Some activists circulated videos depicting paradise using AI drawing techniques. Dazzling pictures of palaces and rivers depicting paradise appeared in them. Some workers in the media field stated that AI exceeded the ability of humans to imagine paradise and that it crossed the sacred red lines related to belief and religion.
These images raise questions that revolve in the mind of the jurist, and indeed in the mind of every Muslim:
Is it permissible to use AI technology to visualize the horrors of the Day of Resurrection, to depict heaven and hell and other scenes of the hereafter, or not?
Is this considered an aggression against religious sanctities, whether in Islam, Judaism or Christianity?
Legality of using AI to visualize the supernatural
The question about legitimacy in Islam reflects the importance of the feeling of religiosity on the one hand, and that religion is valued and important in people's lives. No matter how advanced science is, it must be disciplined by the rules of belief, which is a praiseworthy thing from that aspect.
However, Islam originated major philosophical concepts, the most important of which is the “philosophy of questioning.” Islam laid down rules for the principle of “freedom of questioning,” and made “questioning” the key to knowledge, especially if the question relates to the necessities of religion and life. Or it was in the fields of legitimate matters that benefit man and humanity, or there is no harm in it, or it is an intrusion into what is forbidden by the religion of necessity.
When Allah Almighty told His angels that He would create Adam, the angels asked Him about the significance of Allah Almighty creating Adam, peace be upon him, as the Almighty said: {And [mention, O Muhammad], when your Lord said to the angels, "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority." They said, "Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we declare Your praise and sanctify You?" Allah said, "Indeed, I know that which you do not know."}
Allah Almighty did not rebuke His angels for asking Him, Glory be to Him, rather He guided them that everything is with Him with knowledge and wisdom, but they do not know the secret behind that creation, which is an accurate rooting in the legitimacy of research and questioning.
Islam and the artificial intelligence
Islam precedes all religions, beliefs, and philosophies in exalting knowledge in all its aspects and fields, provided that it is beneficial knowledge for people in this world and the hereafter.
Anyone familiar with the Qur’an and the Sunnah will find hundreds of Qur’anic verses and hadiths of the Prophet explaining the virtue of knowledge and urging it, whether it is a religious science or a worldly science. Science and its derivatives are mentioned in 856 verses in the Holy Qur’an, and the Sunnah is full of dozens, even hundreds of hadiths about science and its fields.
It is noted that the first Muslims were earlier in understanding what AI is, which is the scientific imagination. We find among the jurists what was known as “virtual jurisprudence”, which with time turned into realistic jurisprudence. Most of what the jurists imagined in their minds happened on the ground. The mind of the jurist was doing what artificial intelligence is doing today, but many of the inventions produced by the Muslim mind in the past are very similar to the mechanism of AI.
This means that the basis for the use of AI technology, even in religious matters, is legitimate. The quest to know the descriptions of Heaven or Hell or the horrors of the Day of Resurrection is an attempt to bring the picture closer, understanding and knowledge. It is more like what we can call a “figurative interpretation”, and in reality, it is an approximate picture and not a real picture because the conditions of the Day of Resurrection, including its horrors, Paradise, Hell, the path and other unseen matters, are not known precisely. The meaning that it is unseen is that it is absent from the human mind in terms of ascertaining its form, but does this prevent its perception? Of course not.
Allah Almighty depicted paradise and hell and showed us pictures of the conditions of the Day of Resurrection. If Allah Almighty wanted the image of the conditions of the Day of Resurrection to be completely absent from us, He would have withheld their description from us. But He, Glory be to Him, described it, and His Prophet (ﷺ), described it. Indeed, the Companions and after them, some of the scholars of the nation strove to approximate the picture of Heaven and Hell and other unseen matters.
However, when we use AI technology to ask for a description of heaven or hell or everything that is unseen, we must consider that it is not on the face of reality, but rather it is on the face of imagination and approximation. The description of what is in the resurrection is not taken as a reality. Everything in the Hereafter is different from what is in this world, as it was reported by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, and others on the authority of Abu Hurairah on the authority of the Prophet (ﷺ) who said: “Allah, the Blessed and Most High, says: I have prepared for My righteous servants what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no asset has occurred to the human heart.” Indeed, what you saw.” Then he (ﷺ) recited: (And no soul knows what has been hidden for them of comfort for eyes as reward for what they used to do.) (Al-Sajdah: 17).
Nevertheless, if we want to imagine a picture closer to the truth, we must enter all the information related to the subject that we want to see.
AI usage controls
It should be noted that the use of artificial intelligence technology is permissible in what is legitimate in religion to search for it and know its description and essence, but some controls must be considered when using it, the most important of which are:
– Not to use artificial intelligence in what Allah Almighty has forbidden from the taboos known in Islam, such as forbidden sex, alcohol, gambling, cheating, fraud, and other taboos.
- That the search for a description be of what is described, and it is not permissible to ask for a drawing of the divine being, because God Almighty did not describe himself, and made seeing him among the blessings that He singled out for His righteous servants in Paradise. It was mentioned in the Two Sahihs on the authority of Saeed bin Al-Musayyib and Ata bin Yazid Al-Laithi that Abu Hurairah, may God be pleased with him, told them: "The people asked: Messenger of Allah! Shall we see our lord, the Exalted, on the Day of resurrection? He replied: Do you feel any trouble in seeing the sun at noon when it is not in the cloud? They said: No. He asked: Do you feel any trouble in seeing the moon on the night when it is full and not in the cloud? They replied: No. He said: By him in whose hand my soul is, you will not feel any trouble in seeing him except as much as you feel in seeing any of them."
Ibn al-Jawzi says in “Al-Tabsrah” (1/66): The Shari’a prevented one from contemplating the essence of Allah Almighty. It is narrated on the authority of Omar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Contemplate on the signs of Allah but do not think about Allah (Himself)” [Declared good by Al-Albani]
- It is also forbidden to search for the image of the angels and the prophets, and that is because of their greatness, even if their descriptions are mentioned, and that is because their image is a belittling of their status, and this may be an excuse for the misfits to deal with the angels or the prophets badly through their images, as well as - if people got their pictures Through artificial intelligence - they wouldn't be real.
- It is desirable that the research through artificial intelligence be of benefit to the nation and not as a matter of pointless futility.
In general, the use of artificial intelligence techniques is one of the legitimate matters that must be directed towards everything that is beneficial and valuable to humanity. it should be invested in directing energies towards production, the advancement of society, the advancement of scientific research, and the facilitation of life for people, and it is a matter of harnessing blessings from Allah Almighty to man, as well as The Almighty said: {And He has subjected to you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth - all from Him. Indeed, in that are signs for a people who give thought.} (Al-Jathiya: 13).
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