The Qur’an on Screen: Digital Materiality and Everyday Muslim Practices in Indonesia

Abstract

The increasing use of digital Qur’an applications has reshaped how Muslims engage with the sacred text in everyday life. This article examines the materiality of the digital Qur’an and explores how technological mediate religious experiences, practices, and perceptions of sacredness among Muslims in Indonesia. Drawing on a qualitative ethnographic approach, the study involved 12 participants from four Indonesian cities: Yogyakarta, Surakarta, Surabaya, and Semarang. Data were collected through interviews and observations of participants’ interactions with digital Qur’an applications, focusing on their experiences of reading, listening to, and engaging with Qur’anic content through digital devices. The findings reveal that digital features, including audio recitations, translation, Qur’anic interpretation, visual, and reading reminders, shape how users incorporate Qur’anic engagement into their daily routines. Digital materiality extends beyond the representation of sacred text on screens, as devices and application interfaces influence users’ embodied practices, accessibility, and perceptions of religious authority. Although digital applications facilitate more flexible engagement with the Qur’an, users continue to negotiate established norms of reverence and appropriate conduct when interacting with the sacred text through digital media. The article argues that digitalization does not simply replace conventional Qur’anic practices but reconfigures the relationship between material forms, religious experiences, and everyday Muslim practices in contemporary Indonesia.