Digital Media and Islamic Matchmaking in Indonesia: The Case of “Kelas Jodoh”

Abstract

The increase of religiosity in Indonesia, which has coincided with the development of digital media, has led to the emergence of various services that incorporate religious values, including in the areas of education and the facilitation of the marriage process. This study examines “Kelas Jodoh” (KJ) or “Matchmaking Class” as a case study to understand the role of digital media-supported Islamic matchmaking organizers within the context of existing Islamic matchmaking practices in Indonesia, particularly against the backdrop of rising personal piety and the use of digital media. It investigates how Islamic values governing pre-marital male-female relationships interact with the technological affordances of digital media, contributing to the evolution of digital religion. The study applies a qualitative case study method, with data collected through interviews with the KJ owner and manager, as well as with members (KJ’s participants). The findings indicate that KJ represents a fusion of increasing Islamic piety among urban Muslims and the growth of digital media, thus continuing to shape and expand the horizon of digital religion. The study also demonstrates how KJ’s use of digital tools and its mediator role reflect practices akin to those of modern Islamic movements such as the Tarbiyah group.

Keywords

• Digital Religion
• Islamic Matchmaking
• Kelas Jodoh
• Indonesia

Endonezya’da Dijital Medya ve İslami Evlilik Uygulamaları: “Kelas Jodoh” Örneği

Abstract

Dindarlığın artışı, dijital medyanın gelişimiyle paralel olarak, dini değerleri içeren çeşitli hizmetlerin ortaya çıkmasına yol açmıştır; bunlar arasında eğitim ve evlilik sürecinin kolaylaştırılması da bulunmaktadır. Bu çalışma Endonezya’daki mevcut İslami tanışma uygulamaları bağlamında, dijital medya destekli İslami tanışma organizatörlerinin rolünü anlamak için “Kelas Jodoh” adlı siteyi bir durum çalışması olarak ele almakta ve özellikle dijital medya kullanımına bağlı olarak artış gösteren dindarlık tutumları ekseninde bu yapıyı analiz etmektedir. Çalışma, evlilik öncesi erkek-kadın ilişkilerini yöneten İslami değerlerin dijital medyanın teknolojik olanaklarıyla nasıl etkileşime girdiğini ve dijital dinin evrimine katkıda bulunduğunu araştırmaktadır. Çalışma, KJ'nin sahibi ve yöneticisi ile yapılan röportajlar ve üyelerle (KJ'nin katılımcıları) toplanan verilerle bir vaka çalışması yöntemi uygulamaktadır. Bulgular, KJ'nin kentsel Müslümanlar arasında artan dindarlık ve dijital medyanın büyümesinin bir birleşimini temsil ettiğini ve böylece dijital dinin şekillendirmeye ve genişletmeye devam ettiğini göstermektedir. Çalışma ayrıca, KJ'nin dijital araçları kullanma ve arabulucu rolünün Tarbiyah grubu gibi modern İslami hareketlerin uygulamalarına benzediğini ortaya koymaktadır.

Keywords

• Dijital Din
• İslam Evliliği
• Kelas Jodoh
• Endonezya

References

1. Akmaliah, W. (2020). 13 The rise of cool ustadz: Preaching, subcultures and the pemuda hijrah movement. In N. Saat & A. N. Burhani (Eds.), The New Santri (pp. 239–257). ISEAS Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1355/9789814881487-015
2. Assulthoni, F. (2018). Analisis maslahah terhadap konsep kafa’ah dalam tradisi perkawinan di kalangan pesantren pamekasan. Al Hukama, 08(01), 28–52. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.15642/al-hukama.2018.8.1.28-52
3. Asyari, S., & Abid, M. H. (2016). Expanding the Indonesian tarbiyah movement through ta‘āruf and marriage. Al-Jami’ah: Journal of Islamic Studies, 54(2), 337. https://doi.org/10.14421/ajis.2016.542.337-368
4. Bruinessen, M. van. (2013). Contemporary Developments in Indonesian Islam: Explaining the "conservative turn". Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS).
5. Campbell, H.A. (2013). Introduction: The rise of the study of digital religion. In Digital Religion: Understanding Religious Practice in New Media Worlds (pp. 1–21). Routledge.
6. Campbell, Heidi A., & Bellar, W. (2023). Digital religion: The basics. Routledge.
7. Cheong, P., & Ess, C. (2012). Introduction: Religion 2.0?: Relational and hybridizing pathways in religion, social media, and culture. In Digital Religion, Social Media and Culture: Perspectives, Practices and Futures (pp. 1–21). Peter Lang.
8. Dixon, S. J. (2024). Number of monthly active Instagram users from January 2013 to December 2021. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/253577/number-of-monthly-active-instagram-users/

9. Fajrina, H. N. (2016). Ada 22 juta pengguna aktif Instagram dari Indonesia. CNN Indonesia. https://www.cnnindonesia.com/teknologi/20160623112758-185-140353/ada-22-juta-pengguna-aktif-instagram-dari-indonesia
10. Fakhruroji, M. (2015). Mediatization of religion in “texting culture”: Self-help religion and the shifting of religious authority. Indonesian Journal of Islam and Muslim Societies, 5(2), 231. https://doi.org/10.18326/ijims.v5i2.231-254
11. Fealy, G., & White, S. (2008). Fealy, S. & White, S., 2008. Introduction. In: S. Fealy & S. White, eds. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), pp. 1-12. In G. F. and S. White (Ed.), Expressing Islam: Religious life and politics in Indonesia (pp. 1–12). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS).
12. Finkel, E. J., Eastwick, P. W., Karney, B. R., Reis, H. T., & Sprecher, S. (2012). Online dating. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 13(1), 3–66. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100612436522
13. Hefner, R. W. (2010). Religious resurgence in contemporary Asia: Southeast Asian perspectives on capitalism, the state, and the new piety. The Journal of Asian Studies, 69(4), 1031–1047. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021911810002901
14. Hogan, B., & Wellman, B. (2012). The immanent internet redux. In P. H. Cheong (Ed.), Digital religion, social media and culture : perspectives, practices and futures. Peter Lang.
15. Horikoshi, H. (1987). Kyai dan Perubahan Sosial. P3M.
16. KataData. (2016). WhatsApp pengirim pesan terpopuler di Indonesia. Kata Data. https://databoks.katadata.co.id/datapublish/2016/12/06/whatsapp-pengirim-pesan-terpopuler-di-indonesia
17. KataData. (2024). Tingkat penetrasi internet Indonesia (2018-2024). Kata Data. https://databoks.katadata.co.id/datapublish/2024/04/12/tingkat-penetrasi-internet-indonesia-capai-795-per-2024#:~:text=Survei Asosiasi Penyelenggara Jasa Internet,278.696.200 jiwa pada 2023.
18. Kurdi, F. A. Z. S. (2013). Motivasi perkawinan endogami pada komunitas alawiyyin di martapura kabupaten banjar. Muadalah, 1(2), 79–96. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.18592/jsga.v1i2.677
19. Muhadi, D. (2016). Tradisi perjodohan dalam komunitas pesantren (Studi pada keluarga kyai pondok buntet pesantren). UIN Syarif Hidayatullah.
20. Muslim, A. (2017). Digital religion and religious life in Southeast Asia. Asiascape: Digital Asia, 4(1–2), 33–51. https://doi.org/10.1163/22142312-12340067
21. Nisa, E. F. (2018). Social media and the birth of an Islamic social movement: ODOJ (One Day One Juz) in contemporary Indonesia. Indonesia and the Malay World, 46(134), 24–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639811.2017.1416758
22. Nisa, E. F. (2021). Online halal dating, ta’aruf, and the shariatisation of matchmaking among Malaysian and Indonesian Muslims. CyberOrient, 15(1), 231–258. https://doi.org/10.1002/cyo2.13
23. Parker, L., & Nilan, P. (2013). Adolescents in contemporary Indonesia. Routledge.
24. Qurtuby, S. Al. (2013). Public Islam in southeast Asia: Late modernity, resurgent religion, and Muslim politics. Studia Islamika, 20(3), 399–442. https://doi.org/10.15408/sdi.v20i3.511
25. Rainie, L., & Wellman, B. (2012). Networked: The new social operating system. MIT Press.
26. Reuter, T., & Horstmann, A. (2013). Religious and cultural revitalization. In Future : Understanding the Revitalization of Religions and Cultural Traditions in Asia (pp. 1–14). Brill.
27. Rochadiat, A. M., Tong, S. T., & Novak, J. M. (2018). Online dating and courtship among Muslim American women: Negotiating technology, religious identity, and culture. New Media & Society, 20(4), 1618–1639. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444817702396
28. Rusdi, S. (2019). Kencan Islami: Studi antusiasme mahasiswa mengikuti kajian dan praktik taaruf di rumah taaruf majelis calon ayah amanah yogyakarta. UIN Sunan Kalijaga.
29. Sebastian, L. C., Hasyim, S., & Arifianto, A. R. (2020). Epilogue: Conservative Islam and the dilemma of Indonesian democracy. In Rising Islamic Conservatism in Indonesia (pp. 210–221). Routledge.
30. Smith-Hefner, N. J. (2005). The new Muslim romance: Changing patterns of courtship and marriage among educated javanese youth. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 36(3), 441–459. https://doi.org/10.1017/S002246340500024X
31. Smith-Hefner, N. J. (2019). Islamizing intimacies. Youth, sexuality, and gender in contemporary Indonesia. In Archives de sciences sociales des religions (Issue 196). https://doi.org/10.4000/assr.65524
32. Triana, W., Rosyidah, I., Muttaqin, Z., Hendarmin, L. A., Akbar, A. M., & Febiyana. (2021). HIJRAH: Tren keberagamaan kaum milenial di Indonesia. PPIM UIN Jakarta.
33. Walther, J. B., & Whitty, M. T. (2021). Language, psychology, and new new media: The Hyperpersonal model of mediated communication at twenty-five years. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 40(1), 120–135. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X20967703
34. WorldPopulationReview. (2024). Social media users by country 2024. World population review. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/social-media-users-by-country
35. Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (Sixth). Sage.
36. Yusuf, O. (2014). Black Berry Messenger masih jadi Juara di Indonesia. Kompas.Com.