Scholarly vetting, disclaimers, and institutional trust safeguards

Category: Feature request Priority: P2 Area: ai-answers Reports: 3 Status: Open

Summary

Three users, from different backgrounds, converge on the same concern: an Islamic AI must be visibly endorsed and safeguarded by recognized scholarship to be trustworthy. One suggests presenting Qaf to tech-minded sharia specialists for review, naming the Tafsir Center for Quranic Studies (Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Shehri) and Dr. Abdullah Al-Sayf in fiqh. Another urges building ties with Saudi Arabia's ifta and Islamic-research institutions so vetted scholars' books become trusted sources, arguing Muslims already trust these bodies and this would accelerate adoption. A third (English-speaking, Hanafi background) asks for concrete product safeguards: a disclaimer on every response urging expert consultation, display of all confirming/conflicting indexed responses with sources, integration of classical Sunni fatwa sites (askimam.org, fatwa.ca), and mandatory AI-etiquette training at signup — fearing that otherwise "harm will out weigh the benefit". Abdellatif replied that work with scholars will begin soon, that disclaimers already show for fatwa/out-of-corpus questions and major source contradictions are highlighted, and that Qaf currently uses only Shamela with more sources planned.

What users say

عبد الله الشهري (Abdullah Al-Shehri) — alshehrimakkh366@gmail.com

Asks whether the app has been presented to sharia specialists interested in technology, and suggests concrete collaborators (Tafsir Center / Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Shehri for Quranic studies, Dr. Abdullah Al-Sayf for fiqh) to make the app safer, more accurate, and more trustworthy. Abdellatif replied that work with scholars will start soon.

هل عرضتم التطبيق على مختصين شرعيين يهتمون بالتقنية ، بحسب تخصصاتهم ، أقترح وأذكر أمثلة أرجو أنها تفيد في تطوير التطبيق وجعله أكثر < أمانًا ، و دقة ، وموثوقية >

Have you presented the app to sharia specialists who care about technology, each by their specialty? I suggest and mention examples that I hope will help develop the app and make it safer, more accurate, and more trustworthy.

عبدالرحمن الكبودي (Abdulrahman Al-Kaboudi) — alsaeedi1441@gmail.com

Subject: "تنبيه ذو أهمية قصوى" ("A notice of utmost importance"). Suggests establishing contact with Saudi Arabia's Islamic sciences/research administration so vetted scholars' books can be added as trusted sources; Muslims trust the Saudi ifta institutions, so this would earn trust and speed adoption. Abdellatif replied it is a good idea but they have no such contacts.

لو يكون بينكم تواصل مع المملكة وإدارة العلوم والبحوث الإسلامية في السعودية من أجل يضاف اليه كتب أهل العلم المنتقدين والمتأخرين ويكون لديكم مصادر موثوقه لماذا هذا لانه سيكون مصدر ثقه لكل مسلم

If only you had contact with the Kingdom and the Islamic sciences and research administration in Saudi Arabia, so that the books of the scholars could be added to it and you would have trusted sources. Why? Because it would be a source of trust for every Muslim.

Muneeb Dogar — muneeb.dogar@me.com

Asks for specific safeguards: a per-response disclaimer necessitating expert consultation, showing all indexed responses (confirming or conflicting) with sources highlighted, connecting classical Sunni fatwa sites (askimam.org, fatwa.ca for Hanafi responses), and mandatory training on AI etiquette at signup. He fears the app could further disconnect laypeople from traditional scholarship. Abdellatif replied: disclaimers already show for fatwa questions and questions outside the Qaf corpus, major source contradictions are highlighted (not minor ones), and only Shamela is used today with more sources planned.

  1. Disclaimer with every response that necessitates the consultation with the experts
  2. Qaf to provide user with all indexed responses, confirming or conflicting or contradicting, highlighting the source

And his motivating concern:

In short, i fear that harm will out weigh the benefit of any such effort, as it will further disconnect the awaam (people like me) from traditional scholarship.

Details / repro

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