Every day, you generate massive amounts of data. Your location pings, your online searches, your health records, and even your social media likes all feed into artificial intelligence systems. Currently, big tech companies harvest this information often without fair compensation or transparent consent. However, a paper published in the journal Philosophy & Technology offers a brilliant solution rooted in 1,400 years of Islamic tradition.
Abdulqadir J. Nashwan, a researcher from Qatar, proposes reframing personal data as a “digital waqf.” In classical Islamic law, a waqf is an inalienable charitable endowment. Think of a hospital or a school built by a community member, where the asset itself cannot be sold, but its benefits flow forever to the public good. Nashwan argues that the data we generate should function exactly like this.
Consequently, AI systems trained on such data would face strict moral constraints. Developers could no longer extract value for private profit alone. Instead, they would act as trustees (custodians) bound by Islamic ethical principles: justice (adl), public benefit (maslahah), and the prohibition of harm.
This framework draws heavily on maqasid al-shariah (the higher objectives of Islamic law). These objectives prioritize the preservation of life, intellect, wealth, lineage, and religion. Applying these to AI means algorithms must not manipulate human decision-making (preserving intellect) or exploit vulnerable communities (preserving dignity).
Currently, we live in what scholar Shoshana Zuboff calls “surveillance capitalism.” Companies track our behavior to predict and sell our future actions. This practice violates the Islamic concept of amanah (trust). Your data is not just a commodity; it is an amanah that you hold temporarily. A digital waqf model would require transparent, informed consent and equitable distribution of profits, reinvesting AI-generated revenues into healthcare, education, or infrastructure for the communities that provided the data.
Therefore, this model does not reject technological progress. On the contrary, it seeks to align innovation with human dignity. For Muslim-majority nations and ethical tech developers worldwide, “Data Waqf” offers a culturally grounded, just, and incredibly practical path forward for the age of artificial intelligence.
1. The Problem: Your Data Is the New Oil, and You Are Not the One Drilling
Artificial intelligence thrives on data. Without vast amounts of information, large language models cannot learn, and predictive algorithms cannot function. Consequently, tech giants have turned personal information into the most valuable resource on earth, often dubbed “the new oil.”
Unfortunately, the current extraction model is deeply unequal. When you scroll through social media or visit a hospital, you generate valuable data. Companies collect this information, train their AI systems, and then sell the resulting services back to you for a profit. You receive little to no direct benefit from the value your own life creates.
Worse still, this extraction frequently happens without genuine consent. Long terms of service written in dense legal language trick most users into surrendering their digital rights. Shoshana Zuboff, a Harvard professor, famously labeled this system “surveillance capitalism” in her groundbreaking work. She argues that tech firms now predict and modify human behavior as their primary business product.
2. The Islamic Solution: Reviving the Waqf for the Digital Age
Islamic civilization developed a brilliant institution centuries ago called waqf. A waqf is a charitable trust. For example, a wealthy merchant could donate a piece of land or a building. The physical asset itself becomes inalienable, meaning no one can ever sell or inherit it. However, the returns or usufruct from that asset, such as rental income, are used forever to support a hospital, a school, or a water fountain for the poor.
Nashwan argues that we can apply this exact logic to the digital realm. Just as land or a building was a valuable physical endowment, the data we produce daily is a valuable “digital endowment.” By framing data as a digital waqf, donors would retain moral control over how their information is used.
This approach solves several problems at once. First, it prohibits the outright sale of raw data, just as you cannot sell a waqf property. Second, it mandates that the benefits derived from AI systems must flow back to the public good. Finally, it installs a custodian (a trustee) who is legally and ethically bound to manage the data without personal greed, ensuring justice (adl) prevails.
Traditional Waqf vs. Digital Data Waqf
| Feature | Traditional Waqf (Endowment) | Digital Data Waqf (Proposed Model) |
|---|---|---|
| Core Asset | Physical property (land, buildings, wells) | Personal/Collective data (health records, behavior, location) |
| Ownership | Inalienable; belongs to Allah/Community | Data donors retain moral stewardship (amanah) |
| Management | Custodian (mutawalli) manages the asset | AI developers/governments act as digital trustees |
| Beneficiaries | Public good (schools, hospitals, mosques) | Community welfare (health AI, public infrastructure) |
| Guiding Ethics | Justice (adl), public benefit (maslahah) | Justice, prevention of harm, preservation of intellect |
| Prohibition | Selling or wasting the principal asset | Exploitative data mining or surveillance capitalism |
3. The Higher Objectives: Maqasid al-Shariah as an AI Constitution
Nashwan anchors his argument in maqasid al-shariah, the higher objectives of Islamic law. Traditional jurists agreed that all divine laws aim to protect five essential elements: religion, life, intellect, lineage, and wealth.
When applied to AI governance, these objectives become a powerful regulatory tool. Consider the preservation of intellect (hifz al-aql). Surveillance algorithms are specifically designed to capture attention, often using addictive feedback loops that hijack rational decision-making. A “digital waqf” model would deem such manipulative algorithms unethical because they damage human intellect.
Similarly, the preservation of wealth (hifz al-mal) prohibits waste and fraud. Current data practices often involve hidden extraction without fair compensation. This constitutes a form of consuming people’s wealth unjustly, which the Qur’an explicitly forbids.
Furthermore, the preservation of life (hifz al-nafs) requires that AI used in healthcare must prioritize patient safety above all else. If a hospital contributes patient data to a “health data waqf,” the resulting AI tools must serve early disease prediction and treatment optimization for everyone, not just maximize shareholder value.
4. From Surveillance Capitalism to Digital Trusteeship
The contrast between current practices and the proposed model could not be starker. Today, we live under surveillance capitalism. Companies like Google or Meta track you across the internet. They build detailed psychological profiles. Then, they sell access to those profiles to advertisers who want to influence your purchasing or voting behavior.
This system treats your data as a free resource to be extracted and commodified. However, from an Islamic standpoint, this violates the sacred concept of amanah (trust). You are not the absolute owner of your body and data; you are a steward. Therefore, you have a duty to protect this trust from misuse.
The digital waqf model replaces extraction with trusteeship. Tech companies would no longer “own” your data. Instead, they would be legally designated as mutawalli (custodians). Their role is to manage the data for the benefit of the community. If they train a profitable AI model using public data, a portion of those profits must return to a “data waqf fund.” This fund could then build hospitals or provide free education.
5. Practical Steps: Implementing the Digital Waqf
How would this work in reality? Nashwan suggests several concrete applications. In healthcare, hospitals often hold massive datasets of electronic health records. Under a health data waqf, patients could collectively endow their anonymized data. An AI trained on this data could predict cancer outbreaks or optimize treatments. Instead of a private company patenting the algorithm and charging high fees, the resulting tool remains a community asset.
Similarly, governments could establish national data waqf funds. When international tech corporations want to train models on local population data, they must contribute to this fund. The revenue generated then gets reinvested into infrastructure, specifically for underrepresented communities who historically provided the data.
Moreover, this model demands informed consent. Islam emphasizes intentionality (niyyah). Therefore, the current practice of burying consent in 50-page legal documents is insufficient. A digital waqf requires a transparent, affirmative act where the donor clearly understands how their data will serve the public good and that they will receive no individual profit (as the reward is spiritual or collective).
Islamic Ethical Principles Applied to AI Governance
| Islamic Principle | Definition | Application to Data & AI |
|---|---|---|
| Waqf | Inalienable charitable endowment | Data is an asset held in trust, not a commodity to be sold. |
| Amanah | Trust / Stewardship | Tech companies are custodians of data, not owners. |
| Adl | Justice / Equity | AI algorithms must not discriminate; benefits must be shared fairly. |
| Maslahah | Public Interest | AI development must prioritize community welfare over private profit. |
| Hifz al-Aql | Preservation of Intellect | Prohibition of addictive algorithms or manipulative content feeds. |
| Hifz al-Mal | Preservation of Wealth | Data extraction must involve fair compensation or public reinvestment. |
6. Why This Matters for Non-Muslims and Global Governance
This framework is not exclusively for Muslim-majority countries. The core values of trust, equity, and public benefit are universal. In fact, Western scholars and regulators are currently struggling with the same problems. Concepts like “data trusts” and “data cooperatives” are emerging in Europe and North America, but they often lack a strong moral anchor.
Nashwan’s work provides that anchor. By linking data governance to religious ethics, it creates a powerful motivation for compliance that goes beyond legal fines. It taps into a sense of spiritual accountability.
Furthermore, for multinational tech companies operating in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, or Africa, understanding the digital waqf model is crucial for social license. If a company is perceived as violating the amanah of local users by extracting data for exploitative purposes, they face not just regulatory backlash but deep cultural rejection. Therefore, adopting these principles is a smart business strategy for global inclusion.
7. The Path Forward: Inclusive, Intelligent, and Just
The digital waqf model does not call for a halt to AI development. On the contrary, it demands better AI. It rejects the race to the bottom where algorithms optimize only for engagement and profit, often at the expense of mental health or social cohesion.
Instead, this model asks a revolutionary question: What if our data could be a continuous charity (sadaqah jariyah)? In Islamic tradition, when a person dies, their deeds end except for three: ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge, or a righteous child who prays for them. By endowing your data as a digital waqf, you could potentially earn spiritual reward long after you are gone, as your anonymized health data helps cure diseases for future generations.
Consequently, this perspective transforms the user from a passive victim of surveillance into an active moral agent. You are no longer just a product to be sold. You are a partner in building a more just, compassionate, and intelligent world. The technology is neutral; the ethics we feed into it are not. By reviving the spirit of waqf, we can ensure that AI serves humanity, not the other way around.
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