On February 27, 2024, a leading group of Islamic eco-theologians, scholars, and environmental practitioners from around the world presented “Al-Mizan: A Covenant for the Earth” to the United Nations Environment Assembly. Consortium Scholar Ibrahim Ozdemir, Professor of Philosophy and Visiting Scholar at Clark University, was a key part of that cohort, having worked as a Forum Advisor to develop the group and draft al-Mizan since 2019.
At its core, “Al-Mizan: A Covenant for the Earth” presents an Islamic outlook of the environment in a bid to strengthen local, regional, and international actions that combat climate change and other threats to the planet. It is a global endeavor to engage Islamic scholars and Muslim institutions in the development and adoption of this Call. Similar to Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’ published in 2015, Al-Mizan is a global call to head the cries of the people and the earth seeking to inspire billions of people from all religions in all parts of the world to tend to Our Common Home. The Covenant ushers in a movement for comprehensive action and concerted efforts to achieve, collectively, sustainable lifestyles.
History
In October 2019, at the 8th Islamic Conference of Environment Ministers (ICEM) held in Rabat, Ministers approved a strategy of “enhancing the role of cultural and religious factors in protecting the environment and achieving sustainable development in the Islamic World”, building upon the foundations laid since the first ICEM held in Jeddah in 2002.
Following this, there was a sense that a global platform linking environmental issues to Islamic teachings and incubating Islamic perspectives on nature was missing, yet urgently needed. This would serve to demonstrate how Islam can be a driving force towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, leveraging cultural practices and traditional knowledge in driving behavioral changes required alongside science and policy.
To this end, the Covenant drew a team of renowned Islamic-environmental scholars and leading institutions comprising diverse religious and geographic backgrounds to mobilize the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims towards a stronger environmental ethic and routine. Titled Al-Mizan, derived from the opening of Surat Al-Rahman, the Core and Drafting Team presents a Covenant for the Earth.
Objectives
- Providing a “Covenant” as an inclusive cultural platform in the Islamic world that deals with environmental issues, development and environmental thought from an Islamic perspective.
- Contributing, from an Islamic perspective to the enrichment of human knowledge in the field of environmental and sustainable development, in keeping with the latest scientific evidence available.
- Creating a space for religious and civic dialogue on addressing current humanitarian issues, especially in the field of environmental and sustainable development.
- Promoting the integration of science with Sharia to serve environmental and development issues, thus allowing relevant civic policies to be conceived and implemented.
- Promoting scientific exchange in environmental issues, thus adding to an Islamic understanding of the issues in question. Disseminating scientific understanding in academia and wider society in order to raise awareness of various environmental issues. This will be achieved through preaching and other educational platforms.
- Highlighting and promoting the initiatives and innovations being implemented in the field in regard to the issues at the intersection of faith and the environment