Qatar Foundation Experts Explore The Role Of AI In Islam

Ethical concerns emerge as key factor in understanding AI's application in religious context

Doha, Qatar: As we integrate Artificial intelligence (AI) into more aspects of our lives, there is increasing recognition of its potential to transform how we interact with and learn about our faiths.

In the context of Islam, AI has the potential to enhance access to religious knowledge, streamline educational processes, and support spiritual practices. However, as the technology of AI progresses, one significant challenge emerges: its ethical implications.

“The process of training AI models involves feeding vast amounts of data to the system to help it learn,” says Dr. Majd Hawasly, a scientist in the Arabic Language Technologies group at Qatar Computing Research Institute, a research institute that is part of Qatar Foundation's (QF's) Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU).

Dr. Majd Hawasly, a scientist in the Arabic Language Technologies group at Qatar Computing Research Institute, a research institute that is part of Qatar Foundation's (QF's) Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU).

“The quality and purity of the data used are paramount, that is, being free from biases, misconceptions and harmful content to ensure that AI produces responses that are in line with human values, ethical standards and Islamic teachings.”

As experts explore how AI can be integrated into Islamic contexts, they emphasize the importance of ensuring that AI aligns with Islamic values and, most crucially, does not replace the essential human dimension of faith and spirituality.

AI's role in Islam raises intriguing questions about its potential to support religious practices while preserving the sanctity of the faith, with one area where it could have a significant impact being the enhancement of Islamic education and research.

“AI could enrich the education process. It could help educators in developing faith learning experiences and making them more accessible to people,”Dr. Hawasly explains.

By automating the process of gathering and summarizing vast amounts of information,AI could also assist students in religion in accessing a broader range of religious texts and interpretations. This capability could allow learners to explore Islamic teachings more efficiently, without the need for extensive manual research.

However, Dr. Hawasly cautions against using AI as a replacement for scholars, saying:“The mere idea of replacing scholars is dangerous, yet AI can complement learning and scholarship can certainly support the scholarly process by organizing knowledge and providing relevant resources, while the nuanced understanding, refined moral judgment, and deep spiritual insight that scholars offer cannot be replicated by machines.”

Like Dr. Hawasly, Dr. Mohammed Ghaly acknowledges AI's potential to enhance accessibility, yet he underscores that human oversight remains essential when interpreting religious texts and providing spiritual direction.

Dr. Mohammed Ghaly, a Professor of Islam and Biomedical Ethics at the Research Center for Islamic Legislation & Ethics (CILE), at the College of Islamic Studies at HBKU

AI, unlike humans, is a non-living entity with no intrinsic dignity or moral status similar or even close to humans. Dr. Mohammed Ghaly, a Professor of Islam and Biomedical Ethics at the Research Center for Islamic Legislation & Ethics (CILE), at the College of Islamic Studies at HBKU, raises a profound ethical question: Where does AI fit within Islam's morally significant hierarchy of existence?

“In Islam, beings are ranked in a moral order – humans hold the highest status, followed by animals, with plants occupying a lower tier, and inanimate objects at the very bottom,” he explains.“AI systems and machines would fit into the last category. However, these machines,despite their lack of human or even animal dignity, are perceived as smart and can sometimes outperform humans in certain domains.

“So, a big question that religions, including Islam, need to think about is – what is the moral standing of AI within a religio-ethical moral framework?”

AI's ability to generate or retrieve information is based on data and algorithms , but it lacks the understanding of the spiritual significance of these texts without the essential human intuition.

Dr. Hawasly expresses concern over using AI as a“Mufti”or an Islamic jurist, pointing out that while AI could have a good grasp of the texts, it lacks the capacity of understanding the personal and cultural context of the enquiry, the potential implications, and the delicate moral and ethical balance that stems from all of that.

“The legitimacy is a significant issue when it comes to providing religious guidance we allow it, AI could produce responses to religious queries, but it's still the responsibility of the individual to validate the answer.”

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This highlights the need for human oversight in AI's application in religious contexts to ensure that the information provided is accurate and aligned with Islamic teachings.

Another area where AI could be particularly helpfulis in simulating religious practices, such as teaching children how to pray or correctly recite the Quran. AI can offer interactive tools that guide users through the physical movements and recitations required in prayer.

However, Dr. Ghaly clarifies that while AI can support the religious practice, it cannot replace the human aspect of spiritual communication with God.“Machines cannot replace humans when it comes to performing religious obligations or engaging in acts of worship,” he says.

“While AI can assist in teaching and simulation, the deeper, spiritual connection that is integral to religious duties, like the obligatory five daily prayers, is exclusive to humans within the visible world we live in is fundamentally about communication with God, and this sacred interaction is a responsibility entrusted to humans alone, not to machines.”

As AI continues to evolve, Muslim scholars are grappling with the question of how to integrate this technology in a way that is consistent with Islamic values. Dr. Ghaly acknowledges that AI is a natural, if not inevitable, extension of the digital age. However, its emergence brings forth pressing ethical questions and profound challenges that demand careful consideration.

As he says:“Every moral and religious tradition, including Islam, needs to think about these big changes and delierbate on what we are going to do with AI.”

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