Artificial Intelligence Enhance Shariah Compliance Mechanisms to Improve Efficiency and Transparency in Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Financial Institutions?

This research aims to investigate AI's impact on improving operational efficiency, ensuring transparency, and addressing ethical and technical challenges related to Sharia compliance in IFIs. A quantitative survey was conducted across five regions in Saudi Arabia. The study garnered 450 validated responses. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and regression models to assess AI's effects and identify influential factors. The findings reveal that AI significantly enhances transparency and compliance processes within IFIs. However, AI's impact on improving operational efficiency is found to be limited. The study identifies key barriers to AI adoption, including high implementation costs, the insufficiency of structured Sharia datasets required for effective AI application, and complexities associated with AI integration. Furthermore, the analysis highlights the existence of regional and professional differences, which underscore the necessity of developing tailored adoption strategies. The study introduces a novel framework that integrates ethical governance, Sharia compliance requirements, and operational scalability considerations. This framework addresses critical gaps identified in the existing literature. The study provides actionable recommendations for the successful adoption of AI in Islamic finance. It also contributes to the broader global discourse on ethical AI practices.