Everyday lived Islam: Malaysian Muslim women’s performance of religiosity online

Abstract

Today, as societies adapt to new technologies, new ‘spaces’ are created and explored, and although these are not initially intended for religious purposes, they become a space for the performance of religiosity. What we now witness are religious activities and practices conducted in a manner which differs from before. Also, these take place in a space that is distinct from those in the offline environment. New forms of religious practices emerged as exemplified by the growth in the content that users are sharing on most social media platforms. Such adaptation and nuances in online experiences and contexts have resulted in the emergence of new forms of everyday lived Muslim performance of religiosity. This paper examines Malaysian Muslim women’s everyday self-presentation on Facebook and their use of the site for performing extrinsic religious practices to capture their everyday lived Islam and young people’s religiosities in the new media age.