Revisiting Salafi Epistemology in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: A Theological Framework for Authentic Knowledge in Digital Da’wah and Islamic Education

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly mediates the production, dissemination, and validation of knowledge, raising questions about epistemic authority in Islamic religious contexts. This study examines how Salafi epistemology can provide a theological framework for evaluating AI-assisted knowledge in digital daʿwah and Islamic education. Drawing on classical works associated with Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim, together with contemporary scholarship on Islamic epistemology and AI, the study employs a qualitative theological-textual approach to analyse the relationship between revelation (waḥy), reason (ʿaql), transmitted knowledge (naql), and algorithmic inference. It argues that AI may serve legitimate instrumental functions in organising, transmitting, and supporting access to religious knowledge, but cannot independently assume the authority of the ʿālim or mujtahid. The study proposes a revelation-centred evaluative framework that emphasises scholarly supervision, authenticated transmission, moral accountability, transparency, and the subordination of technological tools to divine guidance. This framework seeks to preserve theological authenticity while enabling responsible use of AI in Islamic education and digital daʿwah.