The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Jurisprudential Rulings

Abstract

This research addresses one of the most prominent emerging issues that has imposed itself on the contemporary jurisprudential arena: the impact of artificial intelligence, characterized as a rapidly growing computer technology, on the process of deducing jurisprudential rulings, issuing fatwas, and adjudicating disputes among people.

The research aims to clarify the nature of artificial intelligence, examine the nature of jurisprudential rulings and the methods of their deduction according to legal theorists, and then uncover the aspects of employing this technology in the fields of fatwa, judiciary, emerging medical and financial cases. Finally, it formulates a set of legal controls that should govern reliance on artificial intelligence in this regard.

The research adopted the descriptive and analytical methodologies, concluding that artificial intelligence serves as an auxiliary tool that assists the jurist, judge, and mufti in acquiring, classifying, and organizing information. However, it lacks the qualification for independent legal reasoning and does not possess the authority to issue independent religious rulings.

Total reliance on it without qualified human oversight exposes jurisprudential rulings to severe risks affecting the objectives of Sharia.  Furthermore, its impact on jurisprudential disagreements has a positive effect if properly utilized to bridge the views of various schools of thought and recognize their authoritative sources.