Reconstructing Artificial Intelligence-Based Digital Marketing Practices from the Perspective of Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah: A Study of HIPMI Business Actors in Bone Regency

Abstract

The rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in digital marketing has reached micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), including young entrepreneurs affiliated with the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (HIPMI) in Bone Regency. While AI is increasingly used to support marketing activities, its application among local entrepreneurial communities remains undocumented, and its compatibility with Islamic business ethics has rarely been examined. This study aims to analyze the forms and patterns of AI-based digital marketing practice among HIPMI Bone business actors, examine its ethical implications from a maqāṣid al-sharīʿah perspective, identify the factors influencing its use, and reconstruct a marketing practice model consistent with sharīʿah principles. A qualitative field research design combining empirical and normative approaches was employed, with data collected from five purposively selected informants — active board members and business owners within HIPMI Bone — through in-depth interviews, non-participant observation, and documentation. Data were analyzed using the Miles and Huberman interactive model (data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification), with credibility ensured through source, technique, and time triangulation. The findings show that AI (primarily ChatGPT, Canva AI, and Gemini) is used as an assistive technology for content ideation, promotional design, captioning, scheduling, cross-language communication, and business security, while final decisions and content verification remain firmly in human hands. Ethically, informants consistently uphold honesty (ṣidq), transparency (amānah), fairness (‘adl), and consumer protection, positioning AI output as always subject to manual review before publication. Supporting factors include competitive pressure, efficiency needs, digital literacy, and affordable AI tools, while inhibiting factors include AI's limited grasp of local context, dependency risk, and the need for continuous manual editing. These findings inform a reconstructed model in which AI functions as a sharīʿah-compliant assistive tool, with human verification and ethical oversight as the central safeguard of maṣlaḥah (public benefit) in digital marketing practice.