Fragmentation of Authority in Muslim Liquid Society: A Crisis of Legitimacy, Epistemic Pluralism and Religious Negotiation in the Digital Age

Abstract

This article examines the phenomenon of religious authority fragmentation within the context of Muslim liquid society, a social condition in which the boundaries of tradition, institutions, and scholarly hierarchies dissolve under the waves of modernity, globalisation, and the digital revolution. Employing a sociology of religion framework and critical discourse analysis, this study traces how traditional ulama authority undergoes systemic delegitimisation. At the same time, new religious actors such as social media preachers, Muslim influencers, and online communities fill the emerging power vacuum. The researchers gathered data through an in-depth literature study of contemporary Islamic sociology, digital media studies, and cross-national religious phenomena. The findings indicate that authority fragmentation not only produces a legitimacy crisis but also gives rise to a complex epistemic pluralism in which actors with diverse social capital contest, negotiate, and continuously construct religious truth. This study argues that Muslim liquid society is not an outright threat to Islam, but rather a dynamic arena of theological and social negotiation that nonetheless requires institutional recalibration to prevent moral relativism and community polarisation.