Digital qur’anic exegesis emerges at the intersection of classical interpretive traditions and the fast-paced, fragmented, and algorithm-driven logic of online media. This transformation not only reshapes how tafsir is delivered but also shifts the reader’s epistemological experience from the presence of meaning (ḥuḍūr) toward the dominance of representation (ḥuṣūlī). This study aims to critically analyze the epistemological crisis of ḥuḍūr in digital tafsir while proposing a conceptual framework grounded in Islamic mysticism to understand this shift within the context of online media. Employing a qualitative conceptual-empirical approach, the study applies philosophical analysis and mystical hermeneutics to exegetical texts published on NU Online and Detik.com as strategic case studies. The analytical framework integrates the thought of al-Ghazālī (ḥuḍūr al-qalb), Ibn ‘Arabī (tajallī), and Mullā Ṣadrā (‘ilm ḥuḍūrī vs. ḥuṣūlī) to evaluate five operational indicators of ḥuḍūr: intentionality, attention structure, interpretive ethics, existential engagement, and ethical transformation. The findings reveal that digital tafsir tends to exhibit fragmented attention, reduced hermeneutical depth, and a shift from inner transformation toward informative and normative functions. Algorithmic mediation and speed-oriented content structures reinforce representational knowledge, thereby weakening experiences of tajallī and dhawq in engaging the Qur’an. The study concludes that the crisis of ḥuḍūr is not merely a consequence of the digital medium but arises from the interaction between media logic and the epistemic disposition of the subject. It calls for a reorientation of tafsir as an existential experience integrating ethical, ontological, and epistemological dimensions.
The epistemological challenge posed by generative artificial intelligence lies not only in its capacity to produce religious language that sounds persuasive but also in the risk that such fluency may be mistaken for legitimate knowledge. Recent discussions on religion and AI have examined ethics, governance, and digital mediation. Yet, they have not sufficiently explained how machine-generated sacred-style discourse can appear epistemically authoritative within Islamic traditions. This article addresses that gap through a dual-grid framework that brings al-Jābirī’s epistemic modes into dialogue with Ṭāhā’s hierarchy of reason. Using a qualitative philosophical analysis of AI-generated religious-style discourse, the study asks not whether AI is a knower, but what kind of knowledge affects its outputs generated in religious settings. The analysis indicates that AI can simulate textual authority, logical coherence, and spiritual resonance, while lacking the classical warrants that ground knowledge in Islamic epistemology, namely causal intelligibility, accountable transmission, and disciplined formation. On that basis, the study suggests that generative AI is most plausibly situated at the level of al-‘aql al-mujarrad (abstract reason) and introduces the concept of epistemic flattening to explain how distinct modes of knowing may be compressed into similar output effects. The article concludes by proposing a constructive response centered on Islamic epistemic literacy, accountability-oriented governance, and a relational understanding of knowledge within an Islamic philosophy of technology.
The crisis of religious authority, identity polarization, and informational disruption in the contemporary public sphere indicate a tension between religious truth claims and the demands of deliberate rationality within plural societies. Abdolkarim Soroush’s thought offers a conceptual distinction between religion as a transcendent reality and religious knowledge as a historical construction, thereby opening the possibility for a reinterpretation of the relationship between mysticism and political rationality. This study aims to analyze how the ontology of mysticism in Abdolkarim Soroush’s thought establishes a normative foundation for deliberative rationality and inclusive political ethics in contemporary society. The research employs a qualitative design using normative-critical philosophical analysis. Data was collected through library research and analyzed using thematic analysis techniques. The findings indicate that Soroush’s ontology of mysticism generates an awareness of epistemic limitation that develops into epistemic humility as the basis of dialogical ethics. This awareness becomes the foundation of deliberative rationality, rejecting the absolutization of interpretation and affirming intersubjective argumentative validation. Within this construction, mysticism provides a normative orientation for inclusive political ethics that upholds interpretative pluralism and equality of arguments. It can be concluded that Soroush’s ontology of mysticism offers a philosophical basis for integrating spirituality and public rationality. Epistemic humility strengthens deliberate legitimacy in plural societies and contributes to the development of deliberative democracy grounded in metaphysical awareness and argumentative responsibility, while encouraging more inclusive, reflective, and ethically oriented public dialogue efforts.
This article examines Tahāfut al-Tahāfut by Ibn Rushd as a rational reconstruction of al-Ghazālī's critique in Tahāfut al-Falāsifah. The study aims to analyze how Ibn Rushd deconstructs, reevaluates, and systematically reorganizes the philosophical arguments questioned by al-Ghazālī, focusing on three main issues: the eternity of the world, God's knowledge of particulars, and the relationship between reason, revelation, and Sharia. The primary objective is to demonstrate that Tahāfut al-Tahāfut is not merely a rebuttal of al-Ghazālī but also a philosophical project to restore the legitimacy of reason within Islamic epistemology and to affirm the coherence between philosophy and Sharia. This study employs a qualitative method through library research, analyzing primary texts—Tahāfut al-Falāsifah and Tahāfut al-Tahāfut—and relevant secondary literature in Islamic philosophy. A critical-comparative and philosophical-hermeneutical approach is used to trace the argumentative structures of both thinkers, while evaluating the intellectual context of their debate, particularly the epistemological differences between Ash‘ari theology and Aristotelian rationalism adopted by Ibn Rushd. The findings indicate that Ibn Rushd presents a systematic rational critique, showing that many of al-Ghazālī’s objections stemmed from misinterpretations of philosophical concepts. Tahāfut al-Tahāfut functions as a reconstructive effort to reaffirm philosophy as an essential tool for understanding reality and supporting rational religious interpretation. The study concludes that the debate reflects a productive epistemological dialogue, demonstrating that reason and revelation are complementary in achieving a comprehensive understanding of truth.
This research aims to explain that in the digital age, society is confronted with a flexing society. This phenomenon occurs because the moral and value system governing social life has been reduced to mere commodities measured primarily by the ownership of goods. This study identifies an interconnectedness between contemporary capitalism, social media, and consumerism and their collective role in eroding moral foundations and individual self-determination. A primary consequence of consumerism is the erosion of moral standards and the emergence of a culture of conspicuous consumption. This flexing society, facilitated by social media, subsequently degrades morality and autonomy, as individuals become trapped in the pursuit of illusory goals shrouded within a world of hyper-reality. Through the lens of Jean Baudrillard’s simulacra and the moral philosophy of Sir Muhammad Iqbal, this study specifically constructs a unique normative philosophical argument regarding the restoration of existential selfhood amidst the encroachment of hyper-reality. Using qualitative methods and hermeneutic interpretation of Gadamer’s philosophy, this study demonstrates that Iqbal’s concept of khudī is not merely a theological idea, but rather an instrument of ontological resistance capable of deconstructing the entrapment of individuals within the algorithmic image, as their lives are trapped in the pursuit of an illusory reality veiled within the world of hyperreality. This research concludes the importance of a moral framework that is holistic, integral, and objective through Iqbal’s framework, which offers a solution to digital alienation while repositioning the autonomous human being as a creator of meaning, not merely an object of simulated consumption.
