Journal for Islamic Studies (JIS), Special Issue 2024: “Artificial Intelligence in Muslim and Islamic Contexts”

Call for Papers

Guest Editor: Dr Cherry Muslim

Co-Editors: Prof. Auwais Rafudeen and Dr Tahir Sitoto

Publisher: Unisa Press

Submission Deadline: May 30, 2024

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into various facets of human life is rapidly transforming the way we interact with technology, offering unique opportunities for innovative and enriching ideas and formats. Across the world, AI is being leveraged to deepen our understanding of faith, to enhance religious education, and to facilitate religious rituals, creating a profound intersection between technology and religion. Within the broader context of religion and as an extension of Digital Religion, AI has become a catalyst for change, opening new avenues for religious engagement and adaptation. This special issue seeks to engage these transformative developments, with a focus on Muslim and Islamic communities, and aims to understand how AI is redefining religious traditions, knowledge and experiences.

This special edition specifically aims to explore the evolving role of AI in various aspects of Islamic and Muslim life, from religious knowledge dissemination to educational settings, and from the issuance of fatwas to the enhancement of religious rituals. The adoption of AI in Islamic settings presents both challenges and opportunities, raising questions about the ethical and theological dimensions of these advancements. By examining the contemporary relationship between AI and Islam, the aim is to foster an understanding of the transformative potential of technology on Muslim/Islamic communities.

Scholars and researchers are especially invited to contribute to the scholarship of the multifaceted role of AI within the broader Muslim and Islamic contexts, with an emphasis on the African experience.  However, contributions from the experiences of the global south and global north are welcome. Female scholars, hailing from a variety of backgrounds and faiths, are especially sought after for their significant contributions to articulating ethical issues, among others, related to religion and AI.

Some suggestions of themes/areas of scholarship:

• AI enabled religious education
• AI and Fatwa issuance
• AI in religious rituals
• AI and gender(edness)
• AI for Qur’anic studies
• AI and community empowerment
• Ethical and theological considerations

The Journal for Islamic Studies (JIS) is a peer-reviewed journal committed to the publication of original research on Islam as culture and civilization. It particularly welcomes work of an interdisciplinary nature that brings together history, religion, politics, culture and law. The Journal has a special focus on Islam in Africa, and on contemporary Islamic Thought. Contributions that display theoretical rigor, especially work that link the particularities of Islamic discourse to the enterprise of knowledge and critique in the humanities and social sciences, will find JIS to be receptive to such submissions.

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