Safety and critical applications employ fault-tolerant control systems (FTCS) to increase reliability and availability in the event of a failure of critical components. Process facilities may employ these technologies to cut down on production losses caused by equipment failures that occur on an irregular or unscheduled basis. Air–fuel ratio (AFR) adjustment in the fuel system of internal combustion engines (ICE) is crucial for enhancing engine efficiency, saving fuel energy, and safeguarding the environment. This paper proposes a novel hybrid fault-tolerant control system (HFTCS) for controlling the AFR in ICEs that combines the features of both an active fault-tolerant control system (AFTCS) and a passive fault-tolerant control system (PFTCS). The fault detection and isolation (FDI) unit is designed using fuzzy logic (FL) as part of an AFTCS to give estimated sensor values to the engine controller when the sensor becomes faulty. Super-twisting sliding mode control (ST-SMC) is implemented as part of a PFTCS to maintain AFR by adjusting the throttle actuator in the fuel supply line under faulty conditions. Lyapunov stability analysis is also performed to make sure that the system remains stable in both normal and faulty conditions. According to the results in the Matlab/Simulink environment, the suggested system stays robust and stable during sensor faults. In faulty situations, it also maintains the AFR at 14.6 without any degradation, and a comparison with previous studies is carried out. The study shows that the suggested approach is an innovative and highly dependable solution for AFR control in ICEs, preventing engine shutdown and output loss for higher profitability.