Islam and the Environment

Religion and environmentalism are far more closely linked than one might think. It is an irrefutable fact that a healthy biosphere is a necessary precondition to any human activity, including religious thought and practice, and a religion’s system of ethics is relevant to many of the questions being considered in environmental studies today. In this work, Professor Anna M. Gade draws on serious scholarship and original fieldwork to provide the first global survey of contemporary Muslim responses to environmental change and crisis.

Through real-world examples such as rising sea-levels in Bangladesh and drought in sub-Saharan Africa, Gade explores how the emerging trends in Islamic ecological thought and practice have led to Muslims, and others, to enroll Islam in environmentalist projects. A path-breaking book, Islam and the Environment facilitates a discussion that is long overdue, examining how platforms from the Qur’an, Islamic law and Sufism can provide a foundation from which to better understand the environmental problems we face, both now and in the future.