, have their portfolios halal certified. Indonesia’s large Muslim population, an estimated 225 million people, is a crucial driver of the growth of halal cosmetics, driven by its young population and the country’s strategic moves to develop an Islamic economy. Indonesian brands also want to establish themselves more globally, and there are efforts to expand halal cosmetics ranges beyond women to men. For example, the Indonesian enterprise Paragon, which owns the nation’s top halal brand, Wardah, has introduced Kahf, a line with self-care products for men (State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2020, p. 29).

3 The New Hijaber Identity

The growth of this sector is intertwined with the new identity of young Muslim women who wear hijabs—also known as hijabers; a combination of the words hijab and users—who become the perfect consumers of a market created specifically for them. In fact, from the beginning of the new century, “newly articulated and contextually different manifestations of ‘Islamic capitalism’ have emerged. A new market for commodities, media, advertising, businesses, and consumer segments identified as ‘Islamic’ has contributed to the creation of a new culture industry” (Gökariksel and McLarney 2010, p. 1). This new industry of Islamic culture is increasingly focused on the production, packaging, and distribution of religious products, as is clearly visible through several commodity sectors: television programming with Ramadan television specials, home furnishings, and Islamic housing complexes, popular music and Koranic clubs, hajj trips, banks, and clothing. Being Muslim very quickly became something that could be consumed and proclaimed. In the new media, Islam is represented from advertisements ranging from cosmetics to living, in fashion, lifestyles, celebrities, Islamic soap operas, spiritual experiences to Islamic books (Noorhaidi 2009).1 In this context, companies marketed a range of images and products specifically for Muslim women, who were identified as a niche market with special needs and desires.

The market forces of consumer capitalism increasingly mediate contemporary Muslim femininities, which affects Muslim women’s identities, lifestyles, and sense of belonging in complex ways. What it means to be a Muslim woman is constantly negotiated, defined, and redefined through or in response to the images, narratives and information about Muslim womanhood constructed by the market. The veil simultaneously embodies the challenge and replication of stereotypes, as it becomes an indicator of action, self-expression, and power (Gökariksel and McLarney 2010, p. 2). In this context, the identity of the hijaber is built around young women who wear the veil and express a colorful vision of Islam. They are active users of social networks (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) and fashion blogs, which are considered good references for clothing choices and the construction of their identities (Beta 2014). The hijaber identity, therefore, has nothing to do with the stereotypical concepts related to Muslim women, especially those about the lack of freedom and agency. In her influential study of women in the mosque movement in Egypt, Saba Mahmood (2011) has shown that by donning the veil, Muslim women in Egypt asserted themselves—without staging resistance. She refers to what she regards as one of the key tropes of patriarchal violence, the veil, as symbolic “evidence of the violence Islam has inflicted upon women” (Mahmood 2011, p. 194). Instead of embracing this trope, she underlines that the veil should rather be perceived to cultivate virtue. Women do so through veiling and teaching themselves about their religion and how to pray correctly or be a good person. These misunderstood concepts about Muslim women’s agency are further strengthened by Abu-Lughod (2002, p. 3):

First, we have to resist the reductive interpretation of veiling as the quintessential sign of women’s unfreedom (…) Second, we shouldn’t reduce the diverse situations and attitudes of millions of Muslim women to a single item of clothing. Perhaps it is time to give up the black and white Western obsession with the veil and focus on some serious issues that feminists and others concerned with women’s lives should indeed be concerned with.

As argued by Smith-Hefner (2007), for reasons of piety and protection, modesty, and mobility, by the early 2000s, veiling had become increasingly common among middle-class Javanese women, resulting in a de facto requirement for women attending university. Several new, more explicitly “Muslim” enterprises—including banks, restaurants, nursery schools, bookstores, and food stores—have also made veiling mandatory for female employees. One consequence of this rapidly expanding market for headscarves has been the proliferation of stores and boutiques offering Islami clothing and a wide array of Muslim-style fashions. Modern pluralism needs to be considered: “Jilbab, kerudung, cadar, fongki—the different forms that Javanese veiling takes represent different visions of Islam, different constructions of community, and different ways of engaging modern pluralism. Hardly a symbol of domestic seclusion, for many middle-class Javanese, the “new veil” or jilbab is a symbol of modern Muslim womanhood as expressed in varied modern environments: university campuses, government offices, big cities, and employment markets” (Smith-Hefner 2007, p. 414).

Hijabers express modern Muslim femininity as dynamic and independent women wearing the veil. They want to maintain the use of the hijab and encourage greater empathy towards Islam through fashion, making it increasingly popular in Indonesia. The Hijabers Community, a group founded by young Muslim women in Jakarta that quickly spread to other cities in Java, is linked to the rise of Muslim fashion brands (see Saraswati 2023, this volume, Chap. 4). They shaped the image of the beautiful, modest Muslim woman through their social media outfits; some founders became fashion designers. The veil, in various colors and styles, has become a natural means of affirming the identity of young Indonesian Muslim women.

Furthermore, the growing increase in the use of hijab has had a very positive impact on the Indonesian Muslim fashion industry (the so-called modest fashion). Indonesia is expected to become the world capital of Muslim fashion by 2025. All these new dynamics come together to form the new identity of veiled young Indonesians in the urban context: “the popular Hijaber notion illustrates a successful strategy for a Muslim woman in Indonesia’s big cities: putting obvious symbols of religiousness at the service of a decidedly cosmopolitan outlook. She is a consumer, but within the confines of a virtuous appearance as defined by religion” (Beta 2014, p. 386).

4 Methods

The chapter focuses on the images of Indonesian young Muslim women wearing a hijab (hijabers) to reveal how the halal label is used and funneled into concrete instructions. Religiosity is built into their characters, conveying “the view that a veiled woman is always a good person” (Wardhana 2007, in Subijanto 2011, p. 247). Based on a text analysis, this chapter will describe the images of Muslim women through the lens of halal cosmetics commercials. Specifically, the core elements of this research are three Indonesian halal commercials of cosmetic brands posted on their YouTube channel. YouTube is a widely used social network in Indonesia, with 88% of users (Hootsuite 2019, p. 33).

Within the field of halal cosmetics, scholars have paid attention to how consumers make their purchasing decisions (Handriana et al. 2021; Haro 2018) and attitudes toward halal cosmetics. This chapter’s novelty lies in the analysis of how halal cosmetics are represented by halal brands on the one hand and Islamic male preachers on the other, funneling the halal label into concrete instructions. By looking at how Islamic male preachers discuss halal cosmetics in their video clips on YouTube, we can better understand how they frame such cosmetics in legal terms. Moreover, we learn how these instructions highlight the values and dynamics of the Indonesian Islamic lifestyle. In both types of videos, Islam is made to be easily understandable, to make religious practice within everyone’s reach.

5 The Representation of the Muslim Woman in Cosmetics Commercials

Cosmetics commercials make it possible to read Indonesian Muslim women’s identity transformations through new, complex dynamics. But before doing this, they reveal the brand image through the advertised product. “Brand image is an antecedent of consumer trust in halal cosmetic products. Brand image on halal cosmetic products is generally associated by consumers with product content in accordance with Islamic religious norms. This indicates that consumers will have high trust in halal cosmetic products when they assume that the cosmetic brand has a good image” (Handriana et al. 2021, p. 1305). In line with that, the three brands have been specially selected for their very popular, positive, and hijaber-friendly image. This influences the choices of this category of consumers, which translates into sales and views successes.

The first two commercials represent two brands (Sunsilk and Citra) that Unilever Indonesia owns. Founded on 5 December 1933, Unilever Indonesia has developed into one of Indonesia's leading Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies. It is present in Indonesians’ daily lives through more than 40 owned brands, such as Pepsodent, Lux, Lifebuoy, Dove, Sunsilk, Clear, Rexona, Vaseline, Rinso, Molto, Sunlight, Wall’s. Unilever Indonesia’s shares have been listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange since 11 January 1982. Its head office is in Tangerang, with nine factories located in the industrial areas of Jababeka, Cikarang, and Rungkut, Surabaya. Its factories and products have also received halal certification from the Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI). In May 2021, Unilever Indonesia launched its Unilever Muslim Center of Excellence (MCOE). The MCOE works as a research hub for halal products and innovations in line with the needs of Muslim consumers in Indonesia and abroad. With the launch of Unilever MCOE, Unilever has further strengthened its commitment to implementing a comprehensive halal assurance system from upstream to downstream. The development of the MCOE is supported by the Indonesian government’s National Islamic Economy and Finance Committee (KNEKS), the key agency for Indonesia’s Shariah Economy Masterplan 2019–2024 (MEKSI).

The third commercial represents a Procter & Gamble-owned brand (Rejoice) instead. P&G, founded in Indonesia 30 years ago, is now one of the key global markets and home to a world-class, multi-category manufacturing plant in Karawang, creating products for not only the local market but also for consumers globally. It has sold many top brands, including Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Rejoice, Downy, Gillette, Pampers, SK-II, Olay, and Vicks.

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    Sunsilk Hijab Shampoo

Posted on Sunsilk Indonesia YouTube profile2—which has more than 57 thousand subscribers—on 30th April 2019, this commercial was specially designed to advertise Sunsilk Hijab shampoo during the month of Ramadan. The video hit more than one million views. Sunsilk is a brand known all over the world. In Indonesia it is one of the favorite brands, thanks to its long tradition in this market (more than 63 years), its choice of very popular Indonesian brand ambassadors, and the distribution of products that meet the needs of local women. Specifically, Sunsilk Hijab Shampoo is one of the pioneers of shampoo for hijab which Unilever Indonesia produces. However, Sunsilk products are being pushed by increasing competitors such as Pantene and Clear and Clean (Andini 2022, p. 1). The brand's philosophy urges Indonesian women to be proud of their naturally dark hair and emphasizes the beauty of women who wear hijab. The company has long focused on this mission, as demonstrated by the launch in 2012 of the annual “Sunsilk Hijab Hunt,” whose popularity is growing yearly. The competition, which is televised to a huge rating success, aims to find Indonesia’s most talented Muslim woman (muslimah berbekat), also aiming to provide role models for Muslim women and explore their potential. Since the first edition, this highly successful initiative has generated many talented figures who are a source of inspiration for Indonesian women. In 2016 several Sunsilk shampoos changed their name and packaging precisely to be targeted at women who wear hijab; for example, “Lively Strong” is now “Hijab Recharge Lively Strong” and other products include the “Hijab Recharge Anti-Dandruff” range. Other communication campaigns include festivals, such as “Kilau Fest” or “Shine Fest”, organized in many Indonesian cities, often presented by Indonesian stars as brand ambassadors.

The title of this video ad is “Ramadhan Adem dan Harum bersama Sunsilk Hijab” which means “Cool and Fragrant Ramadan with Sunsilk Hijab.” It describes a typical day of a Muslim girl during the holy month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting, prayer, reflection, and community. The superimposed timeline underlines the principal moments of the day during Ramadan month: sahur (breakfast at sunrise before starting fasting all day), buka bersama (breaking the fast at sunset when Muslims are allowed to eat), mudik (returning to one’s hometown where one`s family and relatives usually live, to celebrate Ramadan together). This video ad aims to show that Ramadan is made more enjoyable and unique by the benefits of this shampoo, which is specially designed for Muslim women who wear the hijab. The opening scene of this video ad is a close-up of the shampoo bottle and the young girl wearing hijab as the main character. Below are the expressions spoken by the narrator, translated from Indonesian to English.

My Ramadan with Sunsilk Hijab. From morning to evening, (my hair) is still cool and fragrant.

Here it is evident how ads further strengthen “the beauty myth and the pressure felt by hijabers to manage a fashionable look and to take care of their beauty in every moment” (Madeleine and Sarwono 2018, p. 207). Women’s hair should be always perfumed and cool as long as possible. This is also applied to Muslim women: “the media put pressure on them to have a perfect appearance while wearing hijab” (Latiff and Alam 2013, in Madeleine and Sarwono 2018, p. 207).

The visual aspect is very effective. In the scene set on the train showing the protagonist’s journey to her hometown, while the other girls in the train coach are sweating and uncomfortable, the protagonist who uses the Sunsilk Shampoo is portrayed smiling, flawless and with roses in ice cubes coming out of her hijab to stress the most important benefit of this shampoo, which is that the hair stays cool and fragrant for 48 h: “Mudik becomes comfortable, (my hair) stays cool and fragrant for 48 h, from Jakarta to the hometown.” The video ends with the scene of the girl arriving at home and is welcomed by her whole family, but she just says “Assalamualaikum Ibu (mother).” In addition, to highlighting the importance of the traditional Muslim greeting, this is a marketing strategy aimed at highlighting Muslim female figures as likely buyers of Sunsilk Hijab shampoo. In line with this principle, almost all the characters in this video ad are women. For marketing reasons, it should also be noted that Sunsilk logo is always present throughout the video, clearly visible in the upper right corner.

“Sunsilk Hijab: number one Hijab Shampoo in Indonesia” is the last text of the video, which is used as an efficient and impressive slogan to make people buy the advertised product because it is the best shampoo, namely the “number one” in Indonesia. This is an overt example of consumer interests and trends, as it shows consumerist femininity. This text is marked with the Indonesian Ulema Council symbol (Majelis Ulama Indonesia, MUI) to indicate that Sunsilk Hijab is a halal shampoo. As Indonesia’s highest Muslim independent clerical body, one of the MUI`s most important tasks is the halal certification of products, including but not limited to foods, cosmetics, medicines, and clothing. A girl who decides to buy and use the Sunsilk shampoo for the hijab is represented as a good Muslim woman who respects Islamic rules, for example, by highlighting that the advertised product can enhance Ramadan celebrations. In that sense, sahur, berbuka, mudik, Assalamualaikum are all symbols of the observance of Islam to set a good example of a Muslim woman, especially for the young generation of hijabers. The “good Muslim young woman” depicted in this video is beautiful, attractive, and stylish in her accurate make-up and trendy outfit.

It conveys an authentic modern and urban womanhood with a lifestyle that follows contemporary trends: the girl acts as a model in a photo shoot, then meets her friends to break the fast and take selfies together. These aspects can also be considered as an expression of an affluent middle class, to which is added the image of travelling to the hometown on an “exclusive” train, which is undoubtedly more expensive than a regular train. As argued by Sakai and Fauzia (2016, p. 230), “the increasing need for money to support a consumer-based lifestyle, coupled with their desire to be good Muslims, has put pressure on women to generate an income to meet these needs.”

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    Citra Wakame body cream

Citra is a Unilever-owned brand specializing in the production of body lotion, face care, and body wash. The title of the video #CitraCantikIndonesia: Merawat Anugerah-Nya Adalah Ibadah (“Taking care of His gifts is a religious obligation”) illustrates the close connection between beauty canons and religion that the cosmetics industry creates with the halal label.

Citra shapes a specific aesthetic canon (clear and radiant skin): Islamic values are reaffirmed in the process. Muslim women will buy Citra cream because caring for their bodies as a gift from God is an Islamic obligation. In addition, the video’s main character acts as a driving force for consumers: “Don’t forget to use Citra Wakame to make your skin glow, just like Bella did”; she is a role model to follow. This video chooses a famous testimonial to encourage consumers to buy the product.

Laudya Cynthia Bella is an Indonesian star, pop singer, film, and successful soap opera actress. Bella also founded her brand of hijab, clothing, and accessories for Muslim women. Her work is also featured in the commercial. Posted on 12th June 2015,3 this commercial can be considered a video diary in which Laudya uses an intimate and confidential tone of voice. It reached over 2 million views, and the Cantik Citra YouTube profile has over 37 thousand subscribers. This video begins with a common dilemma for many Muslim girls in today’s Indonesia: “To wear hijab or not to wear hijab? That used to be my dilemma. What will people say later?” This dilemma underlines the intense pressure Muslim women feel due to the conservative paradigm in Islam, which holds that women who do not wear hijab are not devout Muslims, nor are they “good women.” Subijanto (2011, p. 246) frames this as follows: “While the women are moralized, their identities (and thus stereotypes) are reaffirmed, the good and the veil; the wicked and the sexy and the vulgar. Hidden in the representation is, thus, the old patriarchal ideology regulating women’s bodies, masked in the name of religious reification.”

In the video diary, the “good and the veil” is embodied in Bella's careful linking of God’s gifts with her hijab-wearing practices: “But I realise that everything one has is a gift from Allah. I wear hijab because of my gratitude; taking care of all His gifts is part of worship.” Bella's message was eloquent. Although she felt strong doubt at first, she understood that everything around her was a gift from Allah. There was a strong affirmation of the greatness of God: “I treat my entire body with Citra Wakame, which brightens my skin without the sticky feeling. Its gel texture makes my skin fresh all day, even though my whole body is covered.” With this last sentence another very important Islamic obligation is highlighted, that of covering the aurat, those parts of the body that have to be covered. Bella is then shown designing her clothing line and having the models try on the garments. “I feel at ease to continue working.”

The commercial is not only meant to present the example of a successful Indonesian and Muslim woman, but also the figure of a Muslim entrepreneur running her own business. According to Bella, “the image of Indonesian beauty” is to not be afraid to change for the better and to be grateful for what Allah has given: “For me, the beautiful image of Indonesia is to never be afraid to change into our better selves and to be grateful for what Allah has given us. How about you?” This video offers a clear representation of “spiritual beauty” (Jones 2010), again to express and funnel concrete religious instructions.

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    Rejoice Hijab Shampoo

As the first hair care shampoo on the market with a 2-in-1 formula (shampoo with conditioner), Rejoice is one of the best-selling hair care brands in Indonesia. The brand focuses on meeting every need of women, as shown by the prominent tagline “Perempuan Rejoice” (Woman Rejoice) on the official Rejoice Indonesia website. Since the beginning, Rejoice has been innovating by launching the first “2-in-1” shampoo and bringing the concept of “hair care like going to an expensive salon” into an affordable shampoo product. In 2018, Rejoice launched the Rejoice Perfume Collection—the first perfume shampoo in Indonesia which provides the fragrance of expensive perfumes formulated by international perfume experts. In 2019, Rejoice launched the Rejoice Hijab Perfection Series, which was specifically created to solve hair problems faced by hijabers. Rejoice Hijab already has four types of products on the market (Farisa 2021).

With more than 800.5 thousand views, this is a music video promoting the Rejoice Hijab Shampoo. It was posted on 22nd August 2017 on Rejoice Indonesia4 YouTube channel, which currently has 23.5 thousand subscribers. All the main characters are young, veiled women, as the advertised product is a specific shampoo for hijabers. The green-colored hijab runs like a red thread throughout the video: (1) all the girls wear a green hijab, precisely to draw attention to (2) the green color of the shampoo bottle packaging, also because (3) the woman represented on the shampoo bottle is wearing a green hijab. #Hijabisa is the hashtag properly created to advertise the product with a solid inner meaning. “Hijabisa”—a combination of two words, hijab, the Arabic noun for the veil, and the Indonesian verb bisa—could be translated as “hijab can.” Hijabisa is stressed in the title and in the title and chorus of the song. This emphasizes that hijabers should feel free to express themselves because hijab does not restrict their freedom. Below are the lyrics of the song lyrics, translated from Indonesian to English:

I don’t need to choose, I have everything

In one Rejoice I get three benefits

Because I Hijabisa

Rejoice has three benefits

For me Hijabisa

First, my hair becomes fresher

Second, its softness is always felt

Third, the dandruff is gone

Rejoice 3 in 1

Hijabisa I Hijabisa

Because Rejoice Hijabisa we Hijabisa

The opening scene of this video ad shows the female singer Fatin walking out from a beautiful western-styled house with the text “Rejoice x Fatin,” while the text is superimposed over the screen as colorful, large, and eye-catching lettering. Here, it is crucial to consider the choice of singer who is certainly no ordinary singer. She is Fatin Shidqia, an Indonesian singer and actress who won the first season of the Indonesian version of The X Factor in May 2013. This choice is intentionally a marketing strategy to get the Rejoice Hijab Shampoo sponsored by a very famous Indonesian artist. Furthermore, this also means that the woman’s image shown by this ad is a woman wearing a hijab, young, beautiful, charming in her well-chosen make-up and elegant outfit, which is usually a successful woman. Sakai and Fauzia (2016, p. 231) noted that “working Muslim women are creating an appropriate and acceptable alternative Islamic womanhood, which runs counter to the narrowly defined role of Muslim women as domesticated and subordinated.” They further explain that globalization and modernization brought a wave of Middle Eastern Islamism to Indonesia, which affected the perception of Islamic womanhood, especially among middle-class Muslims, by highlighting women’s domestic responsibilities. “Women may have careers as long as they prioritise domestic work. To achieve this, working Muslim women employ a strategy: wearing headscarves (jilbab) in public. By wearing jilbab, they publicly show that they prioritize piety, including the commitment to act appropriately in a woman’s role” (Sakai and Fauzia 2016, p. 231).

Then, the following scene represents two girls doing outdoor sport activities: one is skateboarding, and the other one is biking. There is an apparent reference to an urban environment, with graffiti on the building walls as outdoor sports background. In the following scenes, some girls practice hip-hop dance in a ballroom while others play basketball on an outdoor basketball court. All these scenes serve to contextualize the urban and contemporary setting. At this point, a big, green-colored text #Hijabisa appears on the screen, below the singer’s image, as it stands for the title and the refrain of the song used to promote the shampoo.

The hashtag (#) is clearly created to match the language of the young generation on social media, as the ad aims precisely to appeal to young hijabers with hashtags and elements of Western culture (skateboarding, basket, graffiti, hip-hop dance) to increase their buy-in. Western culture is explicitly reflected in all the sports and activities shown, skateboarding, playing basketball, dancing hip-hop and playing music like a band. This shows that (1) hijabers can express themselves freely, also using western culture; (2) they can maintain their good looks even in activities that are normally considered masculine and do not reflect the delicate attitude expected of women.

In the next scene, some other girls interrupt their activities (playing basketball and dancing hip hop) and join Fatin to walk with her. In this scene, the Rejoice logo, shampoo bottle, and sachet packaging are shown in large dimensions to draw attention to the advertised product. Then all the women start dancing while Fatin sings the song, highlighting the three essential benefits of Rejoice shampoo for hijab: fresh, soft, and dandruff-free hair. One by one, these benefits are displayed in a large, colorful text together with the image #Hijabisa. This song part is repeated a second time to emphasize the benefits and convince the customer with a pleasant sound and catchy words. The song ends with the following expression: “Karena Rejoice Hijabisa kita Hijabisa,” which means “Because Rejoice Hijabisa we Hijabisa (“Hijab can”). The expression Hijabisa is coined to communicate in a direct, immediate, and impressive way that hijab has a positive meaning. The Rejoice logo is always present throughout the video, clearly visible in the top right corner. In doing so, the advertiser makes the product recognizable and customary by recalling the brand through the logo and its shapes, colors, and images.

6 Halal, Hijab, and Happiness

Islam is perfectly capable of adapting to the emerging consumer culture, and advertising is creating an infinite flow of representations in which the advertised products, Islam, and the veil, are transformed into positive experiences. The three halal cosmetics commercials analyzed above emphasize that religion—Islam—allows people to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil. Through the halal label, these commercials are designed both to sell and to educate consumers, especially the younger generation of hijabers, on how to be “good Muslims,” giving them concrete instructions.

Islam assumes a positive and friendly image, but at the same time, it is essential to the life of every “good Muslim” in Indonesia. In these ads, parts of what Safira (2017) calls a whole “Islamic package” convey a positive image of Islam and a good example of a Muslim woman wearing the hijab. Moreover, the ads cleverly incorporate the cycle of the Islamic calendar year. Many Islamic advertisements are seasonal, especially during the most important moments of the Islamic calendar, such as the holy month of Ramadan or the Idul Fitri, when the selling power of Islamic products is particularly growing (Nef-Saluz 2007, p. 50). In this analysis, the Sunsilk Hijab Shampoo video ad is explicitly created for Ramadan. In Indonesia, Islam is closely linked to existing local traditions; therefore, Ramadan is a month of religious observance, also mixing cultural traditions. Fasting is presented within the Indonesian cultural context, representing, for example, the “buka bersama” moment.

The three ads set new standards for a gendered Indonesian halal lifestyle by showing how Islamic identity and beauty are interconnected. By watching these commercials, Indonesian Muslims expect the products to be halal. The halal status implies compliance with Islamic law, purity, integrity, transparency, and the ability to do something good for their health. These characteristics must be present to gain and maintain consumer confidence. The only indicator that ascertains and guarantees the halal status of a product is the certification issued by Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI). With certification, manufacturers and companies that own the brands can use the halal logo on their packaging and communication channels. The absence of the halal logo raises doubts about whether it is approved for Muslims. Therefore, the halal logo makes purchasing easier for Muslim consumers (Safira 2017). From the commercials analyzed, brands emphasize halal status through the appearance of the halal logo in the video and the narrative voice to encourage Muslim consumers to purchase their halal products.

The hijab is the lynchpin of the three videos examined. All the main characters, and most of the other women represented, wear hijabs. The hijab demonstrates the current process in Indonesian Islam that maintains the value of the hijab as an essential Islamic attribute for Muslim women but makes it popular and fashionable. The commercials express the good image of the veil as a desirable object to be a fashionable Muslim. They work as a channel that conveys Islamic principles and the “good example” of a Muslim woman. The image of a woman presented by the commercials aims to communicate a good example of a Muslim woman, especially for the younger generation of hijabers. Wearing the veil not only means being devoted but also being an independent, working, fashionable woman with a modern Islamic lifestyle. The “positive power” of the veil also emphasized an expression of female beauty. The commercials analyzed represent the image of the veil as a fundamental Islamic attribute but also a conscious and free choice. The goal is to let hijabers understand that they can feel free to express themselves while wearing hijab.

In line with the gender stereotypes that dictate the myth of beauty, beautiful and devoted Muslim women must wear hijab. Messages on social media perpetuate such a one-sided representation of female beauty. They urge Muslim women always to keep their hair well-groomed, even if the hijab covers them. Shampoo commercials reiterate that hair must always be perfect and perfumed as long as possible. As a result, women want to make their hair look like those portrayed in these videos or on social media. In Indonesia, it is also quite common for a woman to be evaluated by her hair, as if the female identity must be centralized in a specific part of the body (Arimbi 2017). Hair represents beauty, identity, and self-esteem. Buying unique products for hijab is configured as a forced choice by the recurring images proposed by the commercials of shampoos, conditioners, lotions, and special fragrances for the hair care of Muslim women.

In some commercials, it is also noted that the perception of one's identity as a Muslim woman is currently conditioned by a dilemma relating to the choice of wearing the hijab or not. Covering the aurat is a must for every Muslim woman, but many women today are reluctant to wear the hijab for various reasons. This issue, explicitly addressed by the Citra brand, highlights the strong pressure felt Muslim women feel due to a conservative Islamic paradigm, according to which a woman who does not wear a hijab is neither a devout Muslim nor a good woman.

The makers behind the commercials use different strategies to get the message across that their products make young women happy and successful and, at the same time, encourage them in their Islamic faith. One strategy is to recruit Indonesian stars as brand ambassadors, as Rejoice and Citra do. These public figures can be classified as “celebrities with an Islamic image” (Safira 2017, p. 54). Choosing a famous person familiar to Indonesian consumers as the protagonist of the commercial has a double meaning: (1) it is a marketing strategy that will guarantee the video millions of views and, therefore, maximum results in terms of product purchase; (2) in turn, the famous testimonial is an example to follow, both her religious image and for her role as a successful Muslim woman.

Another strategy is to show that being a happy, young, beautiful, successful modern Muslim woman who plays Western sports and travels to Western countries does not have to be a contradiction. Self-determined, independent, and professional representations of Muslim women conform to imaginations of the ideal consumer. The main characters of the commercials represent modern Muslim women with a genuinely Muslim lifestyle that is both urban and consumerist. Sakai and Fauzia (2016, p. 231) stated that “working Muslim women are creating an appropriate and acceptable alternative Islamic womanhood, which runs counter to the narrowly defined role of Muslim women as domesticated and subordinated.”

In the second part of this chapter, I examine how Islamic male preachers (ustadz) approach halal cosmetics and how they present them in their video clips against the background of halal certification. This way, we can better understand how they legally classify these cosmetics, offering advice and instructions to their audience. Although in different ways, it will be apparent to which extent these videos share with the commercials the same objective.

7 Make-Up and Cosmetics from Islamic Male Preachers’ Point of View

The first two videos have been selected as they share the same Q&A format, target (especially Muslim women older than hijabers), and the same objective to offer advice to their vast audience (more than 20 thousand views each). The third video is instead excerpted from a religious meeting, but it also conveys concrete instructions like the other two videos. The first video is about skincare or cosmetics that contain alcohol by Adi Yusuf and Alwi Yusuf. This video has been published on NET. official YouTube channel, as part of the Saliha program.

NET. (Net Mediatama Television) is an Indonesian free-to-air television network that was launched on 26 May 2013. It provides television entertainment with quality program content for all levels of audiences in Indonesia. The content presented—especially favored by young Indonesians—provides positive and inspiring value, inspires, and continues to grow in innovation. Its programs include news, infotainment, breakout music, comedy, and talk shows. Religious programs (like Saliha) are only broadcast during the holy month of Ramadan. More specifically, Saliha is an inspirational program for Muslim women through content that can increase open-mindedness and self-confidence. The program was aired during the holy month of Ramadan every Saturday and Sunday at 05.30 AM, with a duration of 30 min. However, it remained on schedule during the other months sharing inspiration and knowledge about the Muslim world. Unlike other Islamic programs, each episode of Saliha presents a different broadcast segmentation. The first segment is about lifestyle and reading of the Qur’an during Ramadan, the second is about lifestyle as well, regarding cats in Islam (keistimewaan kucing dalam Islam), and the third is the #tanyaUstad segment with ustadz Alwi Yusuf and Adi Yusuf (Ustadz Kembar, twins). Apart from lifestyle and #tanyaUstadz, Saliha NET also contains culinary references, inspirational stories, and traveling.

In each segment, Islamic elements are in accordance with the Qur'an and hadith. Because the target of the Saliha program is millennials, the background displayed is colorful and bright so that the broadcast is not monotonous, and the message can be easily understood. The inspirational story segment is a story based on someone's personal experience that can inspire others. For example, it can explain how a hijrah journey shares inspirational stories from various backgrounds, such as artists, celebrities, or communities who actively use social media.

The video analyzed is taken from #TanyaUstadz segment program, which is particularly interesting because Saliha viewers are given the opportunity to ask questions about the Islamic world to twin ustadz through the Instagram social media account @salihanet (Apriyanti 2019). It was posted on 12th August 2018 and reached more than 47 thousand views.5 For example, the user @afitera asked: “Ustadz, I want to ask, is it okay for a Muslimah to use skin care or make-up that contains alcohol?”.

They responded by saying:

So, if for example we use perfume, cosmetics that contain alcohol, what is the law? Let's see first, what is alcohol made of? So, alcohol is usually what we know; alcohol is intoxicating. It turns out that there are many types of alcohol, not just intoxicating. Anyway, there are names for chemical formulas. So, if, for example, there is an alcohol called ethanol, there is one called methanol, different chemical formulas. So different types of alcohol give rise to different laws. Anyway, if the use of alcohol is for drinking, it is haram. Any intoxicant is categorised as khamr (alcoholic beverages), and any intoxicant is haram. If alcohol is made from vegetable elements, then the substance is pure, like fermented grapes of all kinds, corn and so on, it is permissible but anything that is subhat (in Arabic shubha means obscurity, or unfounded conceit) is better left out. There are a lot of things that are halal. The important thing is to know that this does not contain animal elements because usually the animal elements fall crying, especially if we know exactly that it does not contain pork oil, for example, yes, it is absolutely impossible, and we should just avoid it. What is lawful is clear and what is unlawful is clear, and the matter in the middle is subhat. And subhat is better to avoid.

The second video is produced by Dr. Musyaffa Ad Dariny on the YouTube channel called “Halo Ustadz”, a multichannel6 service that connects worshipers with Ustadz. It is available through downloading the App, phone calling, and social media profiles on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. The YouTube channel has more than 85 thousand subscribers and millions of views.7 In the selected video clip, the preacher answers the following question: “Which is the ruling if a Muslim woman uses a face whitening cream? Is that allowed?”.

Below is his answer, translated into English:

All beauty medicines were originally permitted except those which were prohibited. [...] What is included in the treatment is allowed, what is not included in the treatment, for example, if it is something that changes Allah’s creation, it is not allowed.

The third video is shorter but refers to an important concept that is also mentioned in the commercials: inner beauty, which Ustadz Abdul Somad considers more important than outer beauty. In this video clip—posted on 25th October 2017 on his personal YouTube channel, named “Tanya Ustadz Somad”, with more than 44 thousand views8—the Ustadz responds to a believer's question about whether a Muslim woman can use make-up.

The important thing is not makeup but inner beauty, beauty from within, because of your dhikr, because of the traces of ablution water, because of the traces reading the Quran.

In a few years, Abdul Somad transformed from a small-town lecturer (from Asahan, North Sumatra) to a highly notable digital preacher in Indonesia, with over 9.6 million Instagram followers. Somad graduated from two prestigious Islamic universities: Al-Azhar University in Egypt and Dar al-Hadits al-Hasaniyyah Institute in Morocco. His popularity is based on his exceptional use of the Arabic language, Islamic texts, and his knowledge of Islamic history. Somad's preaching style incorporates a Q&A format, which allows him to personalize his sermons through a more intimate two-way dialogue. This allows him to address an array of questions to demonstrate that Islam has an answer for everything from everyday life topics to Islamic law. However, he is involved in severe controversies and accuses, most notably because he referred to the Christian cross “an element of the devil” during one of his sermons (The Jakarta Post 2019).

First, these videos show a different audience than the commercials. They are aimed at a female audience of older age, who recognize the local ustadz among the most authoritative references. They turn to them to resolve any doubts in everyday life, as also the format of the video generally question-and-answer demonstrates. There is also an informal linguistic register, also aligned with the video clips format.

8 Conclusion

As this chapter has shown, Islam seems to be perfectly capable of to align with the needs determined by consumer culture, proposing a positive image, but at the same time, essential to the life of every “good Muslim” in Indonesia. This is expressed—in different ways—both by the commercials and by the male preachers’ videos. In combining ideas of Islamic identity and beauty, all the commercials tend to shape a gendered halal lifestyle in which women are virtuous consumers. The same virtue that is emphasized by the Islamic male preachers, who place themselves in direct and persistent contact with the worshipers through the most accessible and instantaneous means to influence as well as educate. Although they have been targeted to different audiences, they have the same purpose: both aim to funnel concrete instructions and serve as a religious and life guide. Whether it is implicitly expressed by the images reproduced in the commercials or explicitly said by the voice of the ustadz, this halal lifestyle is built and rebuilt through what is allowed and not allowed to do or buy.

Femininity is reshaped by combining two forces: the laws of the market imposed by consumerism, and the definition of an ideal and stereotyped Muslim canon of beauty. The female image recurrently represented by halal cosmetics commercials establishes that a Muslim woman can be independent, successful, beautiful, fashionable, if she wears the veil.

Notes

  1. 1.

    A machine generated summary based on the work of Hasan, Noorhaidi 2009 in Contemporary Islam.

  2. 2.

    Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYmm6QW35sU. Accessed: 15 December 2023.

  3. 3.

    Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v29W0ZSjDas&list=WL&index=9&t=0s. Accessed: 15 December 2023.

  4. 4.

    Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S9LfUkdavM. Accessed: 13 December 2023.

  5. 5.

    Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjjuEb_SXQ4. Accessed: 12 December 2023.

  6. 6.

    Available at: https://berbagi.link/haloustadz. Accessed: 31 May 2023.

  7. 7.

    Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFZU0WJD-y4. Accessed: 16 December 2023.

  8. 8.

    Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVb9A-0zIDk&t=47s. Accessed: 15 December 2023.