AI Guidance Disclaimer
Effective date: pending counsel review — ChatIslam, operated by Ummeco, LLC
This is not a fatwa.
Every response generated by ChatIslam is AI-generated for informational purposes only. It is not a fatwa, a legal opinion under Islamic law, or an authoritative religious ruling. It does not substitute for the guidance of a qualified Islamic scholar.
1. Nature of AI Responses
ChatIslam uses large language model (LLM) technology to provide information about Islam. The system draws on texts from the Quran, the Sunnah, and classical Islamic scholarship to construct responses. However, LLMs can make errors, misattribute sources, generate plausible-sounding but incorrect religious information, and may not account for your specific personal circumstance, madhab, or local scholarly consensus.
No AI system is capable of performing ijtihad or issuing a binding fatwa. That authority rests exclusively with qualified scholars who have received proper ijazah in Islamic jurisprudence.
2. Scholarly Guidance is Required for Personal Matters
For personal religious decisions — including but not limited to matters of halal and haram, marriage and divorce, business transactions, prayer obligations, and zakah calculation — you must consult a qualified Islamic scholar. ChatIslam provides general educational information only.
Reliance on AI-generated responses for personal fiqh decisions is not recommended and is done entirely at your own discretion.
3. Our Theological Baseline
ChatIslam is designed with Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jamaah guidelines. Responses favor positions within the four accepted madhabs (Hanbali, Shafi'i, Maliki, Hanafi) and Athari aqeedah as primary, with Ash'ari and Maturidi positions acknowledged as within Ahl us-Sunnah.
This does not mean all responses are correct. Even within Sunni scholarship, there is legitimate ikhtilaf (scholarly disagreement). ChatIslam may present one view without fully representing the range of scholarly opinions. Verification with a scholar who knows your circumstances is always the correct path.
4. How We Flag Religious Information
Each AI response in ChatIslam is accompanied by a disclaimer: "AI-generated for informational purposes only. Not a fatwa or religious ruling. Consult a qualified Islamic scholar for personal guidance." This notice appears on every response and in the chat interface.
Where citations are provided, they reference the source text (e.g., a hadith collection, a fiqh text, or a Quranic ayah). Citations help you verify the information independently. They do not constitute a scholarly opinion or ruling.
5. Human Escalation
ChatIslam routes complex fiqh questions — those involving individual circumstances, nuanced legal matters, or sensitive personal situations — to a scholar escalation flow rather than generating an AI response. This is an intentional design choice. When the system escalates, that is the system working correctly.
6. No Liability
Ummeco, LLC provides ChatIslam on an "as is" basis. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all liability for any decisions made in reliance on AI-generated content from ChatIslam. See our Terms of Service for the full limitation of liability.
7. Contact
Questions about this disclaimer: [email protected]