The Commodification of Pain: Gender-Based Emotional Exploitation through the Figures of Holy Women in the Qur’an on Instagram in Indonesia

Ahmad Farihul Umam; Ahmad Auza’i

doi:10.66277/jims.1.2.289

Authors

Ahmad Farihul Umam Ma’had Aly Lirboyo, Kediri Author
Ahmad Auza’i World Islamic Sciences and Education University, Amman Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.66277/jims.1.2.289

Keywords:

Digital Religion, Commodification, Sign Value, Qur'anic Women, Instagram

Abstract

This study engages with the global scholarly debate on digital religion by examining how the mediatization of sacred texts reshapes Qur'anic representation among urban Muslims. While conventional media sociology argues that digital participation enriches religiosity through connection and community, this article demonstrates how such participation functions as sign circulation that diminishes theological meaning. Employing a netnographic approach combined with multimodal discourse analysis, it investigates the domestication of Qur’anic female figures—Mary, Hagar, and the mother of Moses—on the Indonesian Instagram account @quranreview. The findings reveal a systematic shift from theological use-value to affective sign-value, escalating in stages from doctrinal reference through psychological distortion to commercial simulacra, sustained by audience participation. This study contributes a novel framework, “Cosmetic Hyper-Piety,” conceptualizing @quranreview as a site where the commodification of sacred suffering reconstructs a new form of religious simulacrum within digital culture.

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