Interfaith Dialogue on Environmental Ethics at IIUM

Al Dalili

Living in an eon of environmental crises and being followers of Islam; the religion of more than one billion individuals being practiced in essentially every country on earth, the explanation of an Islamic ecological ethic in contemporary terms becomes even more pressing. Beginning in the last part of the 1960s, few Muslim researchers directed their concentration toward how the Islamic sacred writing and scholarly practice may assist Muslims with comprehension and react to environmental change and ecological emergencies. In building this Islamic way to deal with environment, these researchers embraced a nearby investigation of the Qur'an, the Sunnah (the gathered practices of the Prophet Muhammad), hundreds of years of Islamic law, and the works of Sufi spiritualists and researchers to develop Islamic natural philosophies and law. The paper is an exploratory study of the contemporary Islamic discourse on environmental ethics. An attempt is made to highlight the key Muslim scholarship on the subject as well as to highlight the purpose and connotation of environmental themes in light of Quran and Sunnah and the objectives of Shaiah. Further the researchers have tried to underscore the key themes like preservation of the natural resources and Islamic ethical principles involved in any such attempt. Keywords: environmental ethics, explanation, Islamic ecological ethic

Intellectual Discourse, 2024

This research paper explores Islamic Environmental Ethics (IEE), emphasising collective human responsibilities to manage environmental resources and protect the universe from functional degradation. It provides an overview of Islam and modern environmental discourse, aiming to offer a holistic perspective on IEE that encompasses Islamic faith, Islamic religious law, and Islamic ethics. The study is significant as it provides a moral framework and responsibility for humans to avert the existential threat to our planet. Focusing on a comprehensive methodological approach, it addresses the adoption of IEE in the Muslim world and beyond. Utilising an integrative literature review methodology, the paper synthesises diverse theoretical perspectives, empirical findings, and sociocultural and political developments. This approach creates a cohesive body of knowledge that is theoretically robust, incorporating intersectional analyses of social, economic, and cultural factors within Muslim communities. The article concludes with three suggestions: capacity building, good governance, and collaboration.

Zygon®, 1995

Mounting global environmental challenges beg for crosscultural discussions that highlight underlying cultural values regarding nature. This paper explores the insights of Islamic scholars as they examine the interaction of Islamic culture and the West. The Western worldview that separates religion and science, value and fact, in particular differs from Islamic tradition, which sees all facets of life and affairs as interconnected by virtue of their common source-the Creator. As traditional Islamic values have been abandoned to adopt modern Western technologies, environmental problems have intensified in the Muslim world. Islamic scholars urge a return to Islamic ideals that reflect a sacramental view of the physical universe, and they champion the revival of an Islamic science that synthesizes empirical study and symbolic cognition.

International Scientific Conference on the Dialogue between Christians and Muslims at the 800th Anniversary of the Meeting between Saint Francis of Assisi and the Sultan Al-Kamil in Egypt,At: Ljubljana, 2019

Both Islam and Christianity, as in other divine religions, have a common context and capacities in the field of environmental ethics and law; yet modern man is unaware of this common ground. Perhaps part of the environmental problems of the modern world is rooted in the lack of attention to them. Therefore, one of the most important prescriptions must be made in the field of environmental ethics which derives from the ecological theology found in the religions of Islam and Christianity. This paper attempts to explain some of the concepts and convergent institutions and Foundations that could be the basis for cooperation between Muslims and Christians, and thus expanding the fields of environmental law and ethics. The basic assumption of this article is the cooperation between Muslims and Christians in the promotion of environmental biological ethics and law. This cooperation is based on religious teachings, and these can play principal roles in affirming these disciplines to the modern world. Therefore, at first we describe the conceptual ratio of religion and the environment; and then we clarify the common environmental concepts between Islam and Christianity in the fields of environmental ethics and law.

International Journal of Environmental Studies, 2008

The paper is an attempt to explicate and nuance the Islamic perspective of environmental ethics which is divinely guided and recognized in essence. Today humanity is facing one of the sever problems of environmental degradation done partly by human greedy nature and partly by abandoning the religious aspect of environment. Man's pursuance of science and technology has led him to exploit the nature's bounties which in turn resulted into ecological imbalance thus disturbance in the environment. How a man is to act to his environment? And what is the relationship between man, God and nature, are some fundamental questions which I will illuminate in the paper. Apart from that, it also compares and contrasts other secular models of environmental ethics with that of the Islamic. It concludes that Islamic provides a comprehensive model of environmental ethics where at the same time man is a consumer and beneficiary as well as a guardian and trustee of the environment.

Peradaban Journal of Religion and Society, 2023

This article aims to examine the views of Hindu and Buddhist spiritualism related to efforts to deal with environmental damage in Indonesia and try to find common ground between Hindu and Buddhist spiritualism regarding environmental preservation with the teachings of Sufism in Islam. The method used in this article is library research with a descriptive-qualitative approach. The research shows that the ecological damage that has occurred in Indonesia is very worrying. This happens because humans have no concern for their environment, they only focus on taking the maximum benefit for profit alone. Religion has authority in environmental preservation by instilling ethics and morals in humans. Spirituality in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam is aimed at getting closer to God. There is a concept for each religion to increase one's spirituality, namely through bhakti marga yoga in Hinduism, Hasta Ariya Magha in Buddhism, and Sufism in Islamic teachings. The concepts shared by each of these religions have in common to shape one's spirituality which can be reflected in a moral person. Immoral cases such as environmental damage are a big thing that can be solved by increasing one's spirituality.

Journal of Culture Society and Development, 2013

Islam is the monotheistic religion articulated by the Quran, the word of God, and by the teaching of Muhammad (PBUH). Islamic ethics is its moral principles, which defines what is good for the society. It enlightens the sacred views that man must strive to maintain the harmony of their inner and outer environments, in conformity with the world of nature. In the Quranic theology of creation God created this cosmos out-of-nothing. He created man, as a vice-gerent on this earth. He created lands seas, mountains, plants and animals, and than entrusted all this to humans to take advantage of it. So humans are now guardian of this cosmos for a limited period of time. After this life He will audit and judge the individual for using or misusing the world. The earth thus is a testing ground of the human species. In other words, the Quranic environmental ethics tells us that God has trusted humans His world. They have to prove them selves capable of this trust, by maintaining a balance, in a way to get benefits from the nature, and protect it from discards. Thus the relation of humans to its environment is a relation of "the trustee" and "the trust". The Qur'an says, "Cheat not in maintaining the balance. Establish just measure and do not fall short in maintaining the balance." 1 The article focuses to investigate the ethics in the Quran and teachings of the Prophet regarding the relationship of man towards the natural world.

INTELLECTUS: The African Journal of Philosophy, 2024

The environment is under a serious threat, caused by human actions and inactions. One of such things that posed a threat is the human population which is estimated to be about 7.9 billion and it is increasing on a daily basis and the way humans deal with nature. However, the need for sustainability makes it necessary for every occupant of the earth to play a role in protecting the environment. There have been several campaigns and sensitization by scientists to make people understand the threat they are posing to the environment and the need to stop, then make sure they protect their environment from more damage. Despite all campaigns, seminars and conferences organized to sensitize the people on why they need to treat nature well for their own sake and that of other creatures, the issue keeps getting worst, and people are causing more damage to the environment. Since scientific sensitization seems not to be working, this paper suggests a religious approach to solving an environmental problem and specifically looks at how to tackle the issue from an Islamic point of view. The world Muslim is with an estimated population of about 1.907 billion. If these people follow the teachings of the holy Qur'an to protect nature, then the environmental crisis the world is facing currently will be reduced drastically. The hermeneutic approach is used to reiterate the Qur'an and the Hadith of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him), a prescription on the way the environment should be treated.

Journal of Ethnophilosophical Questions and Global Ethics , 2019

In the contemporary world, special attention has been given globally to environmental issues by stakeholders at different levels. This has resulted in the formation of various policies and the establishment of agents in this direction. The aim of this study is to examine the Islamic perspective on nature and environment. The methodology used in this research paper was a narrative analytical method in which references were made to the verses of Qur'an, the Hadiths and other related works on the topic to reach the research outcome after a thorough analysis. Meanwhile, after a conceptual analysis of the related terms; Quranic worldview on nature/environment and the Islamic approaches to an environmental conservation were critically analyzed based on the available data.The outcome of our research shows that Islam since its inception fourteen centuries ago had given special attention to the environmental hygiene and in the same way special attention is given to the physical hygiene. In conclusion, if the human being and the Muslims in particular could abide by the Islamic recommendations on nature and environment, the world would remain a better place to live for all and sundry. In the contemporary world, the nature or the natural environment is being affected on daily basis by the activities of man and this has resulted in the emergence of numerous sicknesses; a lower life expectancy rate and unhealthy lifestyles. At present, the common environmental challenges facing the humanity across the globe include pollution, ozone layer depletion, global warming, acid rain, desertification, deforestation, natural resource depletion, overpopulation, and waste disposal problems. Thus, the world today more than any other time in the past is in dire need of collective efforts by the stakeholders towards achieving meaningful and concrete resolutions and international policies on environmental protection. Without any doubt, several efforts have been taken by governments and some individual organizations towards the conservation and preservation of a wholesome and conducive environment. Joseph Hyder

Al-Eeqaz, 2022

In the present scenario of environmental degradation, Islam and Hinduism serve as the source of both an ecological worldview and an ethos involving the environment. Their sacred understanding of man and environment is remarkable to demolish disequilibrium of our earthly environment. In contemporary times, the eco-scholars of Islam and Hinduism tried to reinterpret environmental ethics grounded in divinely guided scriptures of both faiths to bring peace and harmony in the environment of our home planet earth. They criticize the anthropocentric value approach of west which is insufficient to deal with present environmental crisis. On a more practical level, they suggest that both religions describe metaphysical and philosophical principles governing the environmental ethics and approaches for the limitation of human behavior toward our home planet earth and living within these limits may defined as living holistically. Therefore, this paper makes a comparative analysis of their eco-ethical dimensions grounded in sacred scriptures of both faiths and present environmental ethics to cope with the trends of 21 st century. It is suggested that the application of eco-ethics of Islam and Hinduism can help humanity to restore, protect, and conserve his environment against over exploitation and develop harmonious attitude toward it.