A Sociological Exploration of Cyber-Islamic Environments of Türkiye: Navigating Faith in the Digital Era from Tradition to Hypermediation.

This study investigates the sociological dynamics of Cyber-Islamic Environments (CIEs) in "New" Türkiye, focusing on how digital communication technologies and new media platforms reshape Islamic beliefs, values, and practices. Using a qualitative methodology that combines ethnographic and phenomenological analysis, it examines 296 CIEs -including Instagram pages, Telegram groups, and mobile applications from the iOS App Store and Google Play Store, categorizing them by service type and functional domain. The study explores how these digital platforms mediate religious expression and foster new forms of cyber-Muslim identities and communities. Findings reveal that Türkiye's CIEs challenge traditional religious authority, democratize access to Islamic knowledge, and enable personalized religious engagement. They also raise critical issues around authenticity, privacy, gender inequality, and digital exclusion. The proliferation of user-generated content and decentralized influence reconfigures the production and circulation of religious meaning, often amplifying sectarian divides and marginalizing minority voices. Situated within a non-Western framework, this research positions Türkiye as an underexplored yet significant case in global digital religion discourse. It argues that digital religiosity in Türkiye reflects broader shifts in secularization, digitalization, and identity politics, challenging linear, Western-centric models. Rather than merely extending offline religion, CIEs function as generative environments that reshape religious norms and communal interactions. Ultimately, this study highlights the need to integrate digital space into sociological analyses of religion and calls for a reassessment of secularization theories considering cyber-religious transformations in Türkiye. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]