Religiusitas Muslim Generasi Z dalam Menghadapi Tantangan Literasi Keagamaan di Era Digital

Abstract

The presence of Generation Z, who grew up entirely in the digital era, has triggered a fundamental transformation in Muslim religious practices, where social media has replaced conventional religious institutions as the primary source of religious information. This condition creates a paradox: Gen Z has become a generation that is highly religious online, yet is often disconnected from physical communities and traditional religious authorities. This study aims to analyze the character of Muslim Gen Z religiosity, identify its forming factors, and examine the impact of the digital era on their religiosity. This study employed a descriptive qualitative approach using a library research method. The findings indicate that Muslim Gen Z religiosity is characterized by personalization, flexibility, and digital spirituality, strongly influenced by social media. These characteristics are shaped by massive digital technology accessibility, the effectiveness of contextual Islamic preaching on platforms such as TikTok, as well as spiritual needs and social pressure from the digital environment. The digital era brings positive impacts in the form of increased accessibility and religious literacy, but also negative impacts including shallow religious understanding, vulnerability to information bias, and potential exposure to extreme ideologies. This study implies the importance of an integrated digital religious literacy strategy through critical thinking-based Islamic Religious Education curriculum reform, enhancement of educators' digital capacity, and cross-sector collaboration to strengthen Gen Z's moderate and reflective religious understanding.