The studies on the Islamic view of environment protection and the links between Islamic classical culture and ecology knew recently a notable progress, testified by numerous valuable publications in various languages. The following is a critical bibliography, organised alphabetically, that we conceived of as a guide for the interested reader. It includes references to works published recently in different languages, including Arabic. The publications in Arabic are particularly valuable, as they are hardly known by Western scholars, although some of them deserve to be known.

FSTC Research Team

Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. Articles on www.MuslimHeritage.com
3. Institutions and Initiatives
4. General references

* * *

1. Introduction

Figure 1: Front cover of Islam and Ecology by Fazlun Khalid and Joanne O'Brien, published by Continuum International in 1992 ((World Religions & Ecology, Paperback).

Notable progress occurred in the last decades in the studies on the Islamic view of environment protection and the links between Islamic classical culture and the wide field of ecology. In this context, several dozens of stimulating publications appeared, as results of ongoing research in various languages.

To introduce the reader to these works, we prepared a rich critical bibliography. This bibliography, organised alphabetically, was conceived of as a guide for the interested reader. It includes references to works published recently in different languages, including Arabic. The publications in Arabic are particularly valuable, as they are hardly known by Western scholars, although some of them deserve to be known.

The idea of this bibliography was suggested by the stimulating commented bibliography published online by Richard C. Foltz, Islam and Ecology: Bibliography (PDF version); Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard Divinity School, 2003, © 1999-2004 Center for the Study of World Religions and The Forum on Religion and Ecology. We augmented and updated this rich bibliography by other entries and comments.

The Bibliography

2. Articles on www.MuslimHeritage.com

– Environment

• Al-Hassani, Salim, MHAG Meeting at the Royal Society, London: report on the meeting of The Muslim Heritage Awareness Group (MHAG), the consulting network to the Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation (FSTC) in 14 July 2009 on "Environment and Muslim Heritage" (published 8 August 2009).
• Al-Hassani, Salim, 1000 Years Amnesia: Environment Tradition in Muslim Heritage (published 10 September 2009).
  In a seminar organised by the Oxford Centre of Islamic Studies in 11 January 2005, aimed at brain-storming the topic of Islam and the Environment, Professor Al-Hassani presented a short overview on the environment issue in Islam as seen from its sources and from history of Muslim practice over a 1000 years of planning and management of natural resources. The following article expands on earlier lectures and contributions made by Professor Al-Hassani including his participation in the conference "Islam and the Environment: Muslim 7 Year Action Plan to deal with Climate Change" held in Istanbul 6-7 July 2009.
• Al-Rawi, Munim M., Contribution of Ibn Sina to the development of Earth Sciences (published 9 December 2002).
• Al-Samarrai, Qasim, Abbasid Gardens in Baghdad and Samarra (published 7 November 2002).
• FSTC, Animal Care (published 15 February 2006).
• FSTC, Islamic Aesthetics, Gardens and Nature (published 25 January 2007).
• Gari, Lutfallah, Knowledge versus Natural Disasters from Arabic Sources (published 21 May 2008).
• Gari, Lutfallah, Ecology in Muslim Heritage: Treatises on Environmental Pollution up to the End of 13th Century (published 30 April 2008).
• Gari, Lutfallah, Ecology in Muslim Heritage: A History of the Hima Conservation System (published 15 April 2008 ).
• Nizamoglu, Cem, Cats in Islamic Culture (published 16 April 2007).
• Mackintosh-Smith, Tim, The Secret Gardens of Sana'a (published 16 March, 2006).
• Sir Tickell, Crispin, Environment and the Muslim Heritage (published 8 August 2009).
• Shateh, Hadi Ali, Interior Architecture of Desert Climate: Case Study of Gadames city (Libyan Desert) (published 28 October 2002). See the full article in PDF.

– See also related articles on Nature, Agriculture and Town & City.

Figure 2: Diagram showing the interaction between ecology, society and economy. (Source).

3. Institutions and Initiatives

• The Istanbul Declaration of the M7YAP on Climate Change
• Muslim 7 Year Action Plan on Climate Change
• M7YP: Muslim Seven Year Plan to Protect the Natural Environment (draft)
• The draft Muslim Seven Year Plan to Protect the Natural Environment
• Historic Istanbul Declaration of the Muslim 7 Year Action Plan on Climate Change
• Earth Mates Dialogue Center
• Istanbul Declaration on Climate Change: A Muslim 7-Year-Action Plan
• The London Islamic Network for the Environment (UK).
• Website of the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences (UK).

Figure 3: Artistic view of an ideal environment. (Source).

4. General references

• Abdel Haleem, Harfiyah (editor), Islam and the Environment. London: Ta-Ha Publishers, 1998.
• Abu-Sway, Mustafa, Toward an Islamic Jurisprudence of the Environment (Fiqh al-Bi'ah f'il-Islam). Lecture presented at Belfast mosque, February 1998; updated 20 June 1999.
• Abu-Sway, Mustafa, Islam: The Environment and Health. Qualbert, South Africa: Islamic Medical Association of South Africa, 1999.
• Aftab, Tahera, "Text and Practice: Women and Nature in Islam." In Custodians of the Earth? Women, Spirituality and the Environment, edited by Alaine Low and Soraya Tremayne. Oxford, UK: Berghahn Books, 2001.
  This essay links the ethical framework of the Qur'an and the misinterpretation of that framework by males in positions of authority. Though, as the author makes clear, the Qur'an is clear in setting out an ethic of equity and justice for all which has been perverted. The author suggests that Muslim women must regain access to the land and to nature in order to enjoy and attain true freedom.
• Agwan, A. R., The Environmental Concern of Islam. New Delhi: Institute of Objective Studies, 1992.
• Agwan, A.R. (editor), Islam and the Environment. New Delhi: Institute of Objective Studies, 1997.
• Ahmad, Ali, "Islamic Water Law as an Antidote for Maintaining Water Quality." University of Denver Water Law Review 2, no. 2 (Spring 1999): 170-88.
• Ahmad, Ali, A Cosmopolitan Orientation of International Environmental Law: An Islamic Law Genre. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 2001.
  The process of regulation in the field of international environmental law belies the complexity of environmental issues that need to be addressed in managing global environmental resources. Although the regulatory process has succeeded in elevating the acknowledgement of a new set of ideas and concepts toward sustainable development, it has not had success in elevating those concepts into a set of determinative norms or rules. In this book, Ali Ahmad, an international lawyer, stresses the futility of a state-centric approach to a planet-wide phenomenon that the environmental issue presents.
• Ahmad, Akhtaruddin. Islam and the Environmental Crisis. London: Ta-Ha Publishers, 1998.
• Ajmal, Mohammed. "Islam and Ecological Problems." In Quest for New Science, eds. Rais Ahmed and S. Naseem Ahmed, 215–20. Aligarh: Centre for Studies on Science, 1984.
• Al-Amin, Hi'at Muhammad. Al-fiqhah al-b'at. Beirut: Mu'assasat al-wa ‘i al-islami, 1420 (2000).
• Al-Hassani, Salim, Chief Editor, 1001 Inventions: Muslim Heritage in Our World, Manchester, FSTC, 2006.
• Alhilaly, Tajuddin H. "Islam and Ecology", trans. Keysar Trad, 1993. updated n.d.
  Answers provided by Imam Tajuddin H. Alhilaly, Mufty for Australia (~1993).
  Translated and some comments added with permission by Keysar Trad.
• Ammar, Nawal H. "Islam and Deep Ecology." In Deep Ecology and World Religions: New Essays on Sacred Ground, eds. David Landis Barnhill and Roger S. Gottlieb, 193–211. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 2001.
• _______. "An Islamic Response to the Manifest Ecological Crisis: Issues of Justice." In Visions of a New Earth: Religious Perspectives on Population, Consumption, and Ecology, eds. Harold Coward and Daniel C. Maguire, 131– 46. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 2000.
  Utilizing a revelationary methodology, Ammar proposes the concept of hay'a (shyness with reverence and respect) as a guiding principle for Muslim environmental action. She focuses on issues such as Muslim economic and political livelihood, distributive justice, rights of the community over the individual, just leadership, attitudes toward women, and women's relationship to population control.
• _______. "Islam and the Environment: A Legalistic and Textual View." In Population, Consumption, and the Environment: Religious and Secular Responses, eds. Harold Coward and Daniel C. Maguire, 67. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1995.
  With no intention to present the Islamic view, Ammar introduces an Islamic ethical paradigm supported by the Qur'an, Hadiths, Sunnah, and Sharia'h. She explains that the meaning of "ethics" can be understood in Islamic terms as hay'a, the state of respect and/or practice of good deeds. Ammar provides clear ethical guidelines regarding natural resources (conservation, sharing, treating with kindness), and protected and preserved land designations. She concludes with the suggestion that any discussion on the environmental crisis should remain sensitive to cultural issues.
• Asmal, Abdul Cader, and Mohammed Asmal. "As Islamic Perspective." In Consumption, Population, and Sustainability: Perspectives from Science and Religion, eds. Audrey Chapman, Rodney Peterson, and Barbara Smith-Moran, 157–65. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2000.
• Ayduz, Davud. "The Approach to the Environment Question of the Qur'an and its Contemporary Commentary, the Risale-i Nur." Paper presented at the Fourth International Symposium on Bediuzzaman Said Nursi: A Contemporary Approach Toward Understanding the Qur'an: The Example of Risale-i Nur, Istanbul, Turkey, 20–22 September 1998.
• Ba Kader, Abou Bakr Ahmed. Environmental Protection in Islam. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1995.
  Originally prepared for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in English, French, and Arabic, this document was later considered to have international appeal. Beginning with a description of an Islamic attitude toward the universe and human/nature relations, the document broadens its scope to include topics on conservation of natural resources, protection from harmful impacts of products and processes generated by humans, and viable legislative principles, policies, and institutions.
  Bagader, Abou Bakr Ahmed, Abdul Latif Tawfik El Shirazy Al Sabagh, Mohamed Al Sayyed Al Glenid, and Mawil Izzi Dien, Islamic Principles for the Conservation of the Natural Environment. 2d ed. Gland, Switzerland: International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 1983.

Figure 4: View of a forest. (Source).