Islamic communication as an invention of modern-western knowledge: critical analysis toward Islamic communication in Indonesia

This article questions the idea that Islamic communication is rooted purely in the religion itself. By studying the field of Islamic communication studies in Indonesia, it analyzes discourses which produce knowledge of Islamic communication. Foucauldian archaeological method is employed to examine literatures, textbooks, and other sources which form regulated statements about Islamic communication tradition in Indonesia, developed by both public university scholars and Islamic scholars in the nation. The author argues that Islamic communication traditions in Indonesia are the product of modern developmentalism discourse which dominated in the New Order era (1966–1998). As a consequence, Islamic communication tradition in Indonesia is currently unable to provide an alternative perspective in much broader communication studies. This article proposes revisiting the history of Islamic communication within certain local contexts and use of the Islamic discourse as a criticism toward every kind of domination, including the domination of knowledge termed Islamic.