The Construction of Digital Fiqh in Indonesia: A Comparative Study of the Da’wah Channels of Gus Baha’, Ustadz Abdul Somad, and Ustadz Adi Hidayat

Abstract

Digital transformation has reshaped the circulation, interpretation, and practice of Islamic jurisprudence, creating new spaces in which fiqh is constructed through interactions among religious authority, interpretive methods, digital pedagogy, media representation, and audience participation within increasingly networked Muslim communities in Indonesia and changing patterns of contemporary Islamic religious learning. This study examines the construction of digital fiqh in Indonesia through a comparative analysis of the da’wah channels of Gus Baha’, Ustadz Abdul Somad, and Ustadz Adi Hidayat. Using a qualitative descriptive and interpretive design, the study analyzes fiqh-related preaching content published on YouTube during 2022–2024 through digital documentation, the baca–simak–catat technique, qualitative content analysis, and critical discourse analysis. The findings demonstrate that the three preachers share Islamic epistemological foundations derived from the Qur’an, hadith, ijma’, qiyas, and classical scholarly traditions, while constructing fiqh through distinctive patterns of authority, pedagogy, narrative, and digital representation. Gus Baha’ develops a traditional-contextual construction grounded in pesantren scholarship, UAH develops an academic-methodological construction through systematic textual reasoning, and UAS develops a practical-communicative construction oriented toward everyday religious application. These findings produce a Digital Fiqh Knowledge Construction Model integrating epistemological foundation, digital scholarly authority, pedagogical construction, narrative persuasion, digital representation, and audience participation. The model generates cognitive, affective, and conative outcomes, providing a conceptual framework for understanding Indonesian digital fiqh literacy and practice.