The Shifting Visibility of Tafsīr Authority in the AI Era

Islamic Epistemology and the Digitalization of Qur’anic Studies

Abstract

The digitization of the Qur’an has reconfigured how Qur’anic interpretation (tafsīr) is produced, mediated, and perceived, particularly as artificial intelligence (AI) enters a tradition grounded in sanad, the chain of scholarly transmission. This study aims to examine the development of AI in digital tafsir, compare algorithmic interpretation with classical tafsir methodology, and assess how algorithmic visibility relates to epistemic authority and the validity of interpretation. Using a descriptive-analytical-critical approach combined with comparative and critical (naqd) methods, this library research draws on scholarly literature on digital religion, AI, and tafsir, including a secondary comparative study of ChatGPT and classical tafsir. The analysis is framed by Islamic epistemology, namely sanad, uṣūl al-tafsīr, and maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah. The findings indicate that AI has evolved from digitization and curated repositories into generative systems that are effective for access, linguistic analysis, and the preservation of turāth. However, the generative model examined shows limitations regarding sanad, asbāb al-nuzūl, maqāṣid, and verifiable references, although this evidence is limited and cannot be generalized to all AI systems. Aspects that have undergone a shift is the visibility and perceived authority of interpretation, not demonstrably its epistemic legitimacy. These findings demonstrate that the shift is an epistemological tendency rather than an empirically proven displacement of scholars, and that integrating scholarly authority with digital innovation should follow four principles of a digital sanad: source traceability, scholarly accountability, methodological transparency, and the separation of visibility from legitimacy.

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