Artificial Intelligence and Islamic Family Law Consultation: Opportunities and Challenges of Digital Fatwa for Muslim Communities

Artificial Intelligence dan Konsultasi Hukum Keluarga Islam: Peluang dan Tantangan Fatwa Digital bagi Masyarakat Muslim

Abstract

The rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in legal and religious advisory domains has generated unprecedented questions for Islamic jurisprudence regarding the authority, accuracy, and ethical permissibility of AI-mediated Islamic family law consultation. This article examines the opportunities and challenges posed by AI-powered digital fatwa platforms for Muslim communities seeking guidance on marriage, divorce, custody, inheritance, and related matters of Islamic family law. Employing a normative-juridical methodology supplemented by a critical analysis of existing AI legal advisory platforms, the study evaluates AI fatwa services against the classical Islamic epistemology of legal authority (marjiʼiyyah), the conditions for valid ijtihad, and contemporary Indonesian regulatory frameworks governing legal information services. The findings reveal that while AI platforms significantly expand access to Islamic legal information, particularly for geographically and economically marginalized Muslim communities, they simultaneously raise profound challenges regarding juristic authority, contextual sensitivity, liability for erroneous guidance, and the risk of algorithmic homogenization of Islamic legal plurality. The article concludes with a framework for the responsible integration of AI tools into Islamic family law consultation that preserves human juristic authority while leveraging technological capabilities.