During the second scholarly session of the Global Fatwa Conference, experts discuss legislation for regulating fatwa in the digital age.

Dr Faid Mohammed Said:

The Egyptian Dar al-Ifta and the Al-Azhar Global Centre for Fatwa Form a Fundamental Pillar in Guiding and Regulating Digital Fatwa

We call for the creation of fatwa platforms that utilise artificial intelligence to ensure methodological precision in issuing legal opinions.

As part of the session, Dr Faid Mohammed Said, Chairman of the Sharia Committee of the European Council for Islamic Centres, Institutions and Leaders London, presented a scholarly paper entitled “The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Fatwa: Its Ruling and Regulations”.

The paper began with a concise overview of the concept of artificial intelligence and its various platforms, along with a review of the most prominent tools and programs currently employed in the field of issuing fatwas.

The Chairman of the Sharia Committee of the European Council for Islamic Centres, Institutions and Leaders provided a comparative analysis between sample answers generated by artificial intelligence tools in the field of fatwa   through well-known platforms such as Islam and AI and ChatGPT   and fatwas issued by official religious bodies, such as the Egyptian Dar al-Ifta and the Al-Azhar Global Centre for Fatwa. He explained the extent to which these AI-generated responses adhered to proper scholarly standards, and whether they were biased or aligned with the outputs of recognised fatwa institutions.

Based on the research findings, Dr Fayid stressed that scholarly authorities such as the Egyptian Dar al-Ifta and the Al-Azhar Global Centre for Fatwa remain the cornerstone in directing and regulating digital fatwa. This is achieved through the development of digital tools subject to Sharia standards, and by enhancing the integration between jurisprudence and technology in a way that preserves the dignity of the fatwa and protects it from oversimplification or distortion.

The paper concluded with a set of key recommendations, the most notable of which were: not dispensing with the human mufti; subjecting smart platforms to direct scholarly supervision; forming joint working teams of jurists and technical experts to develop authoritative Sharia databases to be used in intelligent algorithms; clarifying the ethical and religious regulations for using artificial intelligence in religious contexts; and prohibiting any applications that distort religious texts, contradict consensus, or cause confusion and controversy among Muslims.