Modernity and Ecological Crisis
Rights of Nature in Islamic Thought
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52541/isiri.v64i4.7360Abstract
This paper critically examines modernity and prevailing conceptions of development, highlighting their role in the degradation and destruction of nature. It argues that over the past four centuries, nature has been reduced from a sacred and living realm to a lifeless object, valued primarily for its material utility to humankind. Drawing on Wael Hallaq’s critique of modern Western modernity, the paper explores how a worldview detached from religious, moral, and ethical constraints has enabled the domination and exploitation of nature. According to Hallaq, modernity, armed with secular scientific knowledge, empowered modern humans to control and manipulate the natural world. Building upon Hallaq’s argument, this paper further contends that modernity stripped nature of its spiritual and sacred dimensions, reconstituting it as an inert entity devoid of intrinsic value or rights. In contrast, the paper foregrounds Islamic environmental ethics, emphasizing the divinely ordained rights of natural beings, including animals and birds. Islamic teachings assert that the value and rights of non-human creatures are granted by God rather than determined by human utility. Consequently, human engagement with nature must be guided by moral responsibility and justice, ensuring that the rights of all creatures are respected and preserved. This study thus contributes to ongoing scholarly debates on modernity, religion—particularly Islam—and environmental ethics.
References
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Such as Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Man and Nature: The Spiritual Crisis in Modern Man (London – Boston – Sydney – Wellington: Unwin Paperbacks, 1990, first published in 1968); Seyyed Hossein Nasr, “The Metaphysical and Cosmological Roots of the Ecological Crisis,” Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oYzI652Dzk
Khalid, Signs on the Earth, xii-xiii.
وائل حلاق: الدولة والحرية وكيف تفكك المجتمع | بودكاست فنجان Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwi8SZLFe2U
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وائل حلاق: الدولة والحرية وكيف تفكك المجتمع | بودكاست فنجان Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwi8SZLFe2U
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Hallaq, The Impossible State, p. 77.
وائل حلاق: الدولة والحرية وكيف تفكك المجتمع | بودكاست فنجان Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwi8SZLFe2U
Merchant, The Death of Nature, p. 2-41.
Hallaq, The Impossible State, p. 89.
Ibrahim Ozdemir, “Toward an Understanding of Environmental Ethics from a Qur’anic Perspective,” in Islam and Ecology: A Bestowed Trust, Edited by Richard C. Foltz, Frederick M. Denny and Azizan Baharuddin (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003), pp. 3-37, p. 4.
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Seyyed Hossein Nasr, “The Metaphysical and Cosmological Roots of the Ecological Crisis,” Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oYzI652Dzk
Ibid.
Ozdemir, “Toward an Understanding of Environmental Ethics from a Qur’anic Perspective,” p. 5.
For instance Seyyed Hossein Nasr, ,,,,,,
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Seyyed Hossein Nasr, “Islam and the Preservation of the Natural Environment,” Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTHGZpu1rP4
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وائل حلاق: الدولة والحرية وكيف تفكك المجتمع | بودكاست فنجان Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwi8SZLFe2U
Ibid.
55:5-9 عطاری ،کنز العرفان ،
وائل حلاق: الدولة والحرية وكيف تفكك المجتمع | بودكاست فنجان Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwi8SZLFe2U
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Haq, “Islam and Ecology,” p. 149.
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Ibrahim Ozdemir, “The Quranic Approach To The Environment & Climate Change,” available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui4iB26bWNM
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