Address by Mufti Dr Nazirudin Mohd Nasir at the Madrasah Teachers’ Symposium 2025

Distinguished guests,
Our respected educators,
Madrasah leaders, Teachers,
Leaders of MUIS and MCCY, 

1. Thank you for inviting me to this symposium. I want to first commend all those involved, in organising and participating in this symposium – most of whom are educators in the Islamic religious education sector in Singapore, for gathering to learn from the latest insights and experiences in harnessing technology for education. I am particularly both struck and impressed by your optimism, in the choice of the term “harmonising” in describing the ideal relationship between two largely independent and ideologically distinct entities - technology on the one hand, and tradition (and by that, we assume the Islamic learning tradition more specifically), on the other. I personally think at this point in time, “harmonising” is a huge ask, and it might be also too early to imagine how it will look like.
   

2. Because harmony, from a philosophical standpoint, would require trust and confidence in each other, such that even as there are differences, they do not lead to conflict. Given the ongoing rapid developments in technology, and our continuous quest to truly understand and decipher our traditions for the purposes of applying them to our contemporary conditions, I think we will see some discomfort at best in the relationship between the two. In other words, there is still so much more that we need to learn (a) about each of technology and tradition, and (b) how they could interface harmoniously. But this symposium is a good place to start and to set our goal and objective right - I would say the typical Singaporean way, our way of finding ways to harmonise, even when the evidence suggests this is the harder path.
   

3. Let me also state that my views on this matter are preliminary, because I must admit, like everyone else, I cannot claim to know what the future looks like as we think of the influence of technology, especially as shaped by latest advancements in AI. And perhaps, because of this, one of the most important qualities that we educators and leaders must have, is our agility and nimbleness in navigating change and through great uncertainties and more frequent disruptions to life and learning in general.

4. If our challenges had only been about technical navigation, on how to raise levels of productivity in learning and teaching, or how to improve students’ attention in classrooms, or enhance assessment techniques, in other words, more pedagogy related issues or challenges, this would probably be challenging enough but we would probably not lose sleep over it. In fact, knowing many of the educators and teachers here today, they would gladly welcome these challenges and with open arms - many are excited to share their own journeys using technology and AI in their own teaching experiences.

5. I am happy to also say that we are similarly thinking and working hard on how to leverage AI and digital tools for advancing Islamic thought and for developing Islamic studies for higher education, in the Singapore College of Islamic Studies. For example, for fatwa development, we are now training LLMs as part of the Fatwa Lab initiative, to assist in research work for fatwas. Those of you familiar with Islamic jurisprudence will know that it rests heavily on the concept of maslaha and mafsadah – but how do we know whether we can secure good and avoid harm? Have we looked at all aspects of good and harm? Can we reduce the risks of overlooking certain aspects, whether in the short or long-term? This is where I believe Gen AI is able to help us understand risks, various dimensions that can bring good or avoid harm.

6. For Islamic education, it is crucial that we work towards providing students access to vast digital archives and facilitate innovative ways of visualising and interpreting the Islamic intellectual tradition that speaks to the modern world.

7. There are already various possibilities. For example, the use of AI-powered searchable repositories, which will allow students access to libraries of classical works and quickly locate texts. This will save hours of manual searching that those from my generation as students would have been used to.

8. AI systems can also assist in understanding classical works, through translating and summarising complex Arabic texts, as well as in simulating reasoning conversations about theological or legal texts. A student might ask questions “Why did this scholar argue this point?” and the AI can help the student enter into the flow of the author’s reasoning. And one of the fascinating uses of AI I personally find helpful is in the mapping of transmission of ideas or chains of narration (isnād) across time, helping them see the broader structure and contexts in which our intellectual heritage developed. This alone will help address one of the big frontiers of decoding our tradition, which is to situate the works and ideas in their proper socio-historical and political contexts.

9. However, technological advancements are now moving in a trajectory whose path is becoming more and more unclear. We have begun seeing its earliest impact in many facets of life. What it tells us is the change that is happening is not just technical in nature, but something more fundamental, potentially existential, of a more philosophical and ideological nature. The implication of this on education, in my view, is paradigmatic. So whilst in the short term we may harness technology with the hope of increasing productivity, in the longer term, we will have to engage with the idea of education at its most fundamental levels.

10. And as Muslim educators, we should be fully vested in this endeavour, because education is at the heart of our entire civilisation. In fact, the entire history of our faith tradition revolves around sages, scholars, students and the expansion of intellectual tradition. No doubt there are elements of the traditions of Islamic learning that have endured until today, but Islamic learning has taken many new forms - from talaqqi at the feet of teachers, to more organised majalis or halaqat al-‘ilm, to the production of religious texts, to institutionalised learning in colleges and universities.

11. Not that each phase wasn’t met with opposition or doubt. For example, the Muslim literary giant of the 9th century, Al-Jahiz, spoke on the prevalent doubt during his time on the publication of books as a new ‘technology’ and industry (akin to AI today perhaps) in spreading information and knowledge. Obviously, when people were accustomed to learning directly from teachers, writing and publishing books were seen as an affront to a well-established tradition of seeking knowledge. But Al-Jahiz famously proclaimed:

"وعرفت به في شهر، ما لا تعرفه من أفواه الرجال في دهر"

“Through it, you come to know in a month what you could not learn from the mouths of men in a lifetime.”

12. We might be entering into a new phase, in which we are the actors and protagonists, whose duty and to shape Islamic learning and its future institutions and methods wisely and responsibly. We need to have the confidence of Al-Jahiz in order to see the path ahead.

13. Allow me to share my ‘outrageous’ predictions based on current growth trends in technology. This is based on 2 major assumptions. Firstly, the development of superintelligence or AGI, which may now even be faster with further progress in quantum computing. Secondly, the availability of big data - where almost complete surveillance of our activities is becoming a reality and also the mapping of patterns of behaviours and choices becoming more common - which have seen the influence of elections etc.

14. There are many implications of this on life in general. But let me focus on what it means for education and Islamic learning. There are broadly two sets of predictions - depending on whether there are ethical and legal safeguards in place, where traditional governments remain strong and big tech’s power remains curtailed.

15. If this is the case, then the impact on learning is as follows:

• Learning only takes place through applied techniques - there is little time and space for the teaching of concepts and theories - which often takes most of the time of our current learning;

• Memorisation becomes unnecessary - because everything can be retrieved at a much faster pace, more accurately, and with much less effort;

• The interest to learn is limited to areas where AI doesn’t want to waste time on, or in skills required to regulate the excesses of AI;

• As AI begins to identify historical patterns of influence and communication of knowledge, there leads to greater questioning of traditional knowledge and wisdom itself.

16. But if big tech rules, the implications, as you can imagine, will be far worse. AI will assume so much power and control that it directly challenges the concept of authority and power that we associate with God. Religions lose its influence but those who hold on to it become more and more radical to counter the AI influence. Central religious authority becomes obsolete because has been diffused between so many alternative sources of “truth” to the extent that any idea can be convincingly fabricated as the “truth”. The religious marketplace becomes more and more chaotic with little to no control for anyone or any institution.

17. At this point, it is very hard to predict which way the world will go, and therefore, how we should best prepare. Although given the current AI craze and the unfettered pursuit of profits, we cannot rule out the second scenario.

18. But amidst these worrying scenarios, there are opportunities, because even as AI claims to improve life, human flourishing is not just about material advancements and certainly cannot rest on too much artificiality. And this, I think, is the Achilles heel in AI developments.

19. For example, we have seen various counter-movements in general. In matters relating to health and diet, the strong push back against artificiality in food because of the harms associated with it - and hence, the towards organicity. Likewise, the push back against far-right extremism fuelled by social media and the shaping of extremism and exclusivist norms through social media algorithms.

20. I will not be surprised if the same happens with AI developments if and when it goes too far and too excessive in its control over our daily activities and choices.

21. As educators, we have an important role, both in providing a more balanced approach to avoid such scenarios, and in providing a compelling and competitive alternative when the push back against excessive artificial intelligence intensifies.

22. In my view, organic or human intelligence as opposed to artificial is about our ability to reflect, contemplate and introspect on the human condition and conditions of the natural world, to then ask the question - what is good and how should we pursue it, and what is bad and harmful and how should we avoid it. This is the Quranic call towards tafakkur, tadabbur, and to employ al-‘aql to its max for such purposes above. Not dissimilar from what Socrates describes that an unexamined life is not worth living. Learning is about our ability to reflect on what we observe, and therefore, consider how we should act, as God’s caliph, and for the goodness of God’s creations. To do this, we need to enrich our perspectives. There is no doubt the ethical and responsible use of tools, including AI, will add to the richness of our perspectives, and therefore, may lead humanity to better outcomes. With a purposeful use of technology to serve clear educational goals, we can and will deepen our understanding, sharpen our critical thinking, and create more impactful learning. But we must also find balance in our perspectives.

23. One of the most important element in this balance is the moral perspective, founded on ethical values that define our humanity, such as compassion, empathy, kindness, respect, hospitality, generosity, and many others. For generations, the teaching of the moral perspective has been the most fundamental role of murabbis or teachers (in fact in all traditions), not so much in what they tell their students, but what they show through character and service. It is hard for AI to replace this role. And it is for this reason too that at SCIS, we believe we should provide students with this ethos as foundation, built on these values and the goals and objectives of faith, commonly referred to as the maqasid, before they move on to use AI for learning.

24. Secondly, in the context of our very noisy world, the stillness and calmness that nature offers, provide us with a priceless perspective on life. I think as educators, we must turn more to nature, and to bring our students to be more in tune with it, to appreciate and realise the meaning and significance of our existence. Until such time that AI is able to replicate fully our existence in nature without leaving your seat, I do not think there is a substitute for the perfect conditions that nature provides for the mind to truly contemplate. 

25. It is this process of continuous self-reflection and contemplation that will offer us greater moral clarity as we navigate a more uncertain and challenging future. Our intellectual heritage tells us we shall not fear this future and what it brings, and that we have a sacred duty to shape it with courage and wisdom. Our moral heritage offers us the values that will help make these changes meaningful and positive for humanity. Our spiritual tradition guides us that our care for humanity and pursuit for goodness must underpin all our efforts.

26. This is the balance we need to uphold as leaders and educators, so that we will continue the legacy of scholars and religious institutions to nurture future generations of students who are capable of guiding the community with both knowledge and moral clarity in an increasingly complex world.

27. I wish you participants and trainers in today's Madrasah Teachers’ symposium all the best in learning that AI and generative AI can offer for the purpose of enhancing or teaching and learning, but I also encourage you to continue to reflect on how best we can provide a very balanced perspective so that our students remain guided by the values, achieving the best outcomes and becoming the best version of themselves contributing to religion, society, and country.

28. Syukran lakum.