The New Ustad in Religious Authority: Challenge and Dynamic of Fatwa in the New Media Era

This research aims to analyze the effect of digital media on Indonesia’s evolving religious authority. A qualitative approach with a description-analysis framework was used by researchers based on a literature review as a data source. Therefore, this study explains how information development in the new media era can alter social, political, economic, and religious authority, including how fatwa is often transmitted by those who do not have integrity and profound scientific capacity. The results of this study assert that, in addition to providing easy access to information, the changes in the era of new media also raise concern that someone with the profound scientific ability no longer transmits fatwa. They are known as the ‘new Ustaz,’ a term that refers to a character who suddenly becomes a cleric without going through a series of old intellectual contemplation and education. It may potentially affect religious confusion, which creates uproar and friction in society.