Islamic Political Development and New Media: A case Review in Malaysia from 2002 to 2012

Abstract

This study is to identify the use of new media for political campaigns particularly for Islamic political campaigns. Results of this study have found that the new media is very important medium used by politicians in their campaigns to influence the society. The researchers have listed several websites associated with Islamic politics in Malaysia. This study is also aimed to discuss issues related to Islamic politics in Malaysia as commonly discussed in blogs, websites, face book and other internet applications. This study adopted a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative method involves literature reviews and contents analysis survey to resolve several questions with regards to various new media previously utilized in the development of Islamic politics. In addition, this study also examines the role played by the new media in influencing the society’s attitudes towards Islamic politics. Quantitative method was used through a survey which was conducted using questionnaire to determine how new media was used as the channel to discuss Islamic politics and to determine the role played by the new media in the development of Islamic politics today. 627 respondents were randomly selected in Malaysia based on gender, races, age and residential areas. Data was analyzed using the SPSS version 10.0 involving descriptive analysis to find frequency and percentage. Results of the study have found that 83.3% respondents agreed that the development of Islamic politics was influenced by the new media. Whereas, 99.4% respondents experienced current technology development (new media) like face book account, twitter, and blogs. 98.7% respondents agreed that most politicians have used the new media as one of their campaigning methods to attract voters and 85% of respondents agreed that the new media helps the society to increase their knowledge on Islamic politics. The implication of the study is the development of Islamic politics in Malaysia is greatly influenced by the emergence of new media, hence it has significant impact on political development in Malaysia.