Islamic view on spirituality and sustainability: Islamic thought and sustainable development - some personal reflections

• Main Authors: Hassan, Mohd. Kamal, Hassan @ Mohamed, Nor Jana
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: ISTAC-IIUM Publications 2023
• Subjects: BL Religion; BPC Science and Technology in Islam; BPC175 Islam and engineering. Sustainable engineering. Sustainable building; BPK Islamic law. Shari'ah. Fiqh
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/109623/1/109623_Islamic%20view%20on%20spirituality.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/109623/

We have observed Islamic reformist, and Islamic renewal of thought movements in Muslim countries being concerned, to a large extent, with the meanings and implications of the ideologies of capitalism, socialism, “progress”, “development”, “modernisation”, and secularisation, especially in the latter part of the 20th century. These ideologies were being peddled and championed by post-independence nationalist power holders, and secularised Muslim elites and intellectuals. At the beginning of the 21st century, Islamic reformist thought expanded and developed further the intellectual discourse on Islamic economics and finance, and integrated, holistic human and societal development based on the concept of holistic Islamic education, culture, and civilisation. The United Nations’ (UN) Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the UN in 2015 have been endorsed by all the Muslim countries including Malaysia. It has, overall, generated positive responses from Muslim scholars and institutions, albeit with some reservations regarding the underlying metaphysical assumptions and some specific points. One specific point, for example, relates to SDG number five, which is “Gender Equality”. In this regard, many Muslim scholars and intellectuals prefer to use the term “Gender Justice” and “Women Empowerment” for example, in lieu of the situation that women have been deprived of the acknowledgement, honour, and power they deserve, and the oppressive treatments by their male counterparts in Muslim and non-Muslim countries – something that all Muslim intellectuals are against. It should be pointed out, that equality and justice differ in meanings and contexts, which will be touched upon in the forthcoming paragraphs. The paper will then elaborate on the definition of sustainable development and sustainability from the perspective of Islamic thought.