<![CDATA[The proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) has significantly transformed prophetic tradition (hadith) studies by expanding data accessibility, accelerating digital tracing (takhrij), and optimizing text classification. However, AI simultaneously poses profound epistemological challenges concerning authenticity, verification, and scholarly authority. Within the Islamic tradition, the validity of hadith knowledge is anchored in the chain of transmission (sanad), methodological criticism (naqd), and scholarly consensus, whereas AI operates on statistical pattern recognition that is susceptible to historical fabrication, misattribution, and misleading interpretations. This study aims to analyze the epistemological challenges of AI in hadith studies and formulate an integration model that preserves scholarly authority in the digital era. Employing a descriptive qualitative method based on a literature review, this research conducts a thematic analysis of contemporary academic literature. The findings demonstrate that AI must be positioned exclusively as an assistive technology rather than an epistemic authority in hadith scholarship. The novelty of this study lies in the formulation of an epistemic-boundary model that delineates the technical functions of AI from the epistemic authority of Muslim scholars. Through the concept of controlled augmentation, this model restricts AI to operational domains—such as data retrieval and digital classification—while ensuring that sanad validation, textual criticism (naqd al-matn), and normative interpretation remain under scholarly oversight. This model contributes to reinforcing digital hadith literacy without compromising the integrity of Islamic epistemology in the digital age.]]>
