Digital Islam across Europe: Understanding Muslims’ Participation in Online Islamic Environments (DIGITISLAM)

European Muslim communities (like all communities) have been transformed as a result of the digital revolution and new processes of knowledge creation, acquisition, and dissemination, which weaken traditional structures of authority. Although many Muslim people remain excluded from Europe’s knowledge structures, digital platforms enable new ways to create and share information about themselves and about their role in a plural European society. These platforms have intensified diaspora ties, as well as connections among diverse European Muslim communities. This, in turn, has widened intergenerational differences within Muslim populations across Europe. For example, European Muslim people socialized in digital environments are more likely to value YouTube as a source of Islamic knowledge than the local mosque or other traditional sites of religious learning.

Even so, our understanding of the creation, use, and influence of Online Islamic Environments (OIE) in European contexts remains limited. This project investigates the characteristics of contemporary OIE and their consequences for the social and religious practices of different Muslim populations, both within individual European contexts and across them. By focusing on interactions between OIE producers and users, we examine how, when, and why individuals and groups seek advice online on a variety of social and religious issues, and how online and offline experiences and practices circulate and shape different settings.

The project is based on in-depth research in five European countries: Lithuania, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. It primarily examines how different Muslim populations engage with the online ecosystem by seeking and providing formal or informal advice on issues related to Islam. The project aims to show how these interactions shape—and are shaped by—specific online content producers. It also analyzes how the use of OIE influences individual behaviors and beliefs across different national settings.

The project combines qualitative and quantitative methods, including semi-structured interviews with OIE producers and users, a netnographic tracking of online habits and practices, and a transnational survey of online Islamic advice providers and their follower communities. The research will help advance concise explanations of the social dynamics and implications of OIE for various stakeholders, including Muslim organizations and networks, policymakers, and third-sector and civil-society organizations.

If you would like, I can also prepare a more institutional version (for calls/projects) or a more outreach-oriented version (for websites and social media), while maintaining an inclusive approach.

Project Details

“Digital Islam across Europe: Understanding Muslims’ Participation in Online Islamic Environments (DIGITISLAM)”

Period: 2022–2025

Programme/Framework: Collaboration of Humanities and Social Sciences in Europe

Funding body: Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation – State Research Agency

Reference: PCI2022-134988-2

PI (Principal Investigator): Avi Astor