Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI), as a transformative technology, have profoundly affected various aspects of human life and generated deep cultural, ethical, and epistemic challenges for religious societies. This study aims to provide a critical analysis of the challenges arising from the confrontation between machine-based thinking and religious rationality. Adopting a descriptive–analytical method and drawing on authoritative jurisprudential sources as well as interdisciplinary studies, the article examines the epistemic limitations of artificial intelligence in understanding religious texts and the cultural consequences of the dominance of non-indigenous technologies.



The findings indicate that the mechanical nature of AI faces serious limitations in grasping the multilayered, symbolic, and metaphorical dimensions of sacred texts such as the Qurʾan, and may lead to the weakening of intellectual autonomy and the emergence of a crisis of religious identity. This epistemic reductionism stands in contrast to the Qurʾanic emphasis on rational reflection and critical thinking. In response to these challenges, the article argues that the Islamic jurisprudential–ethical framework—particularly the principle of Nafy al-Sabīl (the negation of domination)—can serve as a foundational strategy for regulating and localizing artificial intelligence. The study concludes that in order to safeguard cultural and spiritual values, continuous human oversight and religious ijtihād in the development and application of artificial intelligence are both essential and unavoidable.