Sanad Keilmuan dan Epistemic Authority: Rekonstruksi Teori Dakwah dalam Masyarakat Digital

Abstract

Islamic scholarly tradition treats knowledge as a trust transmitted through an accountable chain, yet digital society has weakened the traditional intermediaries that decide who may speak on behalf of religion. Classical da’wah theory, built on the preacher, message, media, method, and audience, tends to treat the preacher’s authority as given, so its formation and verification remain implicit. This article aims to map the conceptual relation between scholarly sanad and epistemic authority, analyze the shift in da’wah authority in digital society, and reconstruct da’wah theory. It uses a qualitative library research design with purposively selected literature, analyzed through content and conceptual analysis in three stages: identifying key concepts, comparing traditional and digital authority, and synthesizing a theoretical framework. The findings show that sanad and epistemic authority complement each other, that da’wah authority has moved from institutional transmission toward networked, performative, and algorithmic forms, and that sanad remains relevant as a mechanism of epistemic verification extended to content distribution. These findings yield a three-pillar model of da’wah authority: validity, communicative credibility, and audience literacy. The model complements classical da’wah theory and offers transparency standards for preachers and da’wah institutions, although it remains a conceptual proposal needing empirical testing.