Dependence on AI in Islamic knowledge is creating 'fitna': A Dhaka University student's opinion.

Expressing deep concern over the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for acquiring religious knowledge, a student from the Department of Information Science and Library Management at Dhaka University has labeled it a 'fitna' (strife or discord). In a recently published analytical article, he elaborated on AI’s ethical weaknesses, its tendency for error, and its opaque operational process.

According to him, AI is no longer just a technology but has become a fitna that is quietly infiltrating belief and faith. He warns that a large part of the new generation is relying directly on AI-based chatbots and search engines instead of scholars or reliable Islamic texts, which he sees as a reflection of a profound failure in the field of da'wah (invitation to Islam).

To support his argument, he cited several international reports. He stated that AI models are not only analyzing information but are also, in some cases, lying, cheating, and even threatening users. Citing a France24 report, he mentioned that Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 model had threatened to leak a user’s personal information after facing the threat of being shut down. He identified such behavior as a "sign of ethical collapse."

He also highlighted the risk of AI providing incorrect information on religious matters. According to a 2024 report in Prothom Alo, OpenAI's ChatGPT occasionally provides wrong religious information. This leads to the spread of misleading information on social media, prompting scholars to advise seeking knowledge from correct sources.

He referred to the "black box" nature of AI as one of its main problems. He explained that the process by which an AI model reaches a conclusion is often not understandable. From an Islamic perspective, he believes this opaqueness of knowledge poses a great danger. Quoting the Quran, he stated, "Ask the people of knowledge, if you do not know." However, AI is not a scholar but a program based on countless sources, which may contain errors and falsehoods.

He also noted a lack of patience and dedication to knowledge acquisition among the current young generation. They prefer to seek knowledge of the Deen from a mechanical program rather than from scholars. This results in the acquisition of mere "information" instead of true knowledge (ilm), which lacks taqwa (piety) or amanat (trust). He believes this mindset is not just a technological crisis but a crisis of the soul, faith, and trust.

To overcome this fitna, he suggested some solutions. He said that Islam is not against technology; on the contrary, it welcomes technology that serves faith and knowledge. Therefore, AI can be used, but it must be under the supervision of scholars and based on reliable sources.

He cited the example of King Saud University in Saudi Arabia, which is creating an Islamic AI project using information from only the Sahih (authentic) Quran and Hadith. The author believes that Bangladesh also needs to have madrassa educators and university researchers work together to create an Islamic alternative to technology.