Muslim Environmentalisms

It is indeed quite ironic that today, when the mood of the secular discourse of the anthropocene has become apocalyptic, and when the scientific, problemsolving reason has finally been forced to reckon with the finitude of the human condition, a tender, comforting vision of humanity’s calling is being proffered in an eloquent meditation on Islam’s ecological ethos. Remarkably, also, it is a vision that disdains imperial meta-theory and seeks to discover the moorings of a universal environmental ethic in the humble and mundane strivings of ‘Muslim environmentalisms’! In this academic study that aspires ‘to theorize the environment in terms of an original postcolonial theory of the subaltern’, it is being earnestly contended that ‘Islam decentres spoken and unspoken assumptions about the role of religion in humanistic understanding of whatever is said to be “the environment”.’ It further suggests that ‘Muslim environmentalisms may shift the foundation of humanistic field even further with respect to ultimate concerns, like environmental crisis.’ In short, the author presents her project on religion and development that ties it to the study of environment as both persuasive and legitimate, relevant both for academics and committed Muslims.