Hashtag Islam: How Cyber-Islamic Environments Are Transforming Religious Authority

by Gary R. Bunt

Overview

Gary R. Bunt is a twenty-year pioneer in the study of cyber-Islamic environments (CIEs). In his new book, Bunt explores the diverse and surprising ways digital technology is shaping how Muslims across vast territories relate to religious authorities in fulfilling spiritual, mystical, and legalistic agendas. From social networks to websites, essential elements of religious practices and authority now have representation online. Muslims, embracing the immediacy and general accessibility of the internet, are increasingly turning to cyberspace for advice and answers to important religious questions. Online environments often challenge traditional models of authority, however. One result is the rise of digitally literate religious scholars and authorities whose influence and impact go beyond traditional boundaries of imams, mullahs, and shaikhs.

Bunt shows how online rhetoric and social media are being used to articulate religious faith by many different kinds of Muslim organizations and individuals, from Muslim comedians and women's rights advocates to jihad-oriented groups, such as the "Islamic State" and al-Qaeda, which now clearly rely on strategic digital media policies to augment and justify their authority and draw recruits. This book makes clear that understanding CIEs is crucial for the holistic interpretation of authority in contemporary Islam.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469643168
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	10/08/2018
Series:	Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.53(d)

About the Author

Gary R. Bunt is professor of Islamic studies at University of Wales, Trinity Saint David. His most recent book is iMuslims.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Hashtag Islam—the newest work by one of the pioneers in reporting on Islam in cyberspace—reflects an incredible range of views and counterviews and provides a valuable corrective to the tendency to focus on the negative and political uses of the internet and social media by jihadists without due consideration of the more everyday uses by all kinds of Muslims."—Daniel Varisco, Qatar University

Provides a clear and well-written focus on the impact of cyber-technologies on issues of faith and authority, offering insights into the ways in which the internet has become integrated into the dissemination of Islamic knowledge within global and local contexts. A key contribution that will attract students from an array of disciplines, including Islamic studies, Middle Eastern studies, and political science."—Vahideh Golzard, University of Leeds

Editorial Reviews

08/27/2018
In this incisive investigation, Bunt (iMuslims) situates ISIS’s use of social media within a broader context of “Cyber Islamic Environments” and highlights how social media is reshaping Islam worldwide. When Jihadi John, a British citizen who defected to ISIS and carried out beheadings on camera, went viral in 2014 and 2015, Bunt writes, there was a furor of media activity surrounding the technological prowess of the Islamic State and its ability to spread terror around the world via tweets, YouTube videos, and online chat rooms. Homing in on this point of transition, Bunt adroitly illustrates how approaches to religious authority, interpretation, power, and communication have changed over the last two decades. These broader observations are constructed through in-depth studies of al-Qaeda’s burgeoning “e-jihad” movement, online Muslim dating networks, celebrity ayatollahs on Twitter, and “snapwas”—fatwas, or religious rulings, delivered via SnapChat. Broad in scope, Bunt’s survey moves at a fast pace and covers a lot of ground as it introduces the reader to the vast variety of digital expressions within global Islam. For this reason, it lacks some nuance, context, and critical analysis. Nevertheless, by investigating how Muslim communities are utilizing (and being transformed by) the ongoing worldwide digital revolution, this work proves to be an important addition to literature on contemporary Islam. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

The sociological underpinnings of this work make for a touchstone for further investigation.—Library Journal

Adroitly illustrates how approaches to religious authority, interpretation, power, and communication have changed over the last two decades. . . . An important addition to literature on contemporary Islam.—Publishers Weekly

Bunt presents a variety of perspectives on online Islamic environments and provides thoughtful consideration of their implications, but overall he views them and their ongoing expansion in a positive light.—Choice

This slim volume by one of the major scholars writing on Muslims and digital religion packs a substantial punch. . . . An important addition.—Middle East Journal

Readers of Hashtag Islam will be struck by just how active, vibrant, and popular online Islam appears to be . . . . An indispensable resource.—Sociology of Religion

Hashtag Islam provides an extensive and elaborate guided tour of recent CIEs' developments. . . . A real tour de force.—Studies in Religion

Insightful. . . . Bunt paints a rich and comprehensive picture of the evolving Islamic discourses in cyberspace and their cause and effect relationship with the equally shifting notion of Islamic authority in the digital age." —American Religion

From the Publisher