Islamic Digital Literacy: An Analysis of Generation Z Students' Tabayyun Behavior in Facing Disinformation in State Universities

Ahmad Sabri; M Sobry; Hilmiati

doi:10.63922/ijevss.v5i02.3480

Ahmad Sabri State Islamic University of Mataram
M Sobry State Islamic University of Mataram
Hilmiati State Islamic University of Mataram

DOI: https://doi.org/10.63922/ijevss.v5i02.3480

Keywords: Islamic Digital Literacy, Tabayyun, Generation Z, Disinformation, Critical-Prophetic Reasoning.

Abstract

This study aims to explore the deconstruction of the meaning and practice of tabayyun among Generation Z students at State Universities (PTN) amidst the onslaught of religious disinformation. In the post-truth era , students are often trapped in a behavioral paradox; possessing high academic intelligence but being vulnerable to digital virality. Using qualitative methods with a phenomenological approach, this study collected data through in-depth interviews and digital participant observation on a number of Gen Z student informants. The results show a shift in the authority of truth from traditional religious authority to mass authority ( social proof ) and digital popularity. The failure of tabayyun practices is identified as originating from three main obstacles: the psychological dimension ( confirmation bias ), the social dimension ( spiral of silence and FOMO), and the technical dimension (algorithm traps and echo chambers ). As a solution, this study offers a reconstruction of the Islamic Religious Education (PAI) learning model based on "Critical-Prophetic Reasoning" that integrates the methodology of hadith criticism with digital media literacy. This study concludes that tabayyun must be redefined not merely as a theological doctrine, but as a crucial digital survival skill for maintaining social harmony and the purity of religious understanding in the cyber public space.

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