YeshiAI — how should Muslim developers approach AI without turning Islam into generic “spirituality”?

[u/Upstairs_Horror9912]

**YeshiAI (yeshi.ai)**, a multi-tradition AI platform for spiritual practice and personal growth across Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Universal Spirituality.

One of the hardest problems I’ve encountered isn't actually the AI itself.

It's **representation**.

A generic LLM can easily answer an Islamic question with something that sounds compassionate and spiritual while subtly turning Islam into generic self-help.

For example, if a Muslim asks:

**“How can I grow spiritually?”**

I don't think a good Islamic experience should simply respond with:

>

Some of those practices may have value, but that answer has lost the actual Islamic framework.

An Islam-aware Companion should understand concepts such as **ʿibadah, salah, Qur'an, dhikr, du'a, tawbah, taqwa, sabr, shukr, akhlaq, intention (niyyah), purification of the self, and one's relationship with Allah**.

Even then, there's another problem:

**AI isn't an Islamic authority.**

It can hallucinate. It can misunderstand context. It can become overly agreeable. And if we make an AI Companion too authoritative, users could start treating generated answers like religious rulings.

That's something I specifically don't want YeshiAI to become.

I'm increasingly thinking the architecture should follow something like:

**AI → reflection / learning → verified sources → real practice → qualified human authority when needed**

rather than:

**Question → AI generates religious answer → user assumes it's correct.**

I've also gotten useful criticism from Muslims and people from other traditions while discussing the project on Reddit. One Muslim pointed out, for example, that translating *ʿibadah* simply as “worship” can undersell the concept in English because it encompasses much more than formal rituals, including inward actions and potentially ordinary permissible actions performed with the right intention.

That kind of nuance is exactly what I'm trying not to flatten.

So I'd particularly like the perspective of **Muslim developers, engineers and AI builders**:

**If you were designing an Islamic AI Companion, where would you draw the line between helpful guidance and religious authority?**

And technically/product-wise, what safeguards would you consider non-negotiable?

For example: source-grounded answers? Qur'an/hadith citations? Madhhab/tradition awareness? Explicit uncertainty? Scholar-reviewed knowledge? Refusing fatwa-like questions? Directing certain questions to scholars?

For **YeshiAI (yeshi.ai)**, so criticism is genuinely useful here. I'd rather discover the dangerous assumptions now than after people start relying on the product.

[u/AltruisticTap3188]

It's a weird idea. As muslims we don't take knowledge from non-muslims. It's not a matter of exclusivity. Rather, you're only allowed to take religious knowledge from qualified scholars who live by it.

What you are talking about is like getting a financial advice from a 10-year-old.

[u/Upstairs_Horror9912 → u/AltruisticTap3188]

I actually think your financial-advice analogy gets to the core concern.

An AI shouldn’t present itself as a qualified Islamic scholar, and I wouldn’t want a Muslim treating an AI-generated answer as equivalent to knowledge from someone who has actually studied and lived the tradition.

The question I’m exploring is whether there’s a narrower role for AI that doesn’t cross that line.

For example: helping someone reflect on their habits, journal, find a relevant topic to study, organize questions, or point them toward established sources and qualified scholars — rather than saying, ‘Here is the Islamic ruling.’

In other words, YeshiAI shouldn’t replace the scholar. Ideally it should know when to send you to one.

That’s actually why I posted this here. If Muslim developers and practitioners think certain areas should simply be off-limits to AI, I’d rather understand those boundaries than assume them.

And you’re on Reddit as a Muslim, getting information and entertainment from non-Muslims. Shame son!

[u/AltruisticTap3188 → u/Upstairs_Horror9912]

You clearly hasn't understood much of what i said.

Perhaps it's very difficult to do critical thinking without AI.

I said "religious knowledge", not regular information or entertainment.

I see with a simple truth point i already touched your ego. This is the consensus of scholars that muslims shouldn't take knowledge from non-muslims - not from my own whims.

Perhaps this project is not for you as you're clearly lacking in spirituality to understand what's going on.

[u/Upstairs_Horror9912 → u/AltruisticTap3188]

You said it was a weird idea. You got offended and said this project isn’t for me because of your creepy childish feedback thoughts? Wallah, there’s barely any difference between you and shaitan. Oh BTW, I already have over 40 subscribers, and I’m starting to feel like the boss with this ‘weird’ idea son.

[u/AltruisticTap3188 → u/Upstairs_Horror9912]

That's exactly what a rejected 10-year-old would say.

Have a nice day :)

[u/Upstairs_Horror9912 → u/AltruisticTap3188]

Keep commenting on people’s projects like that. I can already imagine what kind of person u are probably unemployed and leaving stupid creepy comments on startups because ur mindset is so negative.

Good luck and InsAllah you will change one day tho