The Cambridge Handbook of Islam and Environmental Law maps 14 centuries of Islamic legal thought on ecological governance, highlighting its potential contributions to global climate policy.
The publication of the first-of-its-kind Cambridge Handbook of Islam and Environment al Law ahead of COP 31 in Antalya maps 14 centuries of Islamic legal thought on ecological governance.
Leaders from 196 countries will gather in the Turkish resort city of Antalya to discuss their climate policies in November. / AAin the Turkish resort city of Antalya, where the leaders of 196 countries will discuss in November their policies to address the climate crisis, a new scholarly volume on environmental challenges has made a strong case for Islamic jurisprudence – one of the world’s oldest sources of law that the international climate framework has so far ignored.maps 14 centuries of Islamic legal thought on stewardship, resource management and ecological governance. that the Islamic tradition is not just cultural heritage, but a practical source of solutions that the global climate regime has systematically overlooked over the decades.
“International climate law has a canon written in Western European languages by institutions reflecting Western European legal assumptions, and that history excluded traditions that developed outside it,” she says. Other co-editors of the landmark publication are Saba Kareemi, Erum K Sattar and Oluwakemi A Ayanleye.
“What the handbook does is make the exclusion visible and provide the jurisprudential material to correct it,” Ahmad says. The communities bearing the heaviest climate burdens are disproportionately Muslim, disproportionately in the Global South, and disproportionately the least responsible for the emissions driving the crisis, she says. , climate action is primarily a question of justice – a question that the Islamic legal tradition has been asking for centuries.
Ahmad says the 1,400 years of Islamic jurisprudence have produced precisely the tools that climate governance needs: binding stewardship obligations means demilitarisation is not a peace-studies argument grafted onto climate policy. It is a direct implication of principles operative in Islamic jurisprudence for 14 centuries,” she says. The Paris Agreement’s military-emissions exemption exists because the world’s largest military powers refused to subject their defence sectors to binding accounting.
“The exemption was a condition of participation,” she says, adding that Islamic environmental ethics address this point by refusing the premise that produces it.operates as an absolute in the Quranic framework, not a default that yields when state interests intervene,” she says.conservation system’s medieval roots in communal resource management, Hanafi land-law flexibility as a potential remedy for rural displacement, and classical coastal and marine environmental law that governed shared waters. Pakistani constitutional cases, analysed in the volume, have already translated Islamic dignity principles into enforceable environmental rights.
Collectively, the handbook seeks to show that Islamic jurisprudence on the environment is not merely abstract ideas from the distant past. Rather, the body of Islamic environmental laws consists of tested tools refined across jurisdictions for centuries. Ahmad says the question for global leaders meeting in Türkiye is whether international institutions will finally treat the Islamic tradition as a source of law rather than “cultural backdrop”.
“The countries gathering in Antalya are bearing the environmental costs of conflicts largely initiated by the same states that wrote the exemption into the agreement,” she says. Protesters storm Australia's Parliament over Israel's treatment of Gaza flotilla activistsUS forces launch attacks on naval and missile targets in southern IranLooming danger in tents: Nowhere safe in Gaza as Israeli strikes persist in violation of ceasefireBolivian President Rodrigo Paz halves executive pay amid continuing protestsNetanyahu orders intense bombardment of Lebanon, shattering US-brokered truce
Islamic Law Environmental Governance Climate Policy COP31 Islamic Jurisprudence
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park Uses Environmental DNA to Track Endangered Gorillas and Golden MonkeysResearchers collect soil and water samples to detect genetic material from mountain gorillas and golden monkeys, providing a non‑invasive way to monitor populations and guide conservation efforts.
Read more »
Islamic Center of San Diego Prepares for Hate Crimes with Security Grants and Bulletproof BarriersThe Islamic Center of San Diego has received millions of dollars in security grants from the federal government and the state of California to protect their community from hate crimes and political violence.
Read more »
UN chief: Force of law must prevail over law of forceAntonio Guterres warns of an 'accelerating and destabilising arms race' as global military spending rises while humanitarian and development funding declines.
Read more »
Prince William Plans Major Duchy of Cornwall Sell-Off to Fund Environmental and Housing InitiativesPrince William announced plans to sell one-fifth of the Duchy of Cornwall, a £1 billion estate, to raise £500 million for tackling nature and housing crises. The future king will consolidate holdings in five heartlands to maximize impact, aligning with his practical initiatives like The Earthshot Prize and Homewards. The move underscores his intent to modernize royal assets and contrasts with King Charles' more lenient stance toward Prince Harry and Meghan, hinting at a tougher approach when William ascends the throne.
Read more »