The Mufti of Egypt, Shawki Allam, stated that those who engage in artificial intelligence and modern sciences are fulfilling a divine obligation from God. During his daily Ramadan meeting on the program "Ask the Mufti," on the channel "Sada Elbalad," he cited the verse "Say, 'Travel through the land and observe how He began creation...'" and other verses that call for thought, reasoning, and contemplation.
The Mufti revealed that people are religiously obliged to advance the movement of life through the means of life, utilizing all available resources. He emphasized the need to draw from established religious sciences, as well as fields like chemistry, physics, engineering, and medicine. He insisted that the ethical aspect should be the ceiling of scientific research and stressed the necessity of striving to find solutions to every problem that arises in accordance with the developments of society and humanity.
The Mufti mentioned that the Prophet Muhammad exerted effort in matters without explicit texts and made efforts in other areas until divine revelation corrected or supported him, most of the time affirming his reasoning. He left room for the companions to exert their own efforts and trained them practically in reasoning so they could face life and its changes after him.
He underscored the importance of moderation when referencing heritage in dealing with current realities and emerging issues, which should be done without extremism or negligence. He added that it is a mistake to entirely reject the rich jurisprudential legacy left by scholars just because of changes in time and place.
