Artificial Intelligence Governance in Islamic Legal Systems: Reconciling Innovation, Criminal Justice, and Islamic Economic Ethics

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has rapidly transformed legal systems, criminal justice, financial services, and public governance, creating unprecedented opportunities alongside significant regulatory and ethical challenges. While international AI governance frameworks—including the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act (EU AI Act), the OECD Principles on Artificial Intelligence, and the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence—have established important standards for transparency, accountability, human oversight, and risk management, they provide limited consideration of the normative foundations of Islamic legal systems. This study examines how Islamic jurisprudence can contribute to the development of an integrated AI governance framework that reconciles technological innovation with the principles of criminal justice and Islamic economic ethics. Employing a qualitative doctrinal and comparative legal methodology, the research analyzes international AI regulatory instruments alongside the primary and secondary sources of Islamic law, including the Qur'an, the Sunnah, ijmāʿ, qiyās, and the objectives of Islamic law (Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah). The study further explores the implications of AI in policing, predictive policing, digital evidence, criminal liability, Islamic banking, smart contracts, financial transparency, and AI-enabled social finance. The findings demonstrate substantial convergence between contemporary AI governance principles and the ethical objectives of Islamic jurisprudence, particularly with respect to justice (ʿadl), public welfare (maṣlaḥah), accountability (masʾūliyyah), trustworthiness (amānah), and the prevention of harm (lā ḍarar). Building upon these common principles, the study proposes an integrated governance framework that combines risk-based regulation, human-centered oversight, Shariah compliance, institutional accountability, and continuous legal adaptation through ijtihād. The proposed framework offers practical guidance for legislators, regulators, judicial institutions, financial authorities, and technology developers in Muslim-majority countries while contributing to comparative legal scholarship on AI governance. The study concludes that harmonizing international AI governance standards with Islamic legal principles can support responsible innovation, strengthen criminal justice and Islamic financial systems, and promote ethical, transparent, and sustainable digital governance in the era of artificial intelligence.