Islamic Epistemology in Islamic Religious Education in the Algorithmic Era: A Conceptual Analysis of Bayani, Burhani, and Irfani

Abstract

The algorithm era shifts the authority of truth in the ecosystem of religious knowledge from the verified Islamic scientific tradition to the logic of machine engagement, so that the crisis faced by Islamic Religious Education is not merely technical but also epistemological. This study aims to reconstruct Islamic epistemology through the framework of bayani, burhani, and irfani as a solution to the epistemic crisis of Islamic Religious Education in the algorithm era. The method used is library research with a critical comparative analysis approach through three stages: content analysis, systematic comparison of Islamic and Western epistemologies, and integrative synthesis. The findings show that the epistemic crisis of Islamic Religious Education operates through an interlocking system of filter bubbles, black box AI, and shifts in religious epistemic authority. Systematic comparison reveals that the failure of Western epistemology is inherently structural, while Islamic epistemology has potential structural advantages through the hierarchical integration of bayani as a normative compass, burhani as an instrument of critical verification, and irfani as a guardian of spiritual meaning that cannot be replicated by machines. This hierarchical model reconstruction implies the transformation of Islamic Religious Education in three dimensions simultaneously: curricular, pedagogical, and evaluative.