From Ritual Authorization to Humor: Analysis of Jakobson's Language Functions in Gus Iqdam's Multilingual Online Da'wah
Keywords:
da'wah, humor, language function, multilingualism, ritual authorization
Abstract
Da'wah in the current digital era has increasingly penetrated the public sphere, thereby demanding complex communication strategies. However, da'wah studies have often focused on themes and persuasive strategies, while mapping cross-code language functions in multilingual da'wah remains scarce. This study aims to analyze how language codes function in Gus Iqdam's multilingual online lectures. This study uses a qualitative descriptive approach. Data were obtained from two of Gus Iqdam's online lectures uploaded to the YouTube account @gusiqdamofficial1024. The data were obtained using a simak (listening) method with recording and note-taking techniques. The data were then analyzed using the Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña framework and applying Roman Jakobson's theory of language functions. The results show that Arabic plays a dominant role in religious-ritual authorization with a dominant phatic and referential function. Indonesian is predominantly used to elaborate on religious texts, with a dominant referential function. Although it is limited, English is used more for modernity, serving a referential, metalingual, and emotive function. Javanese Krama is used more for communication mitigation, with dominant phatic, conative, and poetic functions. Meanwhile, Javanese Ngaka is used more for humor and engagement, with dominant phatic, poetic, and referential functions. This study concludes that Gus Iqdam's multilingual online preaching employs language with distinct roles, grounded in its inherent functions, ranging from ritual authority to humor.
References
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Wandi, W. (2020). Penggunaan humor dalam dakwah komunikasi Islam. Al-Din: Jurnal Dakwah dan Sosial Keagamaan, 5(1), 84–100. https://doi.org/10.35673/ajdsk.v5i1.573
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Woko, U. (2025). Keseruan Jamaah Gus Iqdam Ngaji di Bawah Pohon Sengon. NU Online. https://jatim.nu.or.id/nuonline/keseruan-jamaah-gus-iqdam-ngaji-di-bawah-pohon-sengon-J80hk
Anam, M. K., Tsania, F. N., Safinatunnajah, J., Zainal Mukhlis, & Isna Laili Qurroti A’yun. (2025). Code-Switching Models Used by Millennial Muslim The preacher on Instagram in Indonesia: An Analysis from a Grammatical Perspective. Iqtida : Journal of Da’wah and Communication, 5(01), 22–41. https://doi.org/10.28918/iqtida.v5i01.10929
Candra, M. K., & Anam, M. K. (2023). Agus Muhammmad Iqdam Khalid’s Da’wah (Gus Iqdam): A Rhetoric Analysis. ICONDAC: Internatioal Conference on Da’wa and Communication. ICONDAC. https://doi.org/10.15642/icondac.v5i1.1535
Cavanaugh, J. R. (2020). Language ideology revisited. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2020(263), 51–57. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl-2020-2082
Fakhruroji, M. (2019). Digitalizing Islamic lectures: Islamic apps and religious engagement in contemporary Indonesia. Contemporary Islam, 13(2), 201–215. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-018-0427-9
Febrian, H. (2024). Visualizing Authority: Rise of the Religious Influencers on the Instagram. Social Media + Society, 10(4), 20563051241286850. https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051241286850
Febriana Fauzi, N. A. (2023). Zulkarnain EL Madury and the micro-celebrity ustaz phenomenon: Tracing Muhammadiyah’s struggle in maintaining religious authority in cyberspace. Indonesia and the Malay World, 51(151), 304–329. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639811.2023.2274708
Gonzalez-Dogan, S. (2022). Linguistic Othering and “knowledge deserts”: Perspectives on Arabic use in linguistically diverse Islamic institutions. Linguistics and Education, 71, 101076. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2022.101076
Gus Iqdam Official (Direktur). (2024, Juni 28). Menikmati Hidup dengan Bersyukur: Pengajian Rutinan Gus Iqdam [Video recording]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij-BvWbSBIc
Gus Iqdam Official (Direktur). (2025, Agustus 23). Jangan Nunggu Hidup Berantakan Baru Inget Ngaji! | Malam Jumat Bareng Gus Iqdam (cuplikan) [Video recording]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvNT90MdPYA
Halim, W. (2018). Young Islamic the preacher on Facebook: Pesantren As’adiyah and its engagement with social media. Indonesia and the Malay World, 46(134), 44–60. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639811.2018.1416796
Hawkins, R. D., Gweon, H., & Goodman, N. D. (2021). The division of abor in communication: Speakers help listeners account for asymmetries in visual perspective. Cognitive Science, 45(3), e12926. https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12926
Hew, W. W. (2018). The art of dakwah: Social media, visual persuasion and the Islamist propagation of Felix Siauw. Indonesia and the Malay World, 46(134), 61–79. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639811.2018.1416757
Hilmi, M. (2019). Humor dalam pesan dakwah. Jurnal Ilmu Dakwah, 38(1), 87. https://doi.org/10.21580/jid.v38.1.3972
Hjarvard, S. (2008). The mediatization of religion: A theory of the media as agents of religious change. Northern Lights: Film & Media Studies Yearbook, 6(1), 9–26. https://doi.org/10.1386/nl.6.1.9_1
Hjarvard, S. (2011). The mediatisation of religion: Theorising religion, media and social change. Culture and Religion, 12(2), 119–135. https://doi.org/10.1080/14755610.2011.579719
Hjarvard, S. (2016). Mediatization and the changing authority of religion. Media, Culture & Society, 38(1), 8–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443715615412
Ismaeel Mahmood, I., & Mohd Kasim, Z. (2019). Interpersonal Metadiscursive Features in contemporary Islamic Friday Sermon. 3L The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 25(1), 85–99. https://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2019-2501-06
Jakobson, R. (1960). Linguistics and Poetics. Dalam T. A. Sebeok (Ed.), Style in Language. The Technology Press of Massacltusetts Institute of Techtology and John Wiley & Sons, Inc. https://monoskop.org/images/archive/8/84/20141028191454%21Jakobson_Roman_1960_Closing_statement_Linguistics_and_Poetics.pdf
Kholid, M. I. A. (2023). Inclusiveness of Gus Iqdam’s Recitation in Embracing Inter-religious People. Islamic Thought Review, 1(2), 179. https://doi.org/10.30983/itr.v1i2.7654
Luthfi, M., Karimullah, S. S., & Nugraha, A. R. (2024). The importance of humor elements in islamic da’wah messages among the millenial generation. al-Balagh : Jurnal Dakwah dan Komunikasi, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.22515/albalagh.v9i1.8667
Mabela, S., Sabardila, A., Markhamah, & Wahyudi, A. B. (2022). Code Switching and Code Mixing in Ustaz Hanan Attaki’s Da’wah on Youtube Social Media and Its Implications. International Conference of Learning on Advance Education (ICOLAE 2021). https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.220503.057
Mahdaniar, F., & Surya, A. (2022). Perumusan etis humor dakwah dalam desain pesan dakwah. INTELEKSIA - Jurnal Pengembangan Ilmu Dakwah, 3(2), 291–312. https://doi.org/10.55372/inteleksiajpid.v3i2.194
Meina Tri Kurniasih & Muhammad Burhanudin. (2025). Alih Kode dan Campur Kode dalam Ceramah Ustazah Mumpuni Handayayekti pada Kanal Youtube Tv Umum. Pragmatik : Jurnal Rumpun Ilmu Bahasa dan Pendidikan, 3(2), 27–41. https://doi.org/10.61132/pragmatik.v3i2.1513
Migdadi, F., Al-Momani, K., & Hammouri, I. (2025). Politeness Strategies in Arabic-Scripted Friday Khutbah (“Sermons”). Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 16(1), 232–241. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1601.24
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook (Edition 3). SAGE Publications.
Millie, J. (2012). Oratorical Innovation and Audience Heterogeneity in Islamic West Java. Indonesia, (93), 123. https://doi.org/10.5728/indonesia.93.0123
Millie, J., Syarif, D., & Fakhruroji, Moch. (2023). The Discipline of Dakwah in Indonesia’s State Education System. Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia, 179(1), 38–60. https://doi.org/10.1163/22134379-bja10047
Pemerintah Kabupaten Banyuwangi. (2025). Hadir di Banyuwangi, Pengajian Gus Iqdam Membludak. Pemerintah Kabupaten Banyuwangi. https://banyuwangikab.go.id/berita/hadir-di-banyuwangi-pengajian-gus-iqdam-membludak
R. Wahyudi, M. D., Hasan, N., & Fatwanto, A. (2025). From Pulpit to Platform: Algorithmic Mediation and the Transformation of Religious Authority on YouTube. Profetik: Jurnal Komunikasi, 18(2), 352–377. https://doi.org/10.14421/pjk.v18i2.3622
Sudaryanto, S. (1993). Metode dan aneka teknik analisis bahasa: Pengantar penelitian wahana kebudayaan secara linguistis. Duta Wacana University Press.
Sukarno, S. (2018). Politeness strategies, linguistics markers, and social context in delivering requests in Javanese. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(3), 659. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v7i3.9816
Thaariq, M. U., Pribadi, Moh., & Zidny, H. (2025). Analisis Sosiolinguistik Bilingualisme Arab-Indonesia dalam Channel Youtube Jeda Nulis. Ta’limi | Journal of Arabic Education and Arabic Studies, 4(2), 267–282. https://doi.org/10.53038/tlmi.v4i2.300
Van Dijck, J., & Poell, T. (2013). Understanding Social Media Logic. Media and Communication, 1(1), 2–14. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v1i1.70
Wandi, W. (2020). Penggunaan humor dalam dakwah komunikasi Islam. Al-Din: Jurnal Dakwah dan Sosial Keagamaan, 5(1), 84–100. https://doi.org/10.35673/ajdsk.v5i1.573
WayinVideo. (2025). Discover, Create, Share—Cherish Every Moment. WayinVideo. https://wayin.ai/
Woko, U. (2025). Keseruan Jamaah Gus Iqdam Ngaji di Bawah Pohon Sengon. NU Online. https://jatim.nu.or.id/nuonline/keseruan-jamaah-gus-iqdam-ngaji-di-bawah-pohon-sengon-J80hk
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