DefinePK

Abstract

The ethical dimensions of environmental rights in Islam as part of the wider discourse on ecological stewardship, sustainability and justice were also examined at this study. By opening up such Qurʾānic principles as vicegerency, trust, balance and the prohibition of waste, it is shown that these theological bases serve as a unified ethical framework for environmental preservation. This article examines the use of jurisprudential tools—lā ḍarar wa lā ḍirār (no harm), public interest, blocking the means and objectives of Islamic law to contemporary ecological challenges, focusing on water scarcity, desertification, and climate change in Muslim-majority states. Case studies illustrate policy responses and grassroots initiatives across the Muslim world, showcasing examples of how Islamic principles are finding expression in law, NGO activism and community-led projects. It also challenges central controversies around the parameters of theological interpretation and institutional ability, and the incorporation into global governance. It concludes with a set of policy prescriptions that balance the need for economic development in the Muslim world with requirements for sustainable practices based on Islamic ethics and the international environmental law regime and religiously driven sustainability strategies. This results in an interdisciplinary narrative that leads to a normative and actionable way forward, identifying possibilities for aligning Islamic environmental priorities with contemporary ecologies.
Keywords: Islamic environmental ethics, khalīfah, amānah, mīzān, isrāf, maṣlaḥa, maqāṣid al-sharīʿah, sustainability, environmental rights, Muslim world.