Linguistic Strategies of Religious Framing in Islamic Crowdfunding Platforms

Abstract

This research aims to explore how religious language and discourse strategies are employed in Indonesian Islamic crowdfunding platforms to construct persuasive religious framing. The primary focus is on how Quranic expressions, Islamic moral appeals, and religious vocabulary are integrated into online campaign content—such as websites and social media—to influence donor perceptions, build institutional trust, and inspire charitable behavior. Through this study, the goal is to gain deeper insight into how religious discourse serves as both a legitimizing force and a persuasive tool within the digital Islamic economy, particularly in shaping the Islamic identity and credibility of philanthropic platforms like Dompet Dhuafa. The qualitative analysis of Dompet Dhuafa’s crowdfunding campaign texts identifies several linguistic techniques used to frame charity as a spiritually significant and socially impactful act. These strategies include religious lexical choices rooted in Islamic jurisprudence, eschatological appeals to afterlife rewards, emotionally resonant language to foster a sense of community, and clear calls to action supported by credibility claims. Campaigns are also contextualized within the Islamic calendar to enhance relevance and urgency, while moral appeals tie giving to broader ethical goals like promoting justice and preventing social harm. These discourse patterns collectively position sedekah as not merely a donation but an expression of faith, communal solidarity, and ethical responsibility. In addition, the campaigns make effective use of Qur’anic and prophetic references to deepen their spiritual appeal and strengthen religious framing. Thematic elements such as reward multiplication, spiritual purification, and paradoxical religious logic—where giving leads to increase—are drawn from Islamic scripture and Hadith. These messages not only motivate giving through fear and hope related to the afterlife but also encourage sincere, humble, and intentional acts of charity. By incorporating prophetic authority and embedding sedekah within both personal piety and ethical commerce, Dompet Dhuafa’s linguistic strategies succeed in constructing a powerful religious narrative that connects divine accountability, social justice, and digital philanthropy in a uniquely Islamic way. The language used in Dompet Dhuafa’s crowdfunding campaign strategically blends emotional appeal, religious motivation, and institutional trust to encourage donations. It employs Islamic terms, Quranic verses, and hadiths to emphasize the spiritual benefits of charity. Through inclusive calls-to-action, moral persuasion, and cultural framing, the campaign positions giving as both a personal act of worship and a communal responsibility, reinforcing its credibility and aligning with Islamic values.