The rise of digital technologies has radically transformed religious and spiritual healing practices, particularly for communities marginalized by systemic oppression and algorithmic misrepresentation. For Muslim communities in North America, Islamophobia has not only manifested in offline social structures but has also been reinforced through digital misinformation, biased algorithms, and exclusionary media portrayals. In response, Muslim artists are engaging in algorithmic activism—using AI-generated art as a tool for healing and counter-discourse. This paper investigates how these artistic practices create new digital spaces for religious and communal healing, exploring the intersection of AI, Islamophobia, and digital spirituality.
By analyzing the digital artworks of Muslim artists using AI platforms such as MidJourney, this study reveals how these practitioners reclaim technological tools to challenge negative stereotypes, provide alternative narratives, and engage in acts of self-representation that contribute to community well-being. Specifically, I argue that AI-generated Islamic artistic expressions offer a digital sanctuary—reconfiguring religious healing by fostering spaces of belonging, affirmation, and resilience.
Drawing upon theoretical frameworks in digital religion by Heidi Campbell (2012) and Gary Bunt (2024) this paper situates AI-driven artistic practices within broader discussions of healing, trauma, and digital resistance. I interrogate how algorithmic tools, while often perpetuating biases, are also strategically leveraged by marginalized communities to assert religious and cultural agency. Through interviews with Muslim art collectives and an analysis of AI-generated art, I examine how these digital creations invoke traditional Islamic aesthetics, spiritual symbolism, and lived experiences while simultaneously responding to contemporary sociopolitical realities.
Furthermore, this study situates not only AI-driven healing practices and artistic practices within the broader context of digital Islam, illustrating how these artistic interventions are not merely aesthetic but also function as forms of activism and healing mechanisms for communities facing systemic Islamophobia. Digital healing, in this sense, extends beyond the individual to the collective, fostering communal narratives that resist fragmentation and erasure in the digital era.
Ultimately, this research underscores the role of digital art in not only providing a mode of expression but also incorporating lived religious identities into online spaces. By utilizing AI and other digital tools, Muslim artists create works that bridge personal spirituality with communal representation, allowing for the integration of faith, cultural, and healing within the digital landscape. These creative interventions offer ways to engage with religious tradition dynamically while resisting marginalization, demonstrating how digital media becomes a space for embodied religious identities to be expressed and affirmed.
In the contemporary digital landscape, Muslim artists are increasingly utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to reclaim narratives, challenge Islamophobia, and reshape religious healing discourses. This paper examines how digital art functions as a form of spiritual and collective healing in response to structural violence, algorithmic bias, and the socio-political trauma experienced by Muslim communities. Through a case study of Muslim artists using AI software such as MidJourney, I explore how digital art not only shifts public perceptions of Islam but also integrates lived religious identities into digital spaces. Drawing on Gary Bunt’s (2024) concept of Islamic algorithms and Heidi Campbell’s (2012) framework of lived religion, this study investigates how AI-driven Islamic artistic expressions create digital sanctuaries that reinforce resilience, belonging, and new modes of religious engagement.