Artificial Intelligence and Moral Responsibility: An Islamic Normative Approach
Keywords:
artificial intelligence, AI ethics, Islamic ethics, maqāṣid al-sharīʿah, justice (ʿadl), human dignity (karāmah), surveillance and privacy, algorithmic bias
Abstract
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming social, economic, and religious spheres, raising ethical concerns that extend beyond technical performance to questions of justice, accountability, human dignity, and moral responsibility. This paper examines contemporary AI ethics through an Islamic moral framework, arguing that AI should be ethically evaluated rather than merely regulated or celebrated. Using a normative ethical analysis grounded in Islamic moral philosophy, the study first identifies key ethical challenges associated with AI, including algorithmic bias, privacy and surveillance, automation-driven economic disruption, autonomous decision-making, and accountability deficits. It then articulates core Islamic ethical principles, such as tawḥīd, khilāfah, amānah, ʿadl, maṣlaḥah, maqāṣid al-sharīʿah, and karāmah insāniyyah, as normative criteria for ethical judgement. These principles are subsequently applied to assess the moral permissibility, limitations, and conditions governing contemporary AI practices. The analysis demonstrates that Islamic ethics permits beneficial AI applications while imposing firm constraints where technologies undermine justice, human agency, dignity, or public welfare. The study concludes that Islamic moral philosophy offers a rigorous and culturally grounded framework for ethically responsible AI
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References
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Alamsyah, M. N., Yayuli, & Remanda, A. (2025). Ethics of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the paradigm of Islamic law. Solo International Collaboration and Publication of Social Sciences and Humanities, 4(1), 91–104. https://doi.org/10.61455/sicopus.v4i01.393
Anderson, M., & Anderson, S. L. (2007). Machine ethics: Creating an ethical intelligent agent. Oxford University Press.
Arif, M., Al Irfan, S., Namanyane, T., & Ali, W. (2025). AI and machine learning in Islamic guidance: Opportunities, ethical considerations, and future directions. Guidance: Jurnal Bimbingan Dan Konseling, 21(2), 429–451. https://doi.org/10.34005/guidance.v21i02.4449
Auda, J. (2008). Maqasid al-shariah as philosophy of Islamic law: A systems approach. International Institute of Islamic Thought.
Bostrom, N., & Yudkowsky, E. (2014). The ethics of artificial intelligence. In K. Frankish & W. M. Ramsey (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of artificial intelligence. Cambridge University Press.
Brynjolfsson, E., & McAfee, A. (2014). The second machine age: Work, progress, and prosperity in a time of brilliant technologies. W. W. Norton & Company.
Crawford, K. (2021). Atlas of AI: Power, politics, and the planetary costs of artificial intelligence. Yale University Press.
El-Hady, E. H. F., & Zenrif, M. F. (2024). Pandangan Islam terhadap etika kecerdasan buatan (artificial intelligence) dalam kehidupan sehari-hari. Nuansa, 21(2), 84–98. https://doi.org/10.19105/nuansa.v21i2.16613
Elmahjub, E. (2023). Artificial intelligence (AI) in Islamic ethics: Towards pluralist ethical benchmarking for AI. Philosophy & Technology, 36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13347-023-00668-x
Esposito, J. L., & Voll, J. O. (1996). Islam and democracy. Oxford University Press.
Eubanks, V. (2018). Automating inequality: How high-tech tools profile, police, and punish the poor. St. Martin’s Press.
Floridi, L. (2013). The ethics of information. Oxford University Press.
Ghaly, M. (2023). What makes work “good” in the age of artificial intelligence (AI)? Islamic perspectives on AI-mediated work ethics. The Journal of Ethics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10892-023-09456-3
Hallaq, W. B. (2009). Shari'a: Theory, practice, transformations. Cambridge University Press.
Hasan, A. (Trans.). (1984). Abu Dawud. Sh. Muhammad Ashraf.
Hashmi, S. H. (Ed.). (2002). Islamic political ethics: Civil society, pluralism, and conflict. Princeton University Press.
Kamali, M. H. (2003). Principles of Islamic jurisprudence (3rd ed.). Islamic Texts Society.
Lusiana, M. H., Fathimah, E., & Daulay, W. I. H. (2024). Challenges and threats of artificial intelligence in maqasid sharia perspective. KnE Social Sciences. https://doi.org/10.18502/kss.v9i2.15004
Marcus, G., & Davis, E. (2019). Rebooting AI: Building artificial intelligence we can trust. Vintage.
Mittelstadt, B. D., Allo, P., Taddeo, M., Wachter, S., & Floridi, L. (2016). The ethics of algorithms: Mapping the debate. Big Data & Society, 3(2), 1–21.
Mohadi, M., & Tarshany, Y. (2023). Maqasid al-shari’ah and the ethics of artificial intelligence. Journal of Contemporary Maqasid Studies. https://doi.org/10.52100/jcms.v2i2.107
Nasr, S. H. (2006). Islamic philosophy from its origin to the present: Philosophy in the land of prophecy. State University of New York Press.
Niam, M. F. (2024). Does artificial intelligence go beyond the limits of religious authority? An ethical review on IslamGPT. Al’ Adalah (Jember), 27(1), 71–84. https://doi.org/10.35719/aladalah.v27i1.477
Noble, S. U. (2018). Algorithms of oppression: How search engines reinforce racism. New York University Press.
Nuha, A. A. (2025). Etika dan tantangan dakwah dengan artificial intellegence. Dakwatuna: Jurnal Dakwah Dan Komunikasi Islam, 11(1), 97–107. https://doi.org/10.54471/dakwatuna.v11i1.3470
Pasquale, F. (2015). The black box society: The secret algorithms that control money and information. Harvard University Press.
Ramadan, T. (2009). Radical reform: Islamic ethics and liberation. Oxford University Press.
Raquib, A., Channa, B., Zubair, T., & Qadir, J. (2022). Islamic virtue-based ethics for artificial intelligence. Discover Artificial Intelligence, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44163-022-00028-2
Russell, S. (2019). Human compatible: Artificial intelligence and the problem of control. Viking.
Sachedina, A. (2009). Islam and the challenge of human rights. Oxford University Press.
Saputra, A., & Asbi, E. A. (2025). Islam, big data, and digital ethics: Challenges in religious life in the digital age. Pharos Journal of Theology, 106(4). https://doi.org/10.46222/pharosjot.106.4022
Siddique, B., & Abdul Rauf, U. F. (2025). Artificial intelligence, bioethics, and Islamic law: A cross-disciplinary study for the modern age. Journal of Applied Linguistics and TESOL, 8(3), 78–88. https://doi.org/10.63878/jalt1034
Tang, Q. W., & Kamarudin, S. (2025). A systematic literature review of theological reflections and institutional responses in religious engagements with AI ethics. In Advances in computational intelligence and robotics book series (pp. 353–384). https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3373-2170-7.ch014
Vallor, S. (2016). Technology and the virtues: A philosophical guide to a future worth wanting. Oxford University Press.
Waseu, I. (2025). Peran teknologi artificial intelligence (AI) dalam memperkuat dakwah Islam di era digital. Dialogika : Jurnal Penelitian Komunikasi dan Sosialisasi, 1(3), 257–265. https://doi.org/10.62383/dialogika.v1i3.561
Zuboff, S. (2019). The age of surveillance capitalism: The fight for a human future at the new frontier of power. PublicAffairs.
Published
2026-04-13
How to Cite
Razzaq , S., & Razzaq , N. (2026). Artificial Intelligence and Moral Responsibility: An Islamic Normative Approach. Journal of Science and Knowledge Horizons, 6(1), 19-32. https://doi.org/10.34118/jskp.v6i1.4545
Section
Articles
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
