Signs on the Earth: Islam, Modernity and the Climate Crisis is a major study of environmentalism and Islam in practice and theory, with a historical overview that sets out future challenges, including reformulating the fiqh or Islamic legal tradition to take the ecological dimension seriously. In addressing this book to the one billion Muslims in the world it has the potential to reinvigorate the desire for environmental change in a community that is ignored at the peril of the planet. In arguing that modernity, consumerism and industrialisation need to be rethought, alongside an appeal to reconnect man and woman with creation in the divine order, this book has the potential to transform a generation.
In the same way that Naomi Klein‘s This Changes Everything presented the argument for environmental action in a Capitalist framework, Fazlun Khalid has written a book that demands action from those whose primary orientation is towards the Islamic faith. The author looks unflinchingly at how modernity imposes itself on the world, throwing traditional societies and ways of life into disarray. This unfolding disruption has corrupted the balance of the earth’s natural ecosystems while holding out illusory promises of ‘progress’.
Instead, he urges that such progress through industrialization, economic growth, and unsustainable addiction to consumerism desperately needs to be rethought. His radical reconsideration of prevailing models of ‘development’ draws inspiration from the realm of the sacred. He makes a special appeal to Muslims to reflect on their own particular responsibility in addressing the perils faced by the planet. Recognizing, however, that environmental concerns are a collective responsibility, the author calls on people of all faiths and none, to work together to leave future generations a planet on which they will not only survive but thrive.
Foreword and Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1 A House of Cards
Hegemony
— Encirclement
— Consolidation
— Humiliation
Brains, black holes and the Enlightenment
— Knowledge overload
— Science to the fore
The Bridge
— The middle nation
— The sacred and the secular
A Lethal Cocktail
— Makings of a monoculture
— The colonies revolt
— Democracy and the nature of money
Endnotes
Chapter 2 A Ravished Earth
A Disconnected People
— Are we culpable?
— A closed system
— A wake up call
The Pollution Boomerang
— The hole in the sky
— People, poison and plastic
Rape of the Forests
— Plantations and cash crops
— Carbon sink
Ecocide
— Bio diversity
— Extinction
The Nectar of Life
— In space and time
— Deep oceans and biodiversity
A Delayed Reaction
— Global responses
— Abusing abundance
Endnotes
Chapter 3 Prosperity in Perspective
Happiness and the Good Life
— Happiness and GDP
— Happiness and GNH
The Progress Trap
— Lifestyle change
— Progress has a price
Development and Delusions
— Corralling the world
— Colonized psyches
— Ideology
— Hope and sustainable development
— A cautionary tale
— Feedback loop
The Fantasy of Growth
— The ‘Holy Grail’
— Planetary overload
Endnotes
Chapter 4 How History Accelerated
All the Time in the World
— Transactions
— Gifts or barter?
— Keeping accounts
— Trade evolves
— Enter the Greeks
— The Venetian connection
Signs of Impatience
— Enter the Portuguese
— Chinese in the fray
— A new world in the making
A Spurt
— Wealth flows one way
— Revolutions
Acceleration
— Fast forward
— Enter the banks
— Fantasy land
Endnotes
Chapter 5 Islam and The Natural World
Mobilizing Faith
— Biodegradable Earth
— A vital alliance
— Pushed by climate change
— The Muslim contribution
Rediscovering the Natural World
— A holistic approach
— The sacred
— Ethics
— Political economy
Producing Results
— Exploring the legacy
— ‘Ilm’ul-Khalq (Knowledge of Creation)
— Fiqh al-Bi’ah (Jurisprudence of the Environment)
— The Shariah in perspective
— A way forward
Endnotes
Chapter 6 Surviving the Anthropocene
Collapse
— The human epoch
— Heads in the sand
What Now?
— Connectedness
— Search for a better life
— Growth without limits?
— Capitalism: A debtocracy
Hope Springs Eternal
— The turning
— Working together
— The Islamic contribution
Endnotes
Appendix: Islamic Declaration on Global
— Climate Change
List of Acronyms
Glossary of Arabic terms
List of quotations from the Qur’an
Bibliography
Index
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