INVESTIGATING ISLAM

Part 8 – National AI Islams

The Coming Geopolitical Arms Race

Introduction: From Muftis to Machines of State

Islam has always been tied to power. From the Rashidun caliphs to the Ottomans, from the Iranian clerics to the Saudi monarchy, rulers have sought to define and control Islam in order to control their people.

But with AI, a new chapter begins. States now have the chance to create their own national AI Islams: machine-trained, state-approved versions of the faith that function as propaganda, surveillance, and soft power.

The future of Islam may not be decided in the mosque, but in the data lab. The algorithm is no longer just the mufti — it is becoming the minister of religion.

1. The Historical Pattern: States as Custodians of Islam

1.1 Caliphs and Legitimacy

Islamic rulers always needed clerical legitimacy. Caliphs enforced Islamic law, but depended on scholars to interpret it.

1.2 Ottoman Control

The Ottomans institutionalized Islam, creating the office of Shaykh al-Islam to issue fatwas that aligned with imperial policy.

1.3 Saudi Arabia and Wahhabism

The Saudi state fused Wahhabism with monarchy, promoting a literalist Islam globally through petrodollars.

1.4 Iran and the Islamic Republic

Iran centralized Shia authority under clerics, using velayat-e faqih (rule of the jurist) to merge theology with governance.

In every case, rulers sought to capture Islam for their own ends. AI Islam is simply the latest and most powerful instrument of capture.

2. Why States Will Build AI Islams

2.1 Control of Narrative

If the public uses AI to ask religious questions, rulers will want those answers to reflect their version of Islam.

2.2 Global Image Management

States can present a sanitized Islam to foreign policymakers, journalists, and investors.

2.3 Internal Standardization

AI Islam can unify domestic religious discourse, marginalizing dissenting clerics.

2.4 Technological Prestige

Building a national AI Islam boosts a state’s reputation as modern, innovative, and authoritative.

3. Saudi Arabia: Vision 2030 Islam

Saudi Arabia is already repositioning itself under Vision 2030, claiming to promote a “moderate Islam.”

A Saudi AI Islam would emphasize obedience to rulers, moderation, and rejection of extremism.
It would erase Wahhabi strictness while still legitimizing monarchy.
It would present itself as the global voice of Islam, backed by Mecca and Medina.

Such an AI could become the world’s most consulted “official Islam,” displacing local voices elsewhere.

4. Iran: The Digital Hawza

Iran has long centralized Shia authority through seminaries in Qom.

An Iranian AI Islam would encode Ja‘fari fiqh, loyalty to the Ahl al-Bayt, and obedience to clerical authority.
It could function as a digital hawza (seminary), teaching Shia jurisprudence worldwide.
It would compete with Saudi AI Islam, exporting Shia ideology to counter Sunni dominance.

This sets the stage for a Sunni-Shia algorithmic rivalry.

5. Turkey: Neo-Ottoman Diyanet Islam

Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) already manages thousands of imams.

A Turkish AI Islam would project a neo-Ottoman synthesis: Sunni but nationalist, modern but rooted in tradition.
It would reinforce Turkey’s regional ambitions, presenting Ankara as a religious as well as political hub.
It would compete with Saudi Arabia for leadership of the Sunni world.

6. Other Players

6.1 Egypt

Al-Azhar remains influential, and Egypt could digitize its moderate Sunni tradition into an AI model.

6.2 Pakistan

As a nuclear state with Islamist movements, Pakistan could produce an AI Islam aligned with its political Islamism.

6.3 The Gulf States

UAE and Qatar already fund Islamic institutions and media. They may build AI Islams tailored for global outreach and diplomacy.

7. The Coming Arms Race

The result will not be one AI Islam, but many.

Saudi AI Islam: Moderate monarchy.
Iranian AI Islam: Shia revolutionary.
Turkish AI Islam: Neo-Ottoman nationalist.
Egyptian AI Islam: Traditional al-Azhar moderation.
Pakistani AI Islam: Political Islamism.

Each will claim to be the “true Islam.” Each will be backed by states with money, influence, and propaganda networks.

This is not just theology. It is geopolitics by algorithm.

8. The Law of Identity and State Capture

Apply logic again:

Islam (A) = plural, contested, discursive.
National AI Islams (B) = standardized, state-controlled, curated.

If A = A, then A ≠ B.

These machine Islams are not Islam. They are state propaganda wrapped in Islamic language. Yet they will be treated as Islam, violating the Law of Identity.

9. Consequences of National AI Islams

9.1 For Muslims

Local voices may be silenced.
State-approved Islam may dominate education, fatwas, and personal practice.
Diversity may collapse into algorithmic orthodoxy.

9.2 For Non-Muslims

Policymakers may engage with state AI Islams instead of real communities.
Media narratives may reflect propaganda rather than reality.

9.3 For Global Islam

Competing AI Islams may deepen sectarian divides.
The ummah may fracture further into nationalized machine Islams.
The very idea of a shared Islamic tradition may erode.

10. The Irony of Machine Daʿwah

Apologists once dreamed of “the one true Islam” made clear to the world. States will now use AI to realize that dream — but in multiple, competing versions.

The irony is stark: in trying to unify, they will multiply. Instead of one global Islam, there will be many Islams of the machine.

Conclusion: Geopolitics by Algorithm

The coming decades will not just see debates between clerics. They will see battles between national AI Islams — machine-built religions that serve state power.

Saudi, Iranian, Turkish, Egyptian, and Pakistani AI Islams will compete for influence, legitimacy, and control. Each will claim to be authentic. None will be Islam.

In the next part of this series, we will follow the trajectory further — into the recursive loops that could make AI Islam drift so far from its sources that it becomes an entirely new machine religion.

Next in series Part 9 Drift Into Machine Religion