E-Sheikhs: How Online Islamic Discourse Can Reproduce Authoritarian Power Structures and Traditional Islamic Beliefs

Social media have been hailed by many scholars as one of the main catalysts of the Arab Spring, and hopes were high that the winds of change would promote a less hegemonic Islamic discourse. Online religious discourse, particularly that of Islamic preachers, was an essential tool in the struggle against authoritarianism during Arab Spring. Yet, six years on, the utilisation of new media in the Arab region is framed by new political realities, and a highly politicised and polarised religious discourse is playing no less of a role in the media landscape. This study revisits the relation between online Islamic discourse and the political situation in the region, with special reference to Islamic preachers in Egypt. The current trends in Islamic discourse on social media raise a number of thought-provoking questions: Does Islamic preachers’ discourse on Facebook contribute to reproducing or resisting the existing power structures in the Arab world? To what extent does online Islamic discourse reflect offline power relations? Can Facebook act as an Islamic public sphere? This study offers answers to these questions by analysing some of the content posted on Facebook by a number of prominent Muslim preachers between 2013 and 2016. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and the lens of Public Sphere Theory, it investigates the socio-political aspects of the preachers’ discourse, highlighting the utilisation of religion as an ideological justification for the existing social order in the Arab world. This study delves into power relations in religious discourse and the role of media in exercising religious and political power, trying to explore the relationship between digital media, religious discourse and political hegemony. It argues that, in this specific context, social media fail to act as an effective public sphere because digitally-mediated Islamic discourse reflect the same power relations that exist offline