About Mishkāt · Transparency & Sources
This page explains exactly how the AI companion works, what it draws on, and where its judgements end and yours — and your marjaʿ's — begin.
AI model & technology
The companion Syed Muhammad is powered by Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507, a large-language model by Alibaba Cloud, served through Together AI's inference platform. No Anthropic or OpenAI models are used for answer generation.
Semantic search and source ranking use the embedding model intfloat/multilingual-e5-large-instruct, which supports Arabic, Persian, Urdu, English, and other languages simultaneously.
Voice input (speech-to-text) uses Together AI's Whisper large-v3 endpoint. Voice output (text-to-speech) uses free Microsoft Edge neural voices, with an in-browser Web Speech API fallback.
No conversation is stored beyond your own browser's local storage. Queries are sent to the server only to generate a reply and are not used to retrain models.
Sources the companion draws on
Answers are grounded in a curated set of Twelver (Jaʿfarī) Shia scholarly resources. When the "Search sources" toggle is active, the companion retrieves and cites passages directly:
- Thaqalayn (thaqalayn.net) — graded hadith collections with full book, volume, and hadith number references and isnād gradings as stated in the source.
- al-Islam.org — translated Shia texts, Qurʾān tafsīr, and theological works.
- Wikishia (en.wikishia.net) — encyclopaedic entries on Shia history, figures, and jurisprudence.
- Official marjaʿ websites — including sistani.org, makarem.ir, and related portals — for rulings and fatwas as published by each authority.
When web search is enabled for current-events queries, results are drawn from dated, reputable web sources. The date of each source is recorded and shown where relevant so you can assess its currency.
Educational tool — not a substitute for your marjaʿ
Mishkāt is a study aid. It is designed to help you explore the tradition, find primary texts, and understand scholarly positions — not to issue binding religious rulings on your behalf.
For any binding fiqh ruling — wajib acts, prohibited matters, validity of worship, financial obligations, family law — you must confirm with your own marjaʿ al-taqlīd. The companion is aware of this boundary: when a question turns on a binding ruling it defers the matter to your marjaʿ and, where possible, links to the relevant fatwa on the marjaʿ's official site.
Selecting a marjaʿ in the companion's header allows it to weight rulings from that authority, but this is a convenience, not a legal mechanism. The user bears responsibility for verifying any ruling through authorised channels.
Revealed texts & hadith integrity
Mishkāt treats Qurʾānic āyāt and hadith with special care:
- Quotes are cited by source — book, volume, hadith number — so you can verify in the original. The companion never fabricates citations.
- Grading is shown as stated (ṣaḥīḥ, ḥasan, muwaththaq, ḍaʿīf, etc.) — or marked "grading not stated" when the source does not supply one. Gradings are never invented or upgraded.
- Scripture is kept separate from commentary. Āyāt and hadith are presented first; interpretation and commentary are clearly labelled as such and attributed to their scholarly source.
- Honorifics are preserved as they appear in the tradition: ﷺ for the Prophet, (a) / (as) / (s) for the Imams and other holy figures, and (r) or (ra) for pious companions where appropriate.
- You are encouraged to verify revealed texts in their original sources. Links to thaqalayn.net and al-Islam.org are provided to make this straightforward.
Current events & political neutrality
When answering questions about current events, the companion draws on dated, reputable sources and presents multiple perspectives where the matter is contested. Source dates are noted so you can assess relevance over time.
Mishkāt does not campaign politically, endorse political parties, or advocate for particular candidates or governments. Questions about political matters are handled descriptively — explaining scholarly positions or reported facts — without taking partisan sides.
Credits
Mishkāt and Syed Muhammad were created by Ali Taghikhani · علی تقیخانی.
The name Mishkāt (مِشكاة) means a lamp-niche — a vessel that holds and directs light. The intention behind this project is to make the light of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) more accessible to students of every background, in every language.