WHEN ALGORITHMS MEET MYSTICISM: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF SUFI QUR’ANIC EXEGESIS

M. Mu'tashim Billah; Abdullah affandi

المؤلفون

M. Mu'tashim Billah UIN Syekh Wasil Kediri
Abdullah affandi IAI Badrus Sholeh Kediri

الملخص

The rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has significantly transformed contemporary research methods, including within the field of Qur’anic studies. AI technologies offer important advantages in processing large textual corpora, identifying linguistic patterns, mapping thematic relationships, and facilitating access to classical exegetical sources. In the context of tafsīr studies, these capacities create new opportunities for comparative, thematic, and data-driven approaches to the interpretation of the Qur’an. Nevertheless, the application of AI to Qur’anic exegesis also raises important epistemological questions, particularly when interpretation involves the spiritual and symbolic dimensions of the text. This article examines the limitations of AI in understanding the ishārī dimensions of the Qur’an as developed in the Sufi exegetical tradition. Using a conceptual-comparative method with textual analysis of classical Sufi commentaries, the study contrasts algorithmic knowledge—grounded in statistical computation, pattern recognition, and data processing—with Sufi epistemology, which emphasizes inward purification, spiritual experience, and kashf (unveiling) as pathways to deeper understanding. The article argues that although AI can simulate interpretive language and summarize existing scholarly views, it lacks existential consciousness, transformative experience, and spiritual intentionality. These limitations become especially visible in the interpretation of symbolic verses such as Q. al-Nūr [24]:35, where Sufi commentators read the imagery of light as a representation of inward illumination and metaphysical reality. The study concludes that AI should be positioned as a methodological instrument that supports Qur’anic research rather than as a substitute for human interpretive authority. While AI can enhance access, organization, and textual analysis, it cannot fully grasp the spiritual hermeneutics at the heart of tafsīr ishārī.

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