Fatwas from Islamweb.Net on Robotics and Artificial Intelligence

Singer, Julia (2021): Fatwas from Islamweb.Net on Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. In: Azar, Elie und Haddad, Anthony N. (Hrsg.): Artificial Intelligence in the Gulf : Challenges and Opportunities. Cambridge: Palgrave Macmillan. S. 279-301

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to deal with perceptions of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) from an Islamic perspective. Since this discourse has not spread much yet, I use the analysis of fatwas as a starting point. Fatwas are legal opinions expressed by a Muslim scholar or anybody with expertise in Islamic Law (Arab. mufti). Fatwas give scholars the opportunity to react to innovations (social, legal, technological et cetera) from an Islamic point of view and to judge these according to Islamic law. The 14 Arabic and English Islamic legal opinions I analysed were all coming from the Qatari Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, which is linked to the conservative Wahhabi branch of Islam. They were issued between 2002 and 2019 on the web page Islamweb.net. A comparison between the different Islamic currents is not possible since so far no other fatwas dealing with robotics and/or AI are to be found. The analysis of these Islamic legal opinions is done through the lens of the following questions and by the use of qualitative content analysis: To what extent can Islamic positions on AI and robotics be found in fatwas? What statements are made by the scholars? How do the attitudes to robotics and AI differ?
An analysis of the content and the methods shows that the scholars: (1) have a fairly clear stance on the treatment of robotics but not on AI; (2) are not concerned that these technologies could harm humans or that their creators usurp God’s power to create; and (3), rather tend to avoid dealing with difficult issues such as the impacts of developing strong AI.

• Dokumententyp: Buchbeitrag
• Fakultät: Kulturwissenschaften > Department für Kulturwissenschaften und Altertumskunde > Naher und Mittlerer Osten
• Themengebiete: 200 Religion > 290 Andere Religionen
• ISBN: 978-981-16-0771-4
• Ort: Cambridge
• Sprache: Englisch