Ecotheology, a new academic discipline and social movement, focuses on the relationship between nature and religion. In a number of Muslim-majority countries, proponents of ecotheology have argued that the Quran, the Hadith, and other religious texts impose a unique obligation on humans: because God placed humans in charge of the environment, they must care for it. Morocco, for its part, has taken this argument to heart, launching the Green Mosques Program to find inspiration for the environmental movement within Islam. Moroccan scholars may want to look at the writings of the medieval Muslim jurist Ibn Rushd—better known in the Western world as “Averroes.” In the book The Distinguished Jurist’s Primer, he analyzed how Islamic law dealt with a range of complex topics, including environmental issues. Having studied Islam in Morocco, Ibn Rushd could continue to inform the kingdom’s environmental policy.
Austin Bodetti is an alumnus of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program from the 2019-2020 academic year and an independent researcher specializing in the culture, politics, and history of the Middle East. He graduated from Boston College in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in Islamic studies and now lives in Rabat, Morocco, where he writes about current events in the region and his love of French tacos.
Bibliography
- Anna M. Gade, Muslim Environmentalisms: Religious and Social Foundations, 2019
- Austin Bodetti, “Islam And Environmentalism,” LobeLog, May 10, 2019, available at https://lobelog.com/islam-and-environmentalism/
- Austin Bodetti, “He’s Sowing the Seeds of Green Jihad,” OZY, September 1, 2019, available at https://www.ozy.com/the-new-and-the-next/hes-sowing-the-seeds-of-green-jihad/96312/
- Majid Fakhry, Averroes (Ibn Rushd): His Life, Work, and Influence, 2001
- Tarik M. Quadir, Traditional Islamic Environmentalism: The Vision of Seyyed Hossein Nasr, 2013
