Monetizing Religious Engagement: A Sharia Perspective On Live Streaming, Digital Donations, And The Emerging Islamic Creator Economy

Abstract

The rapid growth of social media has enabled Islamic content creators to transform religious engagement into digital economic value through live streaming, virtual gifts, and digital donations. This study aims to examine how Islamic content creators monetize religious engagement through live streaming and to analyze these practices from the perspective of Islamic economic principles and maqashid al-shariah. This qualitative study employs digital observation and qualitative content analysis of publicly available Islamic live-streaming content on TikTok in Indonesia. Data were obtained from selected live-streaming sessions and related content produced by Islamic content creators through purposive sampling. The analysis examines patterns of religious engagement, monetization mechanisms, digital donations, virtual gifts, audience interaction, transparency, reciprocity, and the potential commercialization of religious activities. The findings indicate that monetization occurs through voluntary digital donations and virtual gifts facilitated by interactive religious content and audience participation. From an Islamic economic perspective, these practices can be considered permissible when conducted transparently, voluntarily, fairly, and without exploitation or excessive uncertainty (gharar). The findings also highlight the importance of maintaining religious integrity and ensuring that monetization contributes to social benefit in accordance with maqashid al-shariah. This study concludes that digital monetization of religious engagement presents both economic opportunities and ethical challenges for the Islamic creator economy.