From Algorithmic Knowledge to Innate Knowledge: Reinterpreting the Identity Crisis in the Age of Artificial Intelligence through Islamic Teachings

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Mohammadreza Barzouei 1
Seyyed Amirreza Barghai 2
Mohammadjavad ravi 3
1 Associate Professor, Faculty of Culture and Communication, Imam Sadiq University
2 PhD Student in Public Policy, Researcher at Sephra Research Group, Imam Sadiq University Growth Center
3 PhD Student in Culture and Communication, Imam Sadiq University
10.22034/acmj.2026.585449.1003
Abstract
In the age of expanding artificial intelligence, this technology has evolved from a mere information-processing tool into a mediator of human perception, learning, decision-making, and self-reflection—thereby questioning man's status as a knowing subject and locus of judgment. This study identifies what crisis this mediation generates in human epistemic, existential, and social identity, based on Islamic anthropological and epistemological foundations.

The research is fundamental in purpose and qualitative in approach, proceeding through conceptual analysis in four stages: extracting foundational concepts of identity, the self (nafs), primordial nature (fitrah), and real versus conventional (i'tibari) perceptions from Islamic teachings; comparing these with contemporary philosophy of technology and AI ethics; reconstructing relationships among concepts within a unified framework; and synthesizing findings based on Islamic texts and peer-reviewed articles.

Findings reveal that the identity crisis unfolds across two interconnected dimensions. Existentially, algorithmic representation—a second-order construct—displaces authentic identity rooted in inherent human dignity and the soul's affinity with its transcendent origin. Epistemically, data-driven cognition overtakes presential knowledge (‘ilm huduri), resting on the principiality of existence, the unity of knower and known, and substantial motion. These substitutions, in a feedback loop, weaken the regulatory circuit of free will (ikhtiyar).

The study concludes that AI, unlike earlier tools, risks transforming humanity from authorized dominion (taskhir) into subjugation. The remedy lies not in halting technology, but in restoring the regulatory circuit of choice and reinstating authentic cognition and monotheistic fitrah as identity's true reference.
Keywords
Artificial Intelligence
Identity Crisis
Innate Cognition
Algorithmic Epistemology
Transcendent Philosophy
Subjects
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Art, Culture and Media
Volume 1, Issue 1 - Serial Number 1
Spring 2026
Pages 114-142

  • Receive Date 07 June 2026
  • Revise Date 26 July 2026
  • Accept Date 29 July 2026
  • First Publish Date 29 July 2026
  • Publish Date 22 May 2026