The Fiqh Academy's standing ruling on artificial intelligence, and its six conditions

The International Islamic Fiqh Academy of the OIC issued Resolution No. 258 (3/26), 'Artificial Intelligence: Its Rulings, Guidelines, and Ethics', at its twenty-sixth session in Doha, 4-8 May 2025. The Council holds that the default ruling on developing and using AI is permissibility, ibaahah, subject to six conditions: that the purpose of its creation, use, funding and outcomes be lawful; that it bring benefit and prevent harm; that it not insult or abuse beliefs, religions or religious symbols; that it protect information and preserve public and private rights and freedoms; that it not threaten individual, societal or national security; and that its use be honest, documented and transparent. The resolution situates itself in a line of earlier work, citing the Academy's rulings on moral rights, on smart contracts, and on prayer behind broadcast media, along with ICESCO's 2025 Riyadh Charter on Artificial Intelligence for the Islamic World. Two recommendations follow: a study on whether AI can be granted legal personality, and specialised symposiums on the technology's developments and ethical implications. Legal personality is explicitly left open rather than settled. What is useful here is the form, not only the verdict. A default of permissibility with enumerated conditions gives a developer, a procurement officer or a school board something to check against, which a blanket approval or a blanket warning does not. Conditions four and six -- protection of information, and honesty, documentation and transparency in use -- are the ones a deployment will actually stand or fall on.

This is a QeRN summary by Ahmed Qerni. Read the original at International Islamic Fiqh Academy (OIC): https://iifa-aifi.org/en/56035.html.