Islamic Seminary Developing a Roadmap for Artificial Intelligence: Ayatollah Arafi

IQNA – Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, head of Iranian Islamic Seminaries, said religious institutions must engage with artificial intelligence (AI) through structured plans, stressing both its opportunities and risks.

News ID: 3494535

Date: 09 September 2025 - 09:00

Arafi made the remarks at the launch of a comprehensive application on hadiths in Qom on Monday. He highlighted that AI will increasingly affect human life in areas ranging from knowledge to economics, and warned against passivity in addressing its challenges.

“I have concerns about artificial intelligence,” he said. “This intelligence will intervene in all aspects of human life—intellectual, economic, and more. On the one hand, it is a blessing; on the other hand, it is a cause for concern. One of the concerns is our backwardness and passivity in this field and the inability to dominate all its dimensions.”

Arafi, who is also a member of Iran’s Guardian Council and the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, explained that a roadmap on AI and seminaries is being drafted.

“The document on seminaries and artificial intelligence is under preparation and will be shared with responsible institutions,” he noted, adding that experts have been widely consulted in the process.

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He described AI as not only a scientific and technological phenomenon but also a political, economic, social, and intellectual issue tied to Islamic thought.

According to Arafi, seminaries should address AI in areas such as philosophy, ethics, culture, and jurisprudence. “In the West, these topics are under serious focus. Our seminaries must also provide philosophical and jurisprudential perspectives on AI, as well as its ethical and cultural dimensions,” he said.

Turning to practical applications, Arafi pointed out that AI could support seminary research by analyzing classical sources, while also posing risks. “Islamic sciences such as jurisprudence, hadith, and theology must engage with artificial intelligence,” he said. “It is both dangerous and highly effective.”

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He also called for AI integration in seminary administration and national policymaking. “The seminary must play a role in producing documents and systems for AI use across the country,” he said, further emphasizing the need to make scholarly software mobile-based and web-accessible to accelerate progress.

Arafi concluded that researchers, philosophers, and scholars must become well acquainted with AI to ensure the seminary’s active and informed role in shaping its development.

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