AI for Imams

For Imams and Those Active in Muslim Community Work

Presented by Dr. Waleed Kadous & Dr. Hidayath Ansari

A comprehensive 6-hour hands-on workshop empowering Imams to integrate AI tools into their daily work: khutbah preparation, community outreach, research, translation, and content creation.

"I just completed your Imam 2.0 Leveraging AI workshop on YouTube and found it incredibly beneficial. As an educator and as graduate of sharīʿa at the Islamic University of Madinah, I found it incredibly insightful."

Slides & Resources View Slides Search Transcript

Workshop Slides

Open in Google Slides

Use arrow keys or click to navigate slides

Workshop Sessions

Session 1: Introduction & Why AI Matters for the Ummah

Workshop overview, why Islamic leaders need to master AI, and introduction to the four key AI capabilities.

0:00 Workshop goals and structure 5:36 Why we need to master AI as an Ummah 16:21 AI's dual-use nature and ethical concerns 22:01 The four tools AI provides 22:01 Ansari vs ChatGPT: Islamic perspective demo

Session 2: AI for Creativity & Video Generation

Generating images, videos, and visual content with AI tools like Sora, Runway, and Gemini.

28:09 Image generation for Islamic content 29:42 Video generation demo (Sora, Runway) 30:13 Gemini video capabilities 32:45 ChatGPT video generation 33:50 Live demo: Creating Islamic video content 42:52 Hands-on exercise: Creative AI uses

Session 3: NotebookLM & Multilingual Capabilities

Using NotebookLM for research synthesis, podcast generation, and breaking language barriers.

1:09:30 Multilingual capabilities introduction 1:12:07 Translation and Arabic processing 1:16:48 NotebookLM for AMJA seminars 1:18:19 Generating audio/podcast overviews 1:18:50 Live demo: AI-generated podcast

Session 4: Research, Knowledge & Deep Research

AI for research, learning, teaching, and the powerful Deep Research feature.

1:30:28 Research and learning capabilities 1:47:59 Deep Research feature demo 1:50:00 Synthesizing information from multiple sources 1:54:20 Using AI for Islamic research 1:59:37 Claude Projects for knowledge management

Session 5: AI Hallucinations & Verification

Understanding AI hallucinations, constraining AI with Islamic sources, and verification workflows.

1:41:46 What are AI hallucinations? 1:43:23 Constraining AI with system prompts 1:43:54 RAG: Retrieval Augmented Generation 1:45:56 Grounding AI in Islamic sources 2:20:27 Evidence-based answers and verification

Session 6: Khutbah Preparation Deep Dive

Comprehensive session on using AI to prepare khutbahs, with live demonstrations.

2:49:29 Khutbah preparation workflow 2:54:23 Building context for your khutbah 2:56:32 Generic vs personalized prompts 3:00:08 Transforming to Arabic audio 3:04:12 Gems: Saving khutbah templates 3:07:49 Creating a series of talks

Session 7: Islamic Research with Ansari & Usul.ai

Deep dive into specialized Islamic AI tools for fatwa preparation and research.

3:37:47 Ansari architecture explained 3:49:15 Live Ansari demo 3:51:23 Localized translation capabilities 3:57:44 Claude + Ansari integration 4:01:50 Quick fatwa preparation workflow

Session 8: AI for Education & Teaching

Using AI to enhance Islamic education, create lesson plans, and interactive learning.

4:23:44 AI for education overview 4:28:20 Creating lesson plans with AI 4:30:59 Interactive quiz apps (Claude artifacts) 4:36:10 AI critique and improvement loop 4:39:15 Gamified learning for youth 4:47:59 Future of Islamic education

Session 9: Community Engagement & Admin

Using AI for newsletters, social media, volunteer coordination, and masjid administration.

5:06:47 Newsletters for different demographics 5:08:49 Social media content creation 5:09:50 Grant proposals and admin work 5:15:36 Make.com automation demo 5:20:42 Volunteer coordination apps

Session 10: AI Challenges & Future Concerns

Addressing the challenges AI presents to communities: deepfakes, youth, relationships.

5:22:17 Overview of AI challenges 5:25:24 Impact on employment 5:26:55 AI companions and youth relationships 5:28:58 Deepfakes and misinformation 5:31:33 Proactive community preparation 5:56:35 Q&A and closing

Learning Objectives

✓ Understand recent AI developments and their significance
✓ Use practical AI tools for research and education
✓ Enhance content creation and accessibility
✓ Identify and verify AI-generated Islamic content
✓ Develop a personalized AI integration plan

AI Tools

Full Cheat Sheet →

Islamic AI

Ansari

Islamic Q&A grounded in sources

Usul.ai

Next-gen Shamela based AI

TanyalahUstaz

Malay community AI

General AI

Claude

Premium daily AI

Gemini

General daily AI (free)

Special Tools

NotebookLM

Convert content to podcasts

Gamma

AI-driven presentations

Workshop Resources

Access all slides, documents, exercises, and the WhatsApp support group.

walee.dk/amjaai

Searchable Transcript

Loading transcript...

About the Presenters

WK

Dr. Waleed Kadous ("The Optimist") completed his PhD in AI in 2000 and has since applied AI at Google (8 years), Uber (4 years), startups, and as Sr Director of AI at Canva.

He served as MSA President for 5 years and founded an Australian Islamic civil rights organization. He is an avid student of Sh Jamaal Zarabozo.

His OnePath video on AI and Islam exceeds 1.3 million views. His current project, Ansari, is an Islamic AI assistant serving thousands weekly.

HA

Dr. Hidayath Ansari ("The Pessimist") completed his PhD in Computer Sciences in 2015 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He currently works as a Senior Scientist in the tech industry.

He is a student in the ʿālimiyya program at Al-Salam Institute and studied at Riyadh-as-Saliheen Institute in Chicago. He is active in local Muslim communities in Seattle, WA and Madison, WI, and participates in various "ummah tech" projects.