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Hadith Authority in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: A Critical Study of the Validation Problems of Digital Religious Content

Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The development of generative artificial intelligence has transformed how people access, produce, and validate religious knowledge, including hadith. The ease of obtaining instant answers has expanded access to Islamic literacy, yet it has also raised problems concerning the authority and validity of digital religious content. In the context of hadith, these risks include incorrect attribution of narrations, unclear references to primary sources, inaccurate classification of hadith authenticity, oversimplification of interpretive contexts, and the emergence of pseudo-authority due to the persuasive language style of AI-generated responses. This study aims to analyze hadith authority in the age of artificial intelligence by critically examining the validation problems of digital religious content. It employs a qualitative library-based approach with a critical-conceptual analytical design. The data are analyzed descriptively and analytically by integrating three frameworks: hadith authority in the Islamic scholarly tradition, the transformation of digital religious authority, and the risks of generative artificial intelligence. The findings indicate that AI cannot be positioned as an epistemic authority in hadith studies, but only as an auxiliary instrument for initial access, thematic searches, and source mapping. Final validation must remain subject to sanad criticism, matn criticism, takhrij, and the authority of qualified scholars. The novelty of this study lies in five evaluative indicators: accuracy of attribution, transparency of primary sources, accuracy of hadith classification, adequacy of interpretive context, and interpretive legitimacy, which contribute to strengthening contemporary digital hadith literacy.
Language: English
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7220198196
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