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How Yaqeen Institute Approaches AI: Integrating Technology with Islamic Ethics
Learn how we use AI internally and externally, the safeguards we have established, and our commitment to adapt as both the technology and the scholarly wisdom concerning it continue to evolve.
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Published: December 1, 2025 •Jumada al-Thani 10, 1447
Updated: December 2, 2025 •Jumada al-Thani 11, 1447
Read time: 15 min
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) represents both a profound challenge and a monumental opportunity for Yaqeen Institute when advancing its mission of dismantling doubts, nurturing conviction, and inspiring contribution. As AI rapidly transforms how knowledge is generated, shared, and experienced, Muslims cannot afford to be either uncritically enthusiastic or passively withdrawn. With ChatGPT reaching nearly a billion people every week, AI now plays an ever-growing role in influencing the intellectual lives and moral debates of humanity. It demands our urgent attention.
If we approach it thoughtfully, AI can strengthen our research, personalize learning, and open new creative avenues for storytelling and service to the ummah. Just as we at Yaqeen set out to combat Islamophobia on Google in 2016, we now have the chance to ensure our voice and values are present in the next wave of technology. However, like every major technological shift, its potential comes with real risks: both spiritual and societal. Our goal is to engage this technology with purpose, leveraging it where it brings clear benefit and being vigilant about minimizing its harm.
This blog outlines how we use AI internally and externally, the safeguards we have established, and our commitment to adapt as both the technology and the scholarly wisdom concerning it continue to evolve. A broader Islamic framework for AI ethics is explored in our forthcoming publication, “Towards an Islamic Ethics (Fiqh) of Artificial Intelligence.”
Why Muslims must lead in AI
Artificial intelligence has rapidly transitioned from theoretical research to practical applications across nearly every sector of society, including the dissemination and consumption of Islamic knowledge. This technology is not going away. For institutions serving the Muslim community, we believe that understanding this shift is essential.
Recent history shows the costs of delayed engagement with new technologies. Social media platforms developed without much Muslim involvement, resulting in algorithms that shaped narratives about Islam, restricted our content, and influenced how Muslims access religious knowledge. Surveillance and policing technologies were similarly developed and deployed with Muslims as primary targets. Beyond these social and cultural harms, the stakes for the global ummah are even higher. AI is already reshaping economies and military capabilities, areas where Muslim nations risk deepening dependence if they remain consumers rather than contributors. Sadly, we have already seen sinister applications of AI-based targeting in Gaza and other parts of our ummah.
Timing is critical. Unlike previous technological revolutions, where Muslim institutions responded after systems were entrenched, we are still in the formative stages of AI. This presents an important opportunity as AI inevitably begins to shape how religious questions are answered and how our communities interact with information systems. As such, if we fail to understand and shape this technology, others will define how it represents and impacts our communities. Islam offers a distinct ethical framework that the world sorely needs. While secular frameworks often focus on regulation after harm occurs (and are largely influenced by material concerns), Islamic ethics begin with accountability before Allah and attend to long-term benefit to all. Early engagement allows us to establish principled frameworks for adoption while we can, instead of passively inheriting systems and practices shaped by others, then struggling to mitigate the harms once they arise.
Is it Islamically permissible to use AI?
Like any tool, it depends on how we use it. As a tool, AI can be used for its intended purpose, misused outside of its appropriate application, or abused with malicious intent. Therefore, the Islamic ruling on artificial intelligence is one of conditional permissibility. Contemporary scholars view it as permissible by default but subject to strict ethical guidelines and Islamic guardrails.
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How Yaqeen uses AI
AI can take on work that is not feasible for humans to manage at scale. It can sift through hundreds of research papers in seconds, generating helpful summaries and FAQs based on our work. It can tailor content to the reader in real time, thus reaching people in the moments when it can have the greatest impact. At Yaqeen, we want AI to serve a clear and simple purpose: to make our teams more effective and focused on what matters most. AI should help scholars and creatives spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time engaging deeply with ideas that move people toward truth.
Internal applications
We are actively exploring and testing different ways of using AI, always with careful oversight. For instance, we’ve learnt that AI can support the practical work that keeps Yaqeen running smoothly. One such example is accelerating routine administrative tasks, like summarizing meeting notes or formatting citations. In research, AI can act like an assistant that helps scholars work more efficiently. It can search through the growing corpus of classical Islamic texts to support deeper studies. For writers and editors, it can assist with refining drafts, adjusting tone, or simplifying language for different audiences. AI can also expand creative potential, acting as a sounding board for exploration or generating imagery and animation.
External applications
Just as AI can facilitate some of Yaqeen’s internal work, it can also help us serve our readers and viewers more meaningfully. These tools make it easier for people to find and engage with reliable Islamic knowledge that meets them where they are.
One of the key ways this happens is through AQSA, Yaqeen’s AI assistant. AQSA helps users search across our library, answering common questions with referenced information drawn directly from verified Yaqeen research. It is designed to help visitors explore topics more efficiently, whether they are looking for a quick answer or a deeper study. AQSA does not provide rulings or personal religious advice. It simply helps users navigate our content with ease.
AI also enables a more personalized experience. It helps us recommend the right content at the right time, seeking to tailor recommendations to the individual and increase impact. One person might benefit more from watching a quick video, while others might prefer longer-form academic material. This technology enables us to adapt our work into new formats, transforming in-depth research into an infographic or short video that preserves the same substance in a more broadly accessible form. We’re also able to reach diverse audiences, such as those who speak different languages or those who prefer various learning modalities.
In addition to this, we’re exploring how to make verified Islamic content more visible in the tools people already use, ensuring that when someone asks questions about Islam on platforms like ChatGPT or Claude, they’re met with reliable information rooted in orthodox scholarship.
Ethical risks and guardrails
Over the past year at Yaqeen, we have become more deliberate in how we engage with digital tools. That commitment led us to begin auditing the platforms we rely on for complicity in the genocide in Gaza. We have already transitioned away from two platforms and continue reassessing every partnership through the same ethical lens.
The following sections outline the key issues we are actively considering.
Data privacy
In a time when personal data is often treated as a commodity, we see it as an amana (trust). Our sole purpose for collecting analytics is to serve you better—to understand how to deliver the right content to the right person at the right moment.
We believe that privacy is your right and are transparent about how we use the information provided through our website and mobile platforms, following established privacy standards. You can modify or erase your data at any time and we never sell your data to third parties. For personalization, all data is anonymized within our systems, and the information is used solely to improve experience and accessibility.
Islamic noncompliance and AI slop
AI can make work faster, but it can also make it careless. The same tools that help generate ideas and information can just as easily produce content that sounds convincing but is fabricated, inaccurate, or misleading. These systems learn from massive datasets built largely from the internet, reflecting the cultural assumptions and biases of those who created them. Because most of that data is Western and secular in origin, AI often carries blind spots about Islam and Muslims. Some models, for instance, have even failed to acknowledge real-world injustices, such as the persecution of Uyghur Muslims.
AI’s polished tone can give the false impression of neutrality and authority, making its errors easy to trust. When applied to Islamic content, these flaws become far more serious. A model can misquote a hadith or strip a ruling of its context while sounding eloquent and confident. The harm here is not just academic; it touches faith and public understanding of Islam itself.
At Yaqeen, the responsibility for truth always lies with people. AI can support our teams by speeding up work, but it does not make decisions or carry moral weight. Like a doctor using technology to diagnose patients more accurately or reach more people, the technology may assist, but the responsibility still lies with the doctor. Our team is responsible for verifying and assessing any AI-generated content before using it in any capacity.
That accountability is reinforced through the Ihsan Assurance team, a group of Yaqeen scholars who examine every piece of content before publication. They ensure that each publication meets our standards of citation accuracy and scholarly rigor, aligns with Islamic principles, and reflects Yaqeen’s distinctive mission.
Authorship attribution
AI can produce content that looks and sounds like it was written by a person, making it harder to tell who is really behind the words. In Islamic scholarship, this matters deeply. Authorship is not just about producing material; it reflects intention and accountability before Allah. Passing off machine-generated work as human erodes trust and blurs responsibility for the content being taught or shared.
At Yaqeen, every author takes full ownership of their work. AI may assist with tasks such as research support or editorial refinement, but the content and conclusions always come from the individual scholar or writer. This responsibility is positively affirmed by the author during the submission process. In multimedia production, the same standard applies. Yaqeen does not use AI to create realistic depictions of living people or imitate their voices (i.e., deepfakes). When AI-generated visuals are used, they are limited to artistic or contextual applications, such as background footage, where the use is clear and transparent.
Copyright issues
AI models are trained on vast amounts of copyrighted material without the explicit permission, credit, or compensation of the original human creators, whose livelihoods and intellectual property rights can then be undermined by the very systems their work made possible. Islamic ethics place a high value on fairness and the protection of property.
We acknowledge that this raises important questions and creates a tension that cannot be fully resolved by our own practices alone, as true resolution requires systemic change in how AI companies operate. We are proceeding according to a conservative standard among peer practitioners in the field, and we will continue to review and refine our practices as guidance on these matters evolve. While legal debates about AI and copyright are still unfolding, our approach remains rooted in restraint. Our use of AI is limited to design and creative assistance, not as a source of content taken from others. In the emerging area of AI as a tool for Islamic research, we restrict our use to open-source datasets, such as Al-Maktaba al-Shamela and OpenITI, and not the private work of any individual, while requiring authors to cite all sources clearly.
Devaluation of human scholarship and spiritual disconnection
As AI grows more capable, there is a legitimate fear that it could weaken the depth, reflection, and intellectual rigor that defines authentic Islamic scholarship. In the Islamic tradition, knowledge has never been an exercise in processing information; it is a moral and spiritual pursuit rooted in sincerity and realized through meaningful application. Knowledge should draw us closer to Allah.
AI can process large amounts of information, but it cannot sense intention or emotion. It cannot understand personal context or grasp how a word of truth may guide one heart differently from another. When two men separately asked ʿAbdullah ibn ʿAbbas whether someone who killed a believer could be forgiven, he gave two different answers. To the man he suspected was planning a murder, he said no, hoping to deter him. To the man who had already killed and sought forgiveness, he said yes, to encourage repentance. Imagine outsourcing this to a machine—such nuance and intuition would be lost entirely.
At Yaqeen, we have clear boundaries. Our audience-facing AI helps people interact with our existing research and content, but it does not issue rulings or provide personal religious advice. It is not an AI mufti.
Our scholars and editors remain fully responsible for every publication. The editorial team upholds standards of rigor in every publication we release. AI is treated as a tool that supports research, writing, and design, but it never substitutes scholarly thought or human insight that comes from years of study and reflection.
Internally, Yaqeen invests in its people. Tarbiya sessions and mentorship promote the growth of scholars in both skill and spirituality. This foundation protects against overreliance on technology by strengthening the very thing AI can never replicate, the human heart.
Environmental stewardship
Among all the ethical challenges tied to artificial intelligence, its environmental cost may be the hardest to address. Every digital interaction depends on physical infrastructure that consumes energy and water. While data centers have powered the internet for decades, the growth of AI has increased their presence and multiplied the demand for electricity and cooling resources. These costs are largely invisible to the user but tangible for the planet and for the communities that host these facilities. As khulafaʾ (vicegerents) on earth, humans are entrusted to preserve harmony within creation: to use its resources sustainably and justly, never to hoard or destroy what Allah has provided.
At the same time, complete abstinence from these systems is not realistic for any online institution. The same data centers that power AI also deliver every platform and video that helps Yaqeen reach audiences around the world. Withdrawing entirely would mean we are unable to access the very spaces people engage in today. AI is also not a single technology, but rather a broad spectrum of systems with largely different impacts. The tool that filters spam or recommends a video operates on a small scale, while training a large model like GPT-5 demands vast energy and resources. Treating all AIs as equal energy consumers obscures these differences. Islamic ethics call for discernment, evaluating each use by its necessity, benefit, and potential harm. Our task, therefore, is not to reject technology but to engage it responsibly, adopting what is necessary and beneficial while remaining conscious of its costs and guided by Islamic principles of balance and stewardship.
For Yaqeen, this means engaging with generative AI only where it serves a clear and beneficial purpose. Our direct environmental footprint is small, yet our potential for positive influence, through education and scholarship, is far greater. We aim to advance Islamic awareness on environmental stewardship, building on our earlier research. This will also include upcoming work to develop fiqh-based guidance and practical steps for responsible technology use. As always, we are committed to continued betterment, adapting and advancing our approach in light of emerging Islamic scholarship.
Conclusion
AI is already shaping how Islamic knowledge is accessed and impacting Muslim communities globally, and this influence is only set to deepen. Our framework at Yaqeen reflects a commitment to leading rather than reacting; our goal is not to resist technology by default, nor to embrace it without question, but to adopt it thoughtfully in a way that amplifies our mission.
Both the technology and our understanding of its implications will continue to evolve. AI systems will grow more capable, new applications will emerge, and Islamic scholarly discourse on these matters will deepen. This blog represents our current approach using the best available knowledge today. It is not a final word. We remain committed to adapting our practices as Islamic guidance develops, as fiqh councils issue rulings, and as AI technologies themselves transform.
We invite our Yaqeen community to engage critically with this topic. If you notice ways our AI offerings fall short of the principles outlined here, or if you have concerns about how AI is shaping the broader Islamic knowledge ecosystem, please get in touch with our team at https://yaqeeninstitute.org/contact-us.
References
1.
Rebecca Bellan, “Sam Altman says ChatGPT has hit 800M weekly active users,” TechCrunch, October 6, 2025, https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/06/sam-altman-says-chatgpt-has-hit-800m-weekly-active-users/.
2.
Mohamed AbuTaleb, Hidayath Ansari, Kenan Alkiek, Suleiman Hani, and Umer Khan, “Towards an Islamic Ethics (Fiqh) of Artificial Intelligence,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research (forthcoming).
3.
Bethan McKernan, “‘The machine did it coldly’: Israel used AI to identify 37,000 Hamas targets,” The Guardian, April 3, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/03/israel-gaza-ai-database-hamas-airstrikes.
4.
Wakālat al-Anbā’ al-Saʻūdīyah (Saudi Press Agency). “عام / المجمع الفقهي الإسلامي يصدر قرارات وبيانات في عددٍ من القضايا والمستجدات في ختام دورته الـ 23” [General / The Islamic Fiqh Academy Issues Resolutions and Statements on a Number of Issues and Developments at the Conclusion of its 23rd Session]. Saudi Press Agency, April 23, 2024, https://www.spa.gov.sa/N2088120.
5.
“Privacy Policy,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, November 5, 2025, https://yaqeeninstitute.org/privacy-policy; “Donor Privacy Policy,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, November 5, 2025, https://yaqeeninstitute.org/donor-privacy-policy.
6.
Muṣannaf ibn Abī Shayba, no. 27182. Ibn Ḥajar graded the hadith as ḥasan. Sufyān al-Thawrī used it as evidence that the ruling (fatwā) can be tailored to the individual’s situation and intent to prevent a sin or encourage an already committed person to repent.
7.
Afsan Redwan, “When the Earth Speaks Against Us: Environmental Ethics in Islam,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, September 20, 2018, https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/when-the-earth-speaks-against-us-environmental-ethics-in-islam; Rhamis Kent, “Saving Truth and Beauty: The Destruction of Nature and the Islamic Solution,” Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, August 29, 2022, https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/saving-truth-and-beauty-the-destruction-of-nature-and-the-islamic-solution.
Dr. Mohamed AbuTaleb
VP of Research and Content Strategy
Ibtihal Aboussad
AI Solutions Engineer
Ibtihal Aboussad is an AI Solutions Engineer at Yaqeen Institute and a community organizer at the intersection of justice, Islam, and technology. She focuses on mobilizing Muslims around resisting tech complicity in oppression and reclaiming Islamic principles in the industry. Ibtihal holds a degree in Computer Science and Psychology from Harvard University.
Kenan Alkiek
Author
Kenan Alkiek holds a degrees in Computer Science and Applied Statistics and is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Michigan. His research focuses on reasoning and reliability in language models, with broader interests in artificial intelligence. Kenan has served as a volunteer at Yaqeen Institute since 2018.
Disclaimer: The views, opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in these papers and articles are strictly those of the authors. Furthermore, Yaqeen does not endorse any of the personal views of the authors on any platform. Our team is diverse on all fronts, allowing for constant, enriching dialogue that helps us produce high-quality research.
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