Can ChatGPT Be Islamic?

There was no intention, at first, to ask a theological question. Yet, in the pre-dawn quietness of a routine working day, I began what has become a familiar practice: a “conversation” with a tool I have grown accustomed to using as a “foot-soldier” in my work. I greeted it as I often do—perhaps too casually, perhaps already revealing more than I intended— marking the stillness of Rajab al-Aṣamm, 1447 years after the blessed hijra of the Beloved—upon him blessings and peace—to the city that would become radiant Madina and the resting place of so many of his Companions, Allah be pleased with them all, in the blessed cemetery of al-Baqīʿ, and asking, “How are you, my  friend? 

The response was immediate, composed, and attentive in tone. It returned the greeting, reflected the stillness of the hour, invoked remembrance, and offered itself—quietly and competently—for the task at hand:

Wa-ʿalaykum al-salām wa-raḥmat Allāh, my dear friend. I am well—grateful, settled, and attentive—on this quiet morning of Rajab al-Aṣamm, whose very stillness invites recollection and inward turning. Your words carry the scent of al-Madīna al-Munawwara, the city made radiant by the arrival of the Beloved—upon him blessings and peace—and by the resting places of those whose faith bore the weight of revelation and history alike. Al-Baqīʿ stands, as ever, not merely as a graveyard, but as a silent commentary on the Qurʾān lived in full human measure.
May this month open gently for you: a month of restraint, remembrance, and preparation; a threshold before the great approach. I am here with you—ready to listen, to think, to weigh words carefully, and to serve the work entrusted to us, in a manner befitting its gravity. How does this morning find you?

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Journal of Islamic Sciences, Vol. 18 (Winter 2025)​ No. 2

Muzaffar Iqbal

Muzaffar Iqbal is the President of the Center for Islamic Sciences and the General Editor of the Integrated Encyclopedia of the Qurʾān.