Hadith and Social Media: Challenges in Disseminating Religious Information in the Digital Era

Abstract

This study discusses the dissemination of hadith on social media and its implications for the religious understanding of Muslims in the digital era. The background of this research stems from the massive phenomenon of hadith distribution through various social media platforms, which is not always accompanied by a process of scientific verification. The aim of this study is to analyze the forms of hadith dissemination on social media and examine its impact on the religious understanding of Muslims. This study uses a qualitative approach with a library research method sourced from books, scientific journals, hadith collections, and relevant digital literature. The data are analyzed using content analysis techniques to identify the patterns, forms, and implications of hadith dissemination in digital spaces. Research results show that the spread of hadith on social media occurs in various forms, such as visual content, chain messages, short videos, digital dawah accounts, content reposts, integration into motivational content, as well as support from social media algorithms. The implications of this phenomenon include the expansion of access to religious information, increased risk of misinformation, a shift in scholarly authority, the strengthening of digital literacy, and the simplification of hadith understanding. This study confirms that social media has a dual role as an effective means of dawah while also being a potential source of distortion in religious understanding if not accompanied by adequate scientific verification. Therefore, it is necessary to enhance digital religious literacy and the active involvement of Islamic scholarly authorities in managing the spread of hadith in the digital era.