Signs on the Earth

Over the years, the exploration and implementation of the power of religion in combating environmental devastation and climate change has become all the more urgent. Fazlun Khalid had espoused the cause of researching and propagating the contours of Islamic environmentalism way back in the early 1990s when such concerted efforts towards the building of this narrative were in their nascent stages. Through the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IFEES), the UK based organisation he founded, his worldwide outreach has been remarkable. The book under review is divided into six sections and treads slowly to build the story of the human civilisation and its encroachment with modernity. The climax of this story is the Islamic perspective on what went wrong and why. Moreover, if there is still hope for humanity beyond the ecological collapse dreaded by the scientists, then the solution lies in the combination of the guidance of religion and ecology, with special reference to the Islamic tenets of faith and practice. The call is made to all religions, invoking their eco-theological concerns and teachings, even though the primary inspiration of this book is Islam.