Islam and the Climate Crisis: A Scholars’ Debate
Muslim scholars are developing an Islamic environmental theology, drawing on Quranic verses and prophetic traditions to address the most urgent challenge of the age.
The Quran describes the human being as khalifah — a steward or vicegerent of the earth. It is a concept that Islamic environmental theologians have placed at the centre of their argument: that the destruction of the natural world is not simply an ecological problem but a spiritual one, a violation of a sacred trust.
The argument has gained traction in unexpected quarters. Several Gulf states, historically among the world’s largest per-capita carbon emitters, have begun incorporating Islamic environmental framing into their climate policies. The Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change, signed by Muslim scholars and leaders in 2015 before the Paris Agreement, drew on classical sources to argue for a rapid transition away from fossil fuels.
