MAQASID AL-SHARIAH IN THE AI ERA: BALANCING INNOVATION AND ISLAMIC ETHICAL PRINCIPLES

Abstract

The rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies presents both unprecedented opportunities and complex ethical challenges for Muslim societies worldwide. This paper examines how Maqasid al-Shariah (the higher objectives of Islamic law) can serve as a comprehensive ethical framework for evaluating and guiding AI development and implementation. Through systematic analysis of AI applications across the five essential protections (daruriyyat) of Islamic law—faith, life, intellect, lineage, and wealth—this study demonstrates how the maqasid framework enables Muslims to engage critically with technological innovation while maintaining fidelity to Islamic ethical principles. The research reveals that certain AI applications demonstrate significant potential for supporting religious practice, enhancing healthcare outcomes, democratizing knowledge, strengthening family connections, and promoting economic inclusion. However, challenges emerge in areas such as algorithmic bias, surveillance technologies, intellectual dependency, reproductive technologies, and wealth concentration. By developing interdisciplinary approaches to technological governance grounded in maqasid theory, Muslim communities can navigate the digital transformation with both ethical integrity and innovative engagement. This paper contributes to the growing discourse on religiously-informed technology ethics by articulating a distinctively Islamic approach to AI governance that balances technological progress with human dignity, communal welfare, and spiritual values.