At the Digital Islam Symposium hosted by the University of Zurich on 17 September 2025, we presented insights from our current research project “Prompting the Qur’an: AI Interactions with the Sacred Text.” The symposium offered an ideal setting to discuss how digital technologies—particularly large language models (LLMs)—are reshaping contemporary engagements with Islamic scripture. Our contribution focused on a question that is becoming increasingly relevant in academic, pedagogical and community contexts: What happens when the Qur’an is approached through artificial intelligence?

Our study investigates how ChatGPT-5 respond to Qur’an-related questions across different languages, thematic domains and levels of technicality. To explore this systematically, we developed a comprehensive set of prompts based on five central Qur’anic themes—God, the human being, action, knowledge and the hereafter. Each question was asked in English, German and Turkish, and in both non-technical phrasing and technical wording that incorporates Arabic theological terminology. All responses were collected under controlled conditions and evaluated using a structured parameter system that includes stylistic, hermeneutical and exegetical dimensions.

The aim of the project is not to judge the “correctness” of AI-generated answers, but rather to understand which interpretive patterns and methodological tendencies emerge when useres engage with the Qur’anic text through using Chat GPT-5. This involves examining how certainty is expressed, which exegetical approaches are favoured, how inclusivity is framed, and what forms of textual referencing or contextualisation are employed. While we observe a number of recurring tendencies and thematic shifts, these findings are still being analysed in detail.

Because the study is ongoing and its results will soon be published in a peer-reviewed format, we deliberately refrained from presenting specific outcomes at this stage. What can already be stated, however, is that the project opens important conversations about digital authority, the mediation of revelation, and the future role of Islamic pedagogy in an age increasingly shaped by algorithmic tools. As AI-generated interpretations gain visibility, the need for critical theological engagement—one that recognises both the possibilities and the limitations of these technologies—becomes more pressing.

We look forward to sharing the full results of “Prompting the Qur’an” in our forthcoming publication and continuing the discussion on how digital infrastructures are reshaping Qur’anic interpretation and religious knowledge today.