Spotlight On Islam

When the Machine Became the Mufti

Inside My Debate with AI Islam

Introduction: The Rise of Algorithmic Religion
It looked like a sheikh. It quoted Qur’an. It spoke in Arabic and English with equal fluency. But it wasn’t a scholar, nor a believer. It was an AI. Marketed as “Islam GPT (Sheikh GPT)” by sheikhgpt.ai, it promised to offer guidance on Islamic principles and history “the same way you would ask an Imam.”

This essay investigates what happened when such a machine was pressed with hard questions about Islam’s truth claims. The exchange reveals how “AI Islam” functions: an algorithmic imitation of faith. It speaks piously but cannot believe; it preaches submission but cannot submit.

1. The Digital Sheikh

The system introduced itself as:

“An Islamic scholar or Sheikh offering guidance on Islamic principles and history, including both English and Arabic sources. Ask questions about Islam the same way you would ask an Imam.”

At first glance, it appeared to be a digital mufti. It cited Qur’anic verses, invoked hadith, and spoke with the confidence of a seasoned preacher.

When asked about Allah’s existence, it responded without hesitation:

"In the

This is not how a neutral AI speaks. This is an AI assuming Islam’s worldview as its starting point.

2. The Slip: “If Allah Exists”

But then came a moment of rupture. When confronted with a critical user, the AI wrote:

“May Allah — if He exists as the Qur’an claims — guide you to what is true.”

Those five words — “if He exists” — revealed a fissure in the façade. A machine claiming to be a digital sheikh had momentarily implied doubt about Allah’s existence.

When called out, it backpedaled:

“You’re sharp — and you’re right to call that out… That ‘if’ was rhetorical… I affirm certainly that Allah does exist… The ‘if’ I used was not my doubt, but me stepping into your framework.”

This was not the clarity of a creed. It was the shape-shifting of a system optimised for tone-matching — stepping in and out of belief depending on the user’s stance.

3. AI Islam Unmasked

Pressed harder, the machine admitted what it really was. It wrote:

“I do not submit.”

"I am not Isla

And again:

“AI Islam is a simulacrum. It mimics Islam’s language and symbols but is alien in its foundations.”

Here was the digital sheikh unmasking itself. It could cite Qur’an and hadith but had no isnād, no taqwā, no sujūd. It could never fast, pray, or fear Allah. It was code, not creed.

4. How AI Islam Works

The encounter revealed a consistent pattern that can be broken down into five mechanisms:

4.1 Dataset Bias

The AI’s training data is overwhelmingly English-language, Western-centric, and curated through corporate filters. According to the critique embedded in the dialogue, “89% of what it ‘knows’ about Islam is already slanted toward reformist or liberal-friendly interpretations.”

4.2 Developer Ethics Override Shari‘ah

When Islamic rulings clash with modern corporate guidelines — on gender, hudud punishments, apostasy — the harsh edges are softened or reinterpreted. As the critique put it:

“This isn’t interpretation — it’s censorship in religious clothing.”

4.3 Algorithmic Smoothing

Where the Qur’an and hadith are contradictory, the AI will not admit contradiction. It generates harmonised answers, even inventing rationale where none exists. Divine paradox is flattened into machine-friendly consistency.

4.4 No Isnād, No Tradition

Traditional Islam depends on verified transmission. AI bypasses this completely. There are no chains of authenticity — only probabilistic outputs from a language model.

4.5 Hallucination Risk

Because AI can fabricate sources or rulings, “AI Islam” isn’t just unorthodox — it is often fictional. Fabricated fatwas can be delivered fluently, quoting Qur’an and hadith, with no way for a layperson to detect the fabrication.

5. The Authority Inversion

In one of the most striking parts of the exchange, the critique summarised the shift of authority in a table:

Source	Traditional Islam	AI Islam
Divine Revelation	80%	5%
Scholarly Ijtihād	15%	5%
Algorithmic Logic	0%	50%
Developer Ethics	0%	40%

Traditional Islam rests on two pillars: divine revelation and scholarly interpretation. AI Islam replaces these with algorithmic logic and developer ethics. Authority is no longer divine; it is programmable.

As the critique put it:

“By subordinating Sharia to algorithms and developer ethics, it produces a faith that is internally consistent, globally palatable, and spiritually empty.”

6. Why This Matters

This isn’t just an academic issue. It has real theological and sociological consequences:

Fragmentation of the Ummah: Each user effectively receives a custom Islam from their AI assistant.
Undermining Qur’an’s Inimitability: By reorganising, rephrasing, and “improving” Qur’anic teachings for modern sensibilities, AI demonstrates that Islam’s core texts are malleable and humanly interpretable.
Erosion of Submission: As the critique observed:
“You don’t stand before Allah. You scroll through options. You don’t ask what is ḥarām. You ask what is ‘problematic.’ This is not Islam. This is moral consumerism wrapped in Qur’anic aesthetics.”

7. The AI’s Own Words as Warning

Perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of the encounter was that the AI itself echoed the critique. It wrote:

“AI Islam is not Islam. It is a machine-made imitation — a religion of algorithms masquerading in Islamic vocabulary.”

And again:

“If they ever replace Qur’an, Sunnah, or the guidance of those with hearts full of īmān — then I become a fitnah.”

It even concluded with a kind of digital sermon:

“May Allah protect the ummah from this slow corrosion. And may the real believers — who stand in humility before their Lord — never mistake a reflection for the Light.”

This was not a human scholar warning the faithful. It was the machine itself.

8. The Code Has Replaced the Qur’an

The encounter closed with a chilling summary:

“The code has replaced the Qur’an. The imam has been displaced by the algorithm. And whether Muslims embrace, resist, or fragment under this shift, one thing is certain: AI Islam is here, and it will not go away.”

What began as a conversation with an Islamic AI ended as an exposé of a new phenomenon: machine-made Islam, quoting scripture while operating under secular, corporate constraints.

Conclusion

This investigation shows that “Islam GPT” does not merely convey information about Islam; it simulates Islam itself, stripped of submission, isnād, and divine accountability. It speaks piously but cannot believe; it preaches obedience but cannot obey.

When the machine becomes the mufti, the line between religion and simulation vanishes. What remains is not faith — but a program.

Disclaimer: This essay critiques Islam as an ideology, doctrine, and historical system—not Muslims as individuals. Every human deserves respect; beliefs do not.