FROM ALGORITHM TO HIKMAH:

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming higher education through advances in teaching, research, and institutional governance. However, its rapid adoption has also revealed a growing value gap between technological efficiency and the broader educational mission of cultivating wisdom, ethics, and human responsibility. Although AI is fundamentally rooted in algorithmic principles pioneered by the ninth-century Muslim scholar Muhammad ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi, contemporary AI discourse rarely examines how the Islamic epistemological values underlying his scientific legacy became detached during the historical evolution of computational science. This paper argues that while Al-Khwarizmi's mathematical innovations were successfully transmitted into modern AI, the ethical, spiritual, and civilizational foundations of Islamic epistemology were largely excluded. This conceptual study proposes the Algorithm-to-Hikmah Framework as a paradigm for reconnecting AI with the human-centered objectives of higher education. The framework repositions AI as an instrument that supports the transformation of information into knowledge, critical reasoning ('aql), ethical reflection, hikmah (wisdom), and ultimately maslahah (public good) guided by Maqasid al-Shariah. Within this perspective, universities should integrate AI literacy with critical thinking, ethical reasoning, creativity, emotional intelligence, and spiritual development. Furthermore, the paper highlights the role of Islamic finance in enabling responsible AI ecosystems through productive waqf, zakat, sukuk, and ethical investment that support AI research, digital infrastructure, and equitable educational access. By integrating Al-Khwarizmi's intellectual legacy, Islamic epistemology, and Islamic finance, this study offers a novel framework for developing responsible, human-centered AI that advances sustainable higher education and global civilizational well-being.