Description
As AI begins generating sermons, answering theological questions, and even issuing automated fatwas, sacred authority faces a new test. Can machine logic align with religious wisdom — or are we witnessing its quiet transformation?
In this multifaith panel, Dr Shoaib Ahmed Malik, Lecturer in Science and Religion at the University of Edinburgh, joins other experts to explore how AI is entering spaces once reserved for spiritual counsel.
From Islamic chatbots to the Vatican’s ethical concerns, we examine how faith traditions are responding. Chaired by Zeshan Zafar, Executive Director of the Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace.
About the Speaker
Shoaib Malik
Shoaib Ahmed Malik is Lecturer in Science and Religion at the University of Edinburgh. With a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Nottingham and another in Theology from the University of St Mary’s, Twickenham, Shoaib stands at the crossroads of Science and Religion. His monograph work, Islam and Evolution: Al-Ghazālī and the Modern Evolutionary Paradigm, was acclaimed as the foremost academic contribution to the field of science and religion, receiving recognition from the International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR) in 2022. He is working to develop the infrastructure for the field of Islam and Science.
About the Chair
Zeshan Zafar
Zeshan Zafar is the Executive Director of the Abu Dhabi Forum For Peace and the Chair of the UK Forum For Peace. He has spent his career bringing together individuals from multi-disciplinary backgrounds in the pursuit of promoting dialogue and collaboration, and now focuses on how this can be brought to the UK. Born and raised in Wales, Zeshan Zafar is passionate about strengthening the ethos of the British Muslim community to which he belongs. As well as being an active voice in this context, he has also played a key role in the establishment of international initiatives including the Forum’s annual assemblies in Abu Dhabi, the historic Marrakesh Declaration, and the Alliance of Virtue.
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