Hijrah Aesthetic as a Form of Popular Culture Mimicry in the Contemporary Hijrah Movement in Kudus
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14421/jsa.2026.%25xAbstract
The phenomenon of hijrah among Indonesian Muslim women has shifted from personal spiritual transformation to a social identity increasingly shaped by popular culture and digital spaces. This study analyzes hijrah aesthetics as a form of popular-culture mimicry within the contemporary hijrah movement among Muslim women who visit cafés in Kudus Regency. The research employed a descriptive qualitative approach involving interviewees selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and observations and analyzed using the Miles and Huberman model. The findings reveal that hijrah is not expressed through rejecting popular culture but through adapting fashion, social media, and café culture, which are then imbued with religious meanings. The study further indicates that the hijrah aesthetic represents the aestheticization of piety, in which religious identity is constructed through visual symbols and self-representation in public spaces. This research contributes to the growing literature on contemporary hijrah by showing that popular culture has become an important medium for shaping Muslim women’s identities in the digital era.
Keywords: Hijrah Aesthetic, Popular Culture Mimicry, Contemporary Hijrah, Muslimah Women
References
Al-Qaradawi, Y. (1995). Al-Sahwah al-Islamiyyah bayna al-Juhud wa al-Tatarruf. Dar al-Shuruq.
Azhari, J. F., Hikmah, N., & Bunza, M. U. (2025). The Hijrah Phenomenon and Shifting Religious Preferences: Religious Expressions of Urban Muslims in Contemporary Islamic Law Practice. Mafatih Journal of Islamic Studies (MJIS), 1(1), 16–32.
Bhabha, H. K. (1994). The postcolonial and the postmodern: The question of agency. The Location of Culture, 171–197.
Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, & H. T. (2002). The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures (2nd Editio). Routledge.
Campbell, H. A. (2010). When Religion Meets New Media. Routledge.
Creswell, J. W. (2018). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Daherman, Y., Ronda, A. M., & Faiz, F. (2022). International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding The Signs of Pemuda Hijrah in Social Media. 743–752.
Diana Crane. (2012). Fashion and Its Social Agendas: Class, Gender, and Identity in Clothing. University of Chicago Press.
Firdaus, Y., Azizurrochman, M. N., & Siswanto, A. H. (2025). Digital Da’wah: The Optimization of Social Media as a Medium for Islamic Social Transformation. Menulis: Jurnal Penelitian Nusantara, 1(6), 746–755.
Hakim, L. (2024). The Dynamics of Hijrah in Indonesia: From Spiritual Transformation toward a Social Movement. Jurnal Sosiologi Agama Indonesia (JSAI), 5(1), 13–33. https://doi.org/10.22373/jsai.v5i1.3993
Hannan, A. (2022). Hijrah and the Reification of Piety: A Study on the Construction of Muslim Netizens’ Religiosity in Contemporary Indonesia. Jejak Pustaka.
Hidayat, F. (2026). Negotiating Social Identity Among Young Indonesian Muslims within the Digital Globalization Landscape. Smart: Journal of Media Communication and Social Dynamics, 1(1), 43–59.
Hilalludin, H. (2025). Young People, Social Media, and Fluid Religion: A Phenomenological Study of Digital Hijrah in Indonesia. AL-BAYAN: Jurnal Hukum Dan Ekonomi Islam, 5(1), 40–54.
Izzah, N. (2025). Hijab Street Style Ekspresi Modest Fashion Dan Komodifikasi Agama. NIHAYAH: Journal of Islamic Studies, 1(2), 142–157. https://doi.org/10.65802/nihayah.v1i2.13
Lini, R., Bashori, B., & Kustati, M. (2025). The Influence of Social Media on the Formation of the Hijrah Trend as a Medium for Religious Da’wah. Journal of Da’wah, 4(2), 76–90.
Miles, & Huberman. (1992). Analisis Data Kualitatif. Universitas Indonesia Press.
Oldenburg, R. (1999). The Great Good Place. Marlowe & Company.
Pakusodewo, M. R. (2017). Cosplay dan Idola Remaja Medan (Studi Kajian Budaya Tentang Mimikri). Aceh Anthropological Journal, 1(2), 86–104.
Putri, S. A. R. (2021a). Hijrah as a Lifestyle among the Urban Digital Native Generation. Jurnal Komunika Islamika: Jurnal Ilmu Komunikasi Dan Kajian Islam, 8(2), 64–76.
Putri, S. A. R. (2021b). Hijrah as a Lifestyle among the Urban Digital Native Generation. Jurnal Komunika Islamika: Jurnal Ilmu Komunikasi Dan Kajian Islam, 8(2), 64–76.
Rahmayanti, S. (2024). Halal within Contemporary Lifestyle Trends: Between Modern Trends and Islamic Values. Equality: Journal of Islamic Law (EJIL), 2(2), 51–60.
Ramidi, A., Mustafa, S., & Kediri, I. A. (2025). Becoming Urban Muslims: Negotiating Identity and Youth Piety among Indonesian Youth. 32–43.
Rofidah, L., & Muhid, A. (n.d.). Media and Hybrid Religious Identity in the Digital Era: An Introduction.
Storey, J. (2018). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction. Routledge.
Sugiyono. (2016). Metode Penelitian Kuantitatif, Kualitatif, dan R&D. ALFABETA.
Takhim, M., & Maksum, A. (2025). From Sacred Traditions to Modern Tastes: Understanding Muslim Consumers’ Halal Food Consumption Choices in Emerging Markets. Al Iqtishod: Jurnal Pemikiran Dan Penelitian Ekonomi Islam, 13(2), 185–201.
Taula’bi, D. S., Nensilianti, N., & Hajrah, H. (2021). Mimicry and Hybridity in Arafat Nur’s Novel Tanah Surga Merah: A Postcolonial Perspective. Indonesian Journal of Social and Educational Studies, 2(2), 128–138.
Watt, W. M. (1956). Muhammad at Medina. Oxford University Press.
Zahara, M. N., Wildan, D., & Komariah, S. (2020). The Hijrah Movement: The Search for Identity among Millennial Muslims in the Digital Era. Indonesian Journal of Sociology, Education, and Development, 2(1), 52–65.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Afifah Nur Hayati
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
