QuranicMMLU: A Cognitively-Aware Benchmark for Evaluating Generative AI Solutions on Quranic Linguistic Knowledge

Abstract:We introduce QuranicMMLU, a benchmark for evaluating generative AI on Quranic Arabic across multiple dimensions of linguistic complexity. Existing Quranic benchmarks center on general question answering and semantic retrieval, without probing specific linguistic competencies or stratifying by cognitive demand and verse difficulty. We construct a five-pillar Quranic taxonomy spanning Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Semantics, and Pragmatics, with 31 leaves covering phenomena from tajwīd and root-and-pattern morphology to occasions of revelation and inter-surah coherence. For each leaf we generate questions stratified by Bloom's cognitive level and verse perplexity, then have LLM as a judge to independently answer and score every item and route the annotations to manual review. The resulting dataset comprises 980 human-reviewed questions, each issued in both open-ended and multiple-choice form. We benchmark 12 systems on these items and find that the Islamic-specialized model leads, yet every system scores higher on multiple-choice accuracy (average 84%) than open-ended answer quality (average 60%): the two rankings agree closely (Kendall's {\tau}=0.73), but multiple-choice scoring hides failures that surface only once answer choices are removed. QuranicMMLU thus offers a rigorous, linguistically grounded framework for evaluating Arabic NLP in the Quranic domain.

Computation and Language (cs.CL)

arXiv:2609.22038 [cs.CL]

(or arXiv:2609.22038v1 [cs.CL] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2609.22038 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website.

Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them.

Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs.