From Ontological Devotion to Functional Efficacy of al-Ṣamad: the Epistemic Shift from “Knowing” to “Using” God in Digital Qur’anic Interpretation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66277/jqms.1.1.235Keywords:
al-Ṣamad, Aesthetics of Reception, Digital Domestication, Genuss, InstagramAbstract
The shift from ontological devotion to functional efficacy represents a profound transformation in digital Qur’anic interpretation. Utilizing aesthetics of reception, this study analyzes the reconfiguration of the “horizon of expectations” concerning al-Ṣamad on the Instagram account @quranreview. Through digital ethnography, it examines how visual strategies and performative narratives reduce the “aesthetic distance” between rigid monotheistic doctrines and the pragmatic needs of the cyber society. The findings reveal that classical doctrinal stability has eroded under digital aesthetics, driving an epistemic shift from “knowing” to “using” God. The validity of interpretation is no longer measured by traditional methodology but by functional efficacy in providing instant emotional satisfaction (Genuss). Ultimately, al-Ṣamad’s transcendence is domesticated into a therapeutic instrument for the attention economy, transforming religious knowledge into a tool for spiritual consumption.References
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