f95302a32d299fad59f8060c3f80d337 religions_a2024m12v15p1507iENG.pdf 238711244337da1d50f0fdf8e313ae4c04b03b54 religions_a2024m12v15p1507iENG.pdf ba60bf0ac1a29aa552cc8d20bfaf5a8c14ad839092ba09980156343ff4dd60cd religions_a2024m12v15p1507iENG.pdf Title: Anonymity and Digital Islamic Authority Subject: Much of the literature on digital religious authority has focused on spiritual “influencers” and the challenges they pose to traditional religious hierarchies and structures of authority. Less attention has been dedicated to religious websites, social media pages, and digital feeds whose popularity and influence do not hinge on the personalistic qualities of their creators. There is a wide assortment of generic religious reference sites that, although developed and managed by largely anonymous webmasters and administrators, command significant audiences and exert substantial influence on religious interpretations and practices. We argue that anonymity affords certain advantages for bolstering visibility and influence that have hitherto received insufficient attention in the literature on religion, authority, and cyberspace. In contrast to spiritual influencers, who draw attention to their personal biographies, credentials, appearances, and connections to enhance their legitimacy and authority, individuals or groups who administer religious reference sites commonly employ alternative strategies that involve concealing personal identities, experiences, and affiliations. Their aim is to come off as neutral, impartial, and free of ideological baggage that might bias their interpretations. This facilitates their efforts to frame the content they share as a form of universal religious truth that transcends ideological and sectarian differences. Our analysis centers on websites and social media pages that provide guidance to Spanish speakers on Islamic theology, jurisprudence, and piety. Keywords: digital religion; authority; anonymity; internet; social media; Islam Author: Avi Astor, Ghufran Khir-Allah and Rosa Martínez-Cuadros Creator: LaTeX with hyperref Producer: pdfTeX-1.40.25 CreationDate: Tue Dec 10 09:09:31 2024 CET ModDate: Wed Feb 12 17:48:09 2025 CET Custom Metadata: no Metadata Stream: yes Tagged: no UserProperties: no Suspects: no Form: none JavaScript: no Pages: 12 Encrypted: no Page size: 595.276 x 841.89 pts (A4) Page rot: 0 File size: 238970 bytes Optimized: yes PDF version: 1.7 name type encoding emb sub uni object ID ------------------------------------ ----------------- ---------------- --- --- --- --------- WLENKM+VnURWPalladioL-Bold Type 1 Custom yes yes yes 253 0 ASUFHM+URWPalladioL-Bold Type 1 Custom yes yes yes 257 0 VITFYV+URWPalladioL-Roma Type 1 Custom yes yes yes 260 0 SGGGPG+URWPalladioL-Ital Type 1 Custom yes yes yes 263 0 ECICOX+VnURWPalladioL Type 1 Custom yes yes yes 266 0 OTDGPS+VnURWPalladioL-Italic Type 1 Custom yes yes yes 156 0 Jhove (Rel. 1.28.0, 2023-05-18) Date: 2025-02-14 02:54:11 CET RepresentationInformation: religions_a2024m12v15p1507iENG.pdf ReportingModule: PDF-hul, Rel. 1.12.4 (2023-03-16) LastModified: 2025-02-12 17:48:48 CET Size: 238970 Format: PDF Version: 1.7 Status: Well-Formed and valid SignatureMatches: PDF-hul MIMEtype: application/pdf Profile: Linearized PDF PDFMetadata: Objects: 0 FreeObjects: 1 IncrementalUpdates: 0 DocumentCatalog: PageLayout: SinglePage PageMode: UseNone Outlines: Item: Title: Introduction Destination: section.1 Item: Title: Anonymity and Digital Religious Authority Destination: section.2 Item: Title: Methodology Destination: section.3 Item: Title: Anonymity and Universality Destination: section.4 Item: Title: Generic Islam and Majoritarian Muslim Positionality Destination: section.5 Item: Title: Social Media and Informal Islamic Reference Sites Destination: section.6 Item: Title: Conclusions Destination: section.7 Item: Title: References Destination: section.8 Filters: FilterPipeline: FlateDecode Fonts: Type1: Font: BaseFont: ASUFHM+URWPalladioL-Bold FontSubset: true FirstChar: 3 LastChar: 122 FontDescriptor: FontName: ASUFHM+URWPalladioL-Bold Flags: Symbolic FontBBox: -152, -301, 1000, 935 FontFile: true EncodingDictionary: Differences: true ToUnicode: true Font: BaseFont: VITFYV+URWPalladioL-Roma FontSubset: true FirstChar: 2 LastChar: 246 FontDescriptor: FontName: VITFYV+URWPalladioL-Roma Flags: Symbolic FontBBox: -166, -283, 1021, 943 FontFile: true EncodingDictionary: Differences: true ToUnicode: true Font: BaseFont: SGGGPG+URWPalladioL-Ital FontSubset: true FirstChar: 2 LastChar: 241 FontDescriptor: FontName: SGGGPG+URWPalladioL-Ital Flags: Symbolic FontBBox: -170, -305, 1010, 941 FontFile: true EncodingDictionary: Differences: true ToUnicode: true Font: BaseFont: ECICOX+VnURWPalladioL FontSubset: true FirstChar: 160 LastChar: 226 FontDescriptor: FontName: ECICOX+VnURWPalladioL Flags: Symbolic FontBBox: -166, -283, 1021, 943 FontFile: true EncodingDictionary: Differences: true ToUnicode: true Font: BaseFont: OTDGPS+VnURWPalladioL-Italic FontSubset: true FirstChar: 161 LastChar: 226 FontDescriptor: FontName: OTDGPS+VnURWPalladioL-Italic Flags: Symbolic FontBBox: -170, -305, 1010, 941 FontFile: true EncodingDictionary: Differences: true ToUnicode: true Font: BaseFont: WLENKM+VnURWPalladioL-Bold FontSubset: true FirstChar: 189 LastChar: 189 FontDescriptor: FontName: WLENKM+VnURWPalladioL-Bold Flags: Symbolic FontBBox: -152, -301, 1000, 935 FontFile: true EncodingDictionary: Differences: true ToUnicode: true XMP: application/pdf Avi Astor, Ghufran Khir-Allah and Rosa Martínez-Cuadros Much of the literature on digital religious authority has focused on spiritual “influencers” and the challenges they pose to traditional religious hierarchies and structures of authority. Less attention has been dedicated to religious websites, social media pages, and digital feeds whose popularity and influence do not hinge on the personalistic qualities of their creators. There is a wide assortment of generic religious reference sites that, although developed and managed by largely anonymous webmasters and administrators, command significant audiences and exert substantial influence on religious interpretations and practices. We argue that anonymity affords certain advantages for bolstering visibility and influence that have hitherto received insufficient attention in the literature on religion, authority, and cyberspace. In contrast to spiritual influencers, who draw attention to their personal biographies, credentials, appearances, and connections to enhance their legitimacy and authority, individuals or groups who administer religious reference sites commonly employ alternative strategies that involve concealing personal identities, experiences, and affiliations. Their aim is to come off as neutral, impartial, and free of ideological baggage that might bias their interpretations. This facilitates their efforts to frame the content they share as a form of universal religious truth that transcends ideological and sectarian differences. Our analysis centers on websites and social media pages that provide guidance to Spanish speakers on Islamic theology, jurisprudence, and piety. 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