Teaching Compassion in the Machine Age: Islamic Pedagogy, Artificial Intelligence, and the Formation of Ethical Citizenship in a Fragmented World
Abstract
Artificial intelligence increasingly shapes educational experiences and social interactions worldwide. Its expansion creates opportunities and ethical challenges for citizenship formation. Contemporary societies face fragmentation, polarization, exclusion, and declining social trust. These conditions require educational approaches grounded in compassion and moral responsibility. This article explores Islamic pedagogy as a framework for ethical citizenship. It employs a conceptual and critical review of relevant literature. The analysis examines Islamic educational values alongside emerging AI technologies. Particular attention is given to compassion, justice, empathy, and social solidarity. Findings suggest that Islamic pedagogy offers important ethical guidance. These values can humanize technology-mediated learning environments. They also counter tendencies toward dehumanization and social isolation. Furthermore, compassionate education strengthens civic responsibility in diverse societies. AI should support, not replace, ethical human development. The study proposes integrating Islamic ethical principles into AI-enhanced education. This integration contributes to inclusive, responsible, and compassionate citizenship formation.
References
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Massouti, A., Baroudi, S., & Shaya, N. (2026). Exploring AI integration in United Arab Emirates’ teacher education programmes: the voice of educators leading the change. Cambridge Journal of Education, 56(3), 383–401.
Maulana, A. M. R., Rachmawati, F., & Mulya, A. S. (2026). From Digital Religion to Digital Islam: Finding God in the Society 5.0 through Maqāsīd Sharī’ah. Al-Ahkam: Jurnal Ilmu Syari’ah Dan Hukum, 11(1), 3–26.
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Mustapa, A. M., Saad, M. F. M., & Ismail, S. (2025). Traditional to Digital: Evaluating the Use of AI in the Tarteel Application to Enhance Quran Memorization. Quranica, 17(2), 53–73.
Nasir, K., Zaman, R. K., Hilmi, A. B. A., Mahadzir, A. H., & Mustaffa, A. M. B. (2025). Artificial Intelligence Integration in Mobile Applications: Innovation and Challenges in Supporting Quran Memorization and Review. Quranica, 17(2), 612–645.
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Wahid, S. H. (2025). Is AI Endangering Religion? Maqāṣid al-Sharī’a as Ethics Framework for Harm Assessment and Mitigation. Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies, 10(2), 49–85.
Wedi, A., & Mardiana, D. (2025). Digital Transformation Model of Islamic Religious Education in the AI Era: A Case Study of Madrasah Aliyah in East Java, Indonesia. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 24(8), 842–863.
Widodo, H. (2025). An AI-Gamification-Religiosity Learning Model to Enhance Critical Literacy in Private Islamic Universities. Islamic Quarterly, 69(1), 75–120.
Yahya, M. A. B., Mohamad, S., Malik, M. N. H. B. A., Bidin, S. A., & Muna, A. C. (2025). Empowering the Tradition of Quran Memorization through Artificial Intelligence (AI): A Conceptual and Contemporary Review. Quranica, 17(2 Special Issue 14), 447–475.
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Zainadun, N., Salleh, M. N. M., Jamil, A. I., Rekan, A. A., & @ Jima’ain, M. T. A. (2025). Exploring the Potential of Artificial Intelligence in Enhancing Quranic Teachers’ Pedagogy: A Systematic Literature Review. Quranica, 17(2), 501–541.
Zul, Z., Najihul Huda, M., Fuad, Z., & Abdullah, M. (2026). Integration of Islamic ethics in modern education curriculum: challenges and opportunities-a systematic literature review. British Journal of Religious Education.
Zulkifli, D. U., & Tungkagi, D. Q. (2025). Artificial Intelligence and Islamic Ethical Guidelines: A Systematic Review. 2025 13th International Conference on Cyber and IT Service Management, CITSM 2025.
Abubakari, M. S. (2025a). Generative AI in Contemporary Islamic Religious Education Discourse: Revelation Meets Algorithm. In Intersections of AI and the Freedom of Religion or Belief (pp. 161–200).
Abubakari, M. S., Zakaria, G. A. N., Yusmaliana, D., Zaldi, A., Musa, J., & Taruna, M. M. (2026). Pedagogical Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence in Islamic Religious Education: A Comprehensive Review. In Ethical, Legal, and Pedagogical Perspectives on AI in Education (pp. 239–275).
Ahmed, H. (2024). Institutional Integration of Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education: The Moderation Effect of Ethical Consideration. International Journal of Educational Reform.
Alfadhli, S., Alharbi, H., & Cherif, A. (2024). qArI: A Hybrid CTC/Attention-Based Model for Quran Recitation Recognition Using Bidirectional LSTMP in an End-to-End Architecture. IEEE Access, 12, 95762–95777.
Ali, F., Bouzoubaa, K., Gelli, F., Hamzi, B., & Khan, S. (2025). Islamic Ethics and AI: An Evaluation of Existing Approaches to AI using Trusteeship Ethics. Philosophy and Technology, 38(3).
Ali, U., Hanif, S., Jabeen, F., Shaheen, M. N. U. K., Imran, A., Zaman, S., Anaç, A. S., & Alici, İ. (2026). Ethical Management of Artificial Intelligence in Special Education: Balancing Innovation and Inclusion. International Journal of Special Education, 41(2S), 219–233.
Al-Issa, S., Alshboul, M., & Al-Ayyoub, M. (2023). Enhanced Neural Speech Recognizer for Quranic Recitations. 2023 International Conference on Multimedia Computing, Networking and Applications, MCNA 2023, 62–66.
Alrumiah, S. S., & Al-Shargabi, A. A. (2023). Intelligent Quran Recitation Recognition and Verification: Research Trends and Open Issues. Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering, 48(8), 9859–9885.
Alshboul, M., Al Muaitah, A. R., Al-Issa, S., & Al-Ayyoub, M. (2025). Enhanced Neural Speech Recognition of Quranic Recitations via a Large Audio Model †. Applied Sciences (Switzerland), 15(17).
Andri Nirwana, A. N., Rifai, A., Ali, M., Ali Mustofa, T., Nur Vambudi, V., Nur Rochim Maksum, M., & Umar Budihargo, M. (2025). SWOT Analysis of AI Integration in Islamic Education: Cognitive, Affective, and Psychomotor Impacts. Qubahan Academic Journal, 5(1), 476–503.
Anggriawan, R., & Hamsin, M. K. (2026). Deconstructing the digital veil: criminal liability and ethical failures in AI-driven Sharia credit scoring systems in Indonesia. Law, Ethics and Technology, 3(2).
Azam, M., Pharaon, R. A. K. M., Mahdy, E., Albabili, M. A. I., Alsyouf, B., & Bagayev, B. (2026). AI-Driven Sharia Governance in Islamic Digital Payment Systems: Developing a Contemporary Islamic Law Framework for Ethical and Regulatory Compliance. Nusantara: Journal of Law Studies, 5(2), 849–880.
Birgün, M. (2026). Integrating AI into Qur’an learning: Technical advances and pedagogical gaps. Social Sciences and Humanities Open, 13.
Campbell-Esen, R., Mahoney, J., & Talhouk, R. (2026). Co-Designing Islamic AI Ethics: Insights from the UK Muslim Community. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings.
Dehart, J. D. (2026). AI, Literacy, and Human Agency in Education. In AI, Literacy, and Human Agency in Education.
Habib, Z. (2025). Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Maqāṣid Al-Sharīʿa’s Perspective. KARSA, 33(1), 105–134.
Hulliyah, K., Norenza, Z., & Agustin, F. E. M. (2025). Efficient Whisper Fine-Tuning with Low-Rank Adaptation (Lora) for Evaluating Al-Fatihah Recitation Accuracy. 2025 13th International Conference on Cyber and IT Service Management, CITSM 2025.
Kannike, U. M. M., & Fahm, A. O. (2025). Exploring The Ethical Governance Of Artificial Intelligence From An Islamic Ethical Perspective. Jurnal Fiqh, 22(1), 134–161.
Kim, S.-Y. (2026). Developing pre-service English teachers’ critical and ethical AI literacy in writing with generative AI. System, 140.
Lal, R. (2026). Designing a Teacher Training Program of AI Literacy for K-12 Educators. In Defining an AIBased K-12 Education System (pp. 101–120).
Le, T. H., Huynh, L., Dang, B., Pham, H.-H., Nguyen, N. T. V, & Nguyen, A. (2026). Development and evaluation of artificial intelligence literacy training for teacher education students. British Journal of Educational Technology.
Ly, N. H. C., Thau, N. T., & Quan, N. T. (2025). Blending Federated Learning and Value-Sensitive Design for Ethics and Privacy-Preserving in Education. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social-Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, LNICST, 648 LNICST, 146–159.
Manaf, A. M. A., & Shariffadeen, T. S. A. T. M. A. (2025). Perception about Islam, Attitude, Subjective Norms, and Behavioural Intention in Using Artificial Intelligence among University Students. Intellectual Discourse, 33(3), 1017–1041.
Massouti, A., Baroudi, S., & Shaya, N. (2026). Exploring AI integration in United Arab Emirates’ teacher education programmes: the voice of educators leading the change. Cambridge Journal of Education, 56(3), 383–401.
Maulana, A. M. R., Rachmawati, F., & Mulya, A. S. (2026). From Digital Religion to Digital Islam: Finding God in the Society 5.0 through Maqāsīd Sharī’ah. Al-Ahkam: Jurnal Ilmu Syari’ah Dan Hukum, 11(1), 3–26.
Merah, S., & Tahraoui, R. (2026). Integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Islamic Studies Teaching and Learning: A Blessing for Teachers or a Curse? In Springer International Handbooks of Education: Vol. Part F1691 (pp. 823–837).
Mustapa, A. M., Saad, M. F. M., & Ismail, S. (2025). Traditional to Digital: Evaluating the Use of AI in the Tarteel Application to Enhance Quran Memorization. Quranica, 17(2), 53–73.
Nasir, K., Zaman, R. K., Hilmi, A. B. A., Mahadzir, A. H., & Mustaffa, A. M. B. (2025). Artificial Intelligence Integration in Mobile Applications: Innovation and Challenges in Supporting Quran Memorization and Review. Quranica, 17(2), 612–645.
Pahrudin, A., Aridan, M., & Barata, M. F. (2025). Teacher Readiness for Deep Learning in Islamic Education: A Rasch Model Analysis of Challenges and Opportunities. Journal of Teaching and Learning, 19(4), 262–283.
Shehab, J. M., Marni, N., Ihwani, S. S., Ishak, F. I. B., & Kılıç, M. A. (2025). AI in the Islamic Education to Enhance Personalized Learning: Applications and Future Aspirations. AI-SI 2025 - IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Innovation: Shaping the Future with Intelligent Solutions.
Umar, A., Haqqi, A., Rojihisawal, F., Muhammad Dzul Fitrah, A. R., Dewi, D. A., & Adnan, A. (2025). Artificial Intelligence and the Ethics of Tafsir: Integrating Digital Technologies and Islamic Humanities in Automating Interpretative Processes. Journal of Educational Technology and Learning Creativity, 3(2), 324–347.
Wahid, S. H. (2025). Is AI Endangering Religion? Maqāṣid al-Sharī’a as Ethics Framework for Harm Assessment and Mitigation. Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies, 10(2), 49–85.
Wedi, A., & Mardiana, D. (2025). Digital Transformation Model of Islamic Religious Education in the AI Era: A Case Study of Madrasah Aliyah in East Java, Indonesia. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 24(8), 842–863.
Widodo, H. (2025). An AI-Gamification-Religiosity Learning Model to Enhance Critical Literacy in Private Islamic Universities. Islamic Quarterly, 69(1), 75–120.
Yahya, M. A. B., Mohamad, S., Malik, M. N. H. B. A., Bidin, S. A., & Muna, A. C. (2025). Empowering the Tradition of Quran Memorization through Artificial Intelligence (AI): A Conceptual and Contemporary Review. Quranica, 17(2 Special Issue 14), 447–475.
Yazbeck, G. (2026). Artificial Intelligence in MENA Education: AI, Governance, and Multilingual Innovation in MENA. In AI in MENA Education Systems: Local Innovations and Global Implications (pp. 63–109).
Zainadun, N., Salleh, M. N. M., Jamil, A. I., Rekan, A. A., & @ Jima’ain, M. T. A. (2025). Exploring the Potential of Artificial Intelligence in Enhancing Quranic Teachers’ Pedagogy: A Systematic Literature Review. Quranica, 17(2), 501–541.
Zul, Z., Najihul Huda, M., Fuad, Z., & Abdullah, M. (2026). Integration of Islamic ethics in modern education curriculum: challenges and opportunities-a systematic literature review. British Journal of Religious Education.
Zulkifli, D. U., & Tungkagi, D. Q. (2025). Artificial Intelligence and Islamic Ethical Guidelines: A Systematic Review. 2025 13th International Conference on Cyber and IT Service Management, CITSM 2025.
Published
2026-07-16
How to Cite
ISMAIL, Zhang; NURTETI, Lilis.
Teaching Compassion in the Machine Age: Islamic Pedagogy, Artificial Intelligence, and the Formation of Ethical Citizenship in a Fragmented World.
Bestari, [S.l.], v. 23, n. 1, p. 1-18, july 2026.
ISSN 2807-6532.
Available at: <https://www.riset-iaid.net/index.php/bestari/article/view/1951>. Date accessed: 19 july 2026.
doi: https://doi.org/10.36667/bestari.v23i1.1951.
Section
Articles
