Islamic Environmental Ethics and Contemporary Environmental Law: Sharīʿah Principles as Foundations for Climate Governance

Abstract

The climate crisis reveals that technical and regulatory measures alone are insufficient, directing to the essential role of Sharīʿah-guided ethical frameworks in effective environmental governance. Islamic environmental ethics is based on Quran, example of the Prophet, and classical Shari’ah principles that provide a holistic moral vision based on stewardship, balance, responsibility, and accountability to nature. This essay discusses the way the Shari’ah can guide contemporary climate governance. It initially summarizes the core principles of environmental ethics in Islamic thought—tawḥīd (توحید), khilāfah (خلافت), amānah (امانت), and mīzān (میزان)—along with the prohibition of fasād (فساد). It then considers the modern environmental legislation and global climate regulation based on sustainability, intergenerational justice, and prevention of harm. The paper juxtaposes the Islamic jurisprudential instruments, including maqashid al-sharia, maxims of law, and the principle of the public interest (مصلحۃ) to contemporary environmental law, and suggests that they have a practical implication in addressing the problems of climate change, water shortage, biodiversity loss, and environmental injustice. By incorporating Islamic morality into the current legal frameworks, climate control can be enhanced with moral authority, civic participation and responsibility in the long term, particularly in Muslim dominated societies, and the international community as a whole.