Digital Distraction and Spiritual Neglect in Joko Pinurbo’s “Doa Orang Sibuk” through Islamic Character Education

Abstract

This study examines digital distraction and spiritual neglect in Joko Pinurbo’s poem “Doa Orang Sibuk” through the perspective of Islamic character education. This topic is significant because students increasingly live in intensely connected digital environments in which smartphones shape their attention, communication habits, learning routines, and spiritual awareness. The poem is highly relevant to this issue because it presents a sharp poetic irony: modern individuals store numerous contact numbers on their phones yet neglect to greet the most essential “number,” namely their symbolic relationship with God through prayer. This study employed a qualitative-interpretive design by integrating literary hermeneutics, thematic analysis, and the perspective of Islamic character education. The primary data consisted of the poem “Prayer of a Busy Person” and students’ reflective responses after reading and discussing the poem, while secondary data were obtained from literature on digital distraction, Islamic character education, spirituality, and poetry pedagogy. The analysis focused on symbolic elements such as the smartphone, the disappearance of contact numbers, the “nomorMu,” and the phrase “tak pernah kausapa,” all interpreted in relation to digital habits and spiritual awareness. The findings reveal that the smartphone in the poem functions as a symbol of modern humans’ digital dependency, whereas the loss of contact numbers represents the fragility of technologically mediated relationships. The expression “God’s number” constructs an irony of spiritual neglect, a condition in which people remain socially connected yet spiritually distant. This study contributes to Islamic humanities and educational studies by positioning contemporary Indonesian poetry as a reflective medium for strengthening students’ digital-spiritual literacy while offering practical implications for integrating poetry, Islamic character education, and digital ethics into learning.