Embedding Tawhidic Epistemology in Ethical Decision-Making for Software Engineering Projects

Abstract

Ethical decision-making is critical to collaboration and professional integrity in software engineering projects. However, Islamic ethical principles are often absent from student project workflows and Agile industry practices due to limited awareness and a lack of structured guidance. This paper introduces a conceptual framework grounded in Tawhidic Epistemology (TE), which unifies revealed guidance from the Qur’an and Sunnah with empirical reasoning to embed Islamic ethics into project-based learning and Agile decision-making. The framework maps values such as Shura (consultation), Amanah (trust), Niyyah (intention), and Muhasabah (accountability) to project tasks, including problem selection, team formation, role delegation, and conflict resolution, while aligning them with Agile mechanisms. Methodologically, the study presents a conceptual model that requires empirical validation in student projects and industry teams. The contribution lies in positioning TE as a dual-layer paradigm, where revealed knowledge provides the ethical anchor and empirical practices serve as operational enablers, offering a roadmap for building ethically resilient and AI-ready software engineering ecosystems in Muslim-majority contexts. The framework is demonstrated through an illustrative scenario and outlines a phased validation strategy to support empirical adoption.