Populist and Narratives in Viral Digital Content

A Conceptual Review of Islamic Political Communication in Indonesia

Abstract

Purpose— This article develops a conceptual framework for analyzing the relationship between populist Islam, narratives of resistance against evil, and viral digital da'wah content in Indonesian Islamic political communication. The problem is significant because digital da'wah in Indonesia no longer functions only as religious instruction; it increasingly participates in the circulation of moral emotions, public grievance, political identity, and collective mobilization through platform-driven visibility.

Design/methods— This study uses a critical conceptual review by synthesizing scholarship on Islamic populism, political communication, digital religion, framing, moral panic, affective publics, and Islamic ethical-political concepts such as amar ma'ruf nahi munkar, hisbah, maslahah, and adab al-ikhtilaf. Rather than conducting content analysis of particular accounts or videos, the article reconstructs an analytical model for distinguishing legitimate Islamic moral criticism from populist moral polarization in viral da'wah communication.

Findings— The article argues that viral digital da'wah becomes Islamic political communication when religious messages construct an emotionally charged opposition between a morally pure ummah and a threatening source of evil, while platform metrics reward simplification, urgency, conflict, and shareability. Resistance against evil is not inherently problematic in Islamic communication; it becomes politically risky when it removes proportionality, suppresses disagreement, converts social problems into enemy images, and weakens deliberative ethics. The article proposes a conceptual triad - moral framing, populist boundary-making, and algorithmic amplification - as a tool for analyzing digital da'wah in contemporary Indonesia.