Construction of Salafiyya religious identity and new media -The case of digital preachers-

The Salafiyya community, which is one of the religious groups in Turkey, has revealed the need for a study in this context, as it occupies the agenda of the public and attracts attention. This study, on the construction of Salafiyya religious identity in Turkey through digital media, was revealed through an in-depth analysis of various sermons on Youtube, one of the new media tools. These sermons, delivered by the 6 Salafiyya preachers included in the study, provide insight into the basic principles, beliefs and interpretations that shape Salafiyya thought in the country. In this research, in which the case study approach, one of the qualitative research approaches, was adopted as a method, the videos used as data sources were determined and categorized according to their thematic content, preachers and contexts through the MAXQDA program. Then, content analysis was made on these sermons. This process led to a deeper understanding of the nuances in Salafiyya religious identity and how they were constructed through sermons. Through their sermons, preachers play an important role in shaping and reinforcing these thought patterns among their followers. Moreover, the Youtube platform itself has been seen to play a crucial role in the spread of Salafiyya thought. The accessibility and wide reach of these online sermons enables Salafiyya preachers to disseminate their interpretations and beliefs to a wide audience, thereby influencing the construction of Salafiyya religious identity on a larger scale. The construction of Salafiyya identity has been tried to be understood with the concepts of social identity theory and the findings have been classified according to this theory. Based on the data of this study, 3 different categories were discovered in the context of Turkey, namely Absolute and Exclusive Salafism, Contextual and Pragmatic Salafism, Tolerant and Insightful Salafism. As a result, this classification revealed the multifaceted structure of Salafiyya thought and identity in Turkey. This research thus contributes significantly to the understanding of Salafist ideology and its diffusion mechanisms and serves as an important resource for further research in this area.