Muslim Environmentalisms: Religious and Social Foundations

by Anna M Gade

How might our understandings of environmentalism and the environmental humanities shift if we incorporate Islamic perspectives? In this book, Anna M. Gade explores the religious and cultural foundations of Islamic environmentalisms. She blends textual and ethnographic study to offer a comprehensive and interdisciplinary account of the legal, ethical, social, and political principles underlying Muslim commitments to the earth.

Muslim Environmentalisms shows how diverse Muslim communities and schools of thought have addressed ecological questions for the sake of this world and the world to come. Gade draws on a rich spectrum of materials--scripture, jurisprudence, science, art, and social and political engagement--as well as fieldwork in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. The book brings together case studies in disaster management, educational programs, international development, conservation projects, religious ritual and performance, and Islamic law to rethink key theories. Gade shows that the Islamic tradition leads us to see the environment as an ethical idea, moving beyond the framework of crisis. Muslim Environmentalisms models novel approaches to the study of religion and environment from a humanistic perspective, reinterpreting issues at the intersection of numerous academic disciplines to propose a postcolonial and global understanding of environment.

Genres: Islam, Climate Change

336 pages, Hardcover

Published August 20, 2019

Reviews

[Akif Zaman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was a solid attempt at reconciling modern environmentalism with traditional Islamic values. I appreciate that the author has genuinely spent time researching and interacting with Muslim cultures to understand how they deal with the environment in order to provide more seamless solutions to the challenge of making Environmentalism more in line with Islamic values.

Nonetheless, I find that no matter what, there is a significant amount of disconnect between both ideas, even though Islamic tradition has a lot of ideas regarding taking care of the environment (e.g; the prophet (PBUH)'s statement on saving water even in a river, growing a sapling even when the end times are nearing, a charity for planting trees and cultivating plants, etc. Along with Qur'anic verses such as the famous "walk softly on the Earth" Ayah and so on.) we have to understand that environmentalism as an idea is very much modern, and if one is going to employ environmental ideas such as veganism, there would be a significant amount of backlash regarding it from the Muslim community as it means abandoning traditional Islamic practices.
Truth be told, most Muslims are apathetic about the environment and do not generally have that on their priority list of things to care about. Hopefully, we do start caring more about the environment instead of petty issues which cause more divisions among our communities, as that is one thing that must unite all of us.

The book is decently written although a bit too academic in my opinion to be accessible to the average layperson, but I appreciate the input from someone outside the Muslim community appreciating the culture while recommending methods to implement environmentalism in our community that aren't half bad, now it's just a matter of hoping people actually care lol.

[Liyana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book helped me establish a foundation for my PhD studies. Recommended read for aspiring environmental religion social scientists out there.