A Domain Ontology for Modeling the Book of Purification in Islam

TL;DR

This paper develops a formal ontology for the Book of Purification in Islam to enhance knowledge sharing and address gaps in Islamic religious topic modeling.

Contribution

It introduces a systematic strategy for creating an ontology of the Book of Purification, including design, analysis, and initial implementation steps.

Findings

Ontology formalizes key concepts and relationships

Supports knowledge sharing and reuse in Islamic studies

Provides a structured framework for religious knowledge modeling

Abstract

This paper aims to address a gap in major Islamic topics by developing an ontology for the Book of Purification in Islam. Many authoritative Islamic texts begin with the Book of Purification, as it is essential for performing prayer (the second pillar of Islam after Shahadah, the profession of faith) and other religious duties such as Umrah and Hajj. The ontology development strategy followed six key steps: (1) domain identification, (2) knowledge acquisition, (3) conceptualization, (4) classification, (5) integration and implementation, and (6) ontology generation. This paper includes examples of the constructed tables and classifications. The focus is on the design and analysis phases, as technical implementation is beyond the scope of this study. However, an initial implementation is provided to illustrate the steps of the proposed strategy. The developed ontology ensures reusability by formally defining and encoding the key concepts, attributes, and relationships related to the Book of Purification. This structured representation is intended to support knowledge sharing and reuse.