Our Journey
The Triple Planetary Crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, pollution and waste is felt across the planet, and the ummah is increasingly falling out of touch with nature. There is a need for spiritual guidance on environmental issues reconnecting contemporary environmental issues with the teachings of Islam. Al-Mizan: A Covenant for the Earth sends a signal to the international community to build better by looking into our beliefs/values/faith. The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), The Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IFEES), Üsküdar University, The Qur'anic Botanic Garden, The College of Islamic Studies at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, and UNEP Faith for Earth, aspired to provide a set of authoritative standards for Muslims to follow in their daily lives. Al-Mizan draws from the Holy Quran, practices of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh), and the teachings of Islam urging humanity to value and protect nature.
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 of 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 present a Covenant for the Earth.
Similar to Pope Francis 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.
Through Al-Mizan, we are aiming to achieve several objectives:
01
Providing a “Covenant” as an inclusive cultural platform in the Islamic world that deals with environmental issues, development and environmental thought an Islamic perspective.
03
Creating a space for religious and civic dialogue on addressing current humanitarian issues, especially in the field of environmental and sustainable development.
05
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.
02
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
04
Promoting the integration of science with Sharia to serve environmental and development issues, thus allowing relevant civic policies to be conceived and implemented.
06
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