Integrating Islamic Ethical Principles into Nigeria’s AI Surveillance Policy
A Human Dignity Approach
Abstract
In the era of hyper-digitalization, AI has exponentially expanded the size and scope of state surveillance globally, pushing fundamental ethical questions of privacy, discrimination, and human dignity to the forefront. In Nigeria, the rapid development of digital identity systems and compulsory SIM-to-ID registrations has established a significant real-time surveillance potential, yet AI-specific legal protections remain underdeveloped. Though the Nigerian Constitution and Nigerian Data Protection Act (NDPA) 2023 provide general rights to privacy, there is little incorporation of local religious and cultural frameworks in AI regulation. This article discusses how fundamental Islamic ethical principles, derived from maqāṣid al-sharīʿah, i.e., protection of honor (ḥifẓ al-ʿird), life (ḥifẓ al-nafs), intellect (ḥifẓ al-ʿaql), and public interest (maṣlaḥah), can be used to enhance Nigeria's AI surveillance law. Using doctrinal legal comparison, the research contrasts and compares classical Islamic sources and Nigerian statutory and constitutional law, the NDPA, and applicable digital identity law. The research demonstrates that while elements of Nigerian law are consistent with Islamic precepts of dignity and well-being, there remain lacunae under which bulk data harvesting, algorithmic profiling, and enforcement deficit erode privacy and autonomy. The paper concludes by recommending concrete measures to incorporate Islamic ethical imperatives in Nigeria's AI policy, including obligatory ethical audits, proportionality, and religion-based public control, in a bid to ensure that AI surveillance is solely for legitimate public interests and not at the cost of human dignity.
References
Abdullah, H., Mohd Zain, F. A., Juahir, H., Che Haron, H. I., Ismail, A., Islam, T., & Sheikh Ahmad Tajuddin, S. A. F. (2025). Developing Tahfiz empowerment index based on Maqasid Shariah. International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMEFM-06-2024-0317
Adam, S. B., Al-Aidaros, A. M. H., & Ishak, S. B. (2018). The moderating effect of Islamic work ethics on the relationship between corporate governance and performance of Islamic financial institutions in Nigeria: A proposed framework. Journal of Social Sciences Research, 2018(Special Issue 6), 1041–1048. https://doi.org/10.32861/jssr.spi6.1041.1048
Ahmad, N., Ahmad, S. H., & Rahim, F. (2025). Islamic Ethical Principles for Addressing Obesity: A Public Policy Perspective. Legal Transformation in Muslim Societies, 2(2), 1–19. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-105014285321&partnerID=40&md5=e940cceb835258462aeae31b3038e8c7
Akindipe, D. O., Lalude, O. M., Bamgbose, O. T., & Gbenga-Fabusiwa, L. (2024). Appraisal of the Legal Framework on Emerging Cybercrimes and Virtual Disruption in Nigeria. IEEE International Conference on Emerging and Sustainable Technologies for Power and ICT in a Developing Society, NIGERCON, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1109/NIGERCON62786.2024.10927149
Almutairi, S. E. (2020). The Shari’a approach to contemporary problems of mass surveillance. Muslim World Journal of Human Rights, 17(1), 1–44. https://doi.org/10.1515/mwjhr-2020-0007
AlSuwaidi, H. A., Harous, S., & Serhani, M. A. (2023). Review of Visual AI Applications in Smart Surveillance for Crime Detection and Prevention: A Survey. IET Conference Proceedings, 2023(39), 307–320. https://doi.org/10.1049/icp.2024.0502
Anyia, A. (2017). Muslim Organisation and the Mobilisations for Sharia Law in northern Nigeria: The JNI and The NSCIA. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 52(1), 82–102. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909614560246
Baharuddin, A. S., Ismail, W. A. F. W., Mutalib, L. A., Ahmad, M. H., Razak, R., Saharudin, N. S., & Rahim, A. A. (2019). An Appraisal of Maqāsid Al-Shariʿah Classic and Recent Literature: Systematic Analysis. Library Philosophy and Practice, 2019. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85100643530&partnerID=40&md5=484fe35f51b6bce7a312162176143a37
Bawono, B. T., Huda, M. N., Prayitno, A. H., & Siswanto, M. A. (2025). Human Trafficking and the Relevance of Hifz al-nafs and Hifz al-’ird in Contemporary Islamic Legal Ethics. MILRev: Metro Islamic Law Review, 4(1), 597–618. https://doi.org/10.32332/milrev.v4i1.10694
Dahlan, M., Bustami, M. R., & Mas’ulah, S. (2021). The Islamic principle of ḥifẓ al-nafs (protection of life) and COVID-19 in Indonesia: A case study of nurul iman mosque of Bengkulu city. Heliyon, 7(7). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07541
Ekpo, O., Okokon, A., & Akpakpan, M. (2025). Data Protection in the Digital Age: A Comparative Analysis of Nigeria’s NDPA and the EU’s GDPR. ICTD 2024 - Proceedings of the 2024 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development, 48–56. https://doi.org/10.1145/3700794.3700799
Gorian, E., & Osman, N. D. (2024). DIGITAL ETHICS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) IN SAUDI ARABIA AND UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Malaysian Journal of Syariah and Law, 12(3), 583–597. https://doi.org/10.33102/mjsl.vol12no3.798
Government, N. (2023). NIGERIA DATA PROTECTION ACT, 2023. https://lawcarenigeria.com/nigeria-data-protection-act-2023/
Habib, Z. (2025). Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Maqāṣid Al-Sharīʿa’s Perspective. KARSA, 33(1), 105–134. https://doi.org/10.19105/karsa.v33i1.19617
Hamid, S. (2018). Drawing a Synergy between Theory and Practice – A Move towards a More Stakeholder-Oriented Regulatory Framework for Modern Islamic Finance Institutions: A Comparative Analysis. In Asian Yearbook of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (Vol. 2, pp. 117–147). https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004346888_005
Idem, U. J. (2023). The Legal Approach for Fighting Cybercrimes in Nigeria: Some Lessons from the United States and the United Kingdom. 2023 International Conference on Cyber Management and Engineering, CyMaEn 2023, 191–198. https://doi.org/10.1109/CyMaEn57228.2023.10050983
Kannike, U. M. M., & Fahm, A. O. (2025). EXPLORING THE ETHICAL GOVERNANCE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FROM AN ISLAMIC ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE. Jurnal Fiqh, 22(1), 134–161. https://doi.org/10.22452/fiqh.vol22no1.5
Laguda, D. O. (2013). Religion and government policy formulations: A study of the responses of Muslims to the coroner law system in Lagos, Nigeria. Politics and Religion Journal, 7(2), 399–412. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85067376609&partnerID=40&md5=fc033416add09daedde1c30c43357ab5
Lateef, M. A., Taiwo, L. O., & Adeyoju, A. (2022). Examining the Powers of the NITDA to Enforce Data Protection Laws in Nigeria. Global Privacy Law Review, 3(2), 89–97. https://doi.org/10.54648/gplr2022009
Maruf, A. O. (2025). Comparative Study of Islamic and Secular Economic Law in Nigeria: Implications for Policy Making. Jurnal Ilmiah Mizani, 12(1), 33–49. https://doi.org/10.29300/mzn.v12i1.5340
Mendelson, D. (2018). The european union general data protection regulation (EU 2016/679) and the Australian my health record scheme - A comparative study of consent to data processing provisions. Journal of Law and Medicine, 26(1), 23–38. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85062487706&partnerID=40&md5=849ec75737e2371fefd8bc55025adfad
Mohanty, P., Manu, S. R., Shreyas, M., Uttam, V., Navada, B. R., Sravani, V., & Santhosh, K. V. (2025). Integrating Multi-Sensors and AI to Develop Improved Surveillance Systems. Journal of Robotics and Control (JRC), 6(2), 980–994. https://doi.org/10.18196/jrc.v6i2.25596
Mubarrak, Z., Bakar, I. A., & Hamdani, M. (2025). The Urgency of the Islamic Law and Contemporary Societal Challenges: The Flexibility of al-Maslahah in Determining the Hierarchy of Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah. El-Usrah, 8(1), 344–365. https://doi.org/10.22373/pxydd884
Muhsin, S. M. (2022). Medical Confidentiality Ethics: The Genesis of an Islamic Juristic Perspective. Journal of Religion and Health, 61(4), 3219–3232. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-021-01313-7
National Identity Management Commission, 5182 (2007). http://www.nimc.gov.ng/
Nigeria Data Protection Act, Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette A719 (2023). https://placng.org/i/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Nigeria-Data-Protection-Act-2023.pdf
Norman, N. A., & Ruhullah, M. E. (2024). EXPLORING THE ETHICAL DIMENSIONS OF FIQH: THE ROLE OF THE SOUL IN ACHIEVING MAQĀṢID AL-SHARĪ‘AH. Al-Shajarah, 29(1), 47–77. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85199269891&partnerID=40&md5=f2fb61b953cc6160816d4114baee56a0
Oloba, B. L., & Blankenship, A. M. (2025). Gender Dynamics in Online Religious Leadership in Nigeria: Investigating How Digital Platforms Shape Communication, Authority, and Influence. Religions, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16010005
Ribeiro, T., Oliveira, P., & Rodrigues, M. (2024). Next-Generation Surveillance: Exploring the Intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Security. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, 1066 LNNS, 522–535. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-66428-1_33
Thalgi, M. (2025). AI Ethics in Islamic Contents: Applications Per UNESCO Recommendations. In Studies in Systems, Decision and Control (Vol. 234, pp. 333–346). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-84636-6_28
Copyright (c) 2026 Abubakar Muhammad jibril, Sulaiman Dalha Ahmad
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
.png)
