Understanding British Muslim Environmentalism Using Qualitative Research Techniques and Issue Crawler Mapping Software

The environmental crisis is increasingly being seen as both a spiritual and a moral problem. When approaching environmental problems, British Muslim environmental groups depend on a combinations of premodern textual sources (the Islamic legal tradition) and rational elaborations that legitimate Western beliefs. But the combination of traditional and modern sources for each organization varies. The use of Issue Crawler mapping software reveals that among these groups, the ones that have the greatest inclination toward Islamic textual approaches are the most influential in the wider environmental movement. This finding highlights the importance of religion in solving the environmental crisis. Chowdhury: Understanding British Muslim Environmentalism 3 The dominant science-based worldview holds that resource scarcity and humaninduced pollution have led to an environmental crisis (Middleton 2003; Seitz 2008). The Religions of the World and Ecology conference series at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School, coordinated by Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim (2003), indicated that the environmental crisis stems not only from social, economic, and political factors, but also from spiritual and moral factors. Consequently, human beings need to understand ourselves from a much broader religious perspective. Religions help us to relate to nature in more fruitful ways, because religious traditions allow us to understand how to live in harmony with the environment. Religions not only have strong links with the material world but also encourage purposeful and creative actions. Religions therefore play an important role in addressing environmental problems. To evaluate this claim, I examine in this article the extent to which British Muslim environmental organizations focus on legal Islamic tradition, that is, the Quran and the prophetic tradition. Development of British Muslim environmental organizations began during the 1980s with the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IFEES), which is based in Birmingham and became a registered charity in 1994. The objectives of IFEES include setting up research centers that focus on traditional conservation practice, building up databases for information exchange on environmental issues, producing academic literature, and providing training modules on theoretical and practical matters. IFEES also teaches subjects revolving around environmental sciences and acts as a consultant for other international nongovernmental organizations, funding agencies, and academic institutions. The IFFES was the first organization to address environmental concerns within Islamic nations and remains the main organization at present. Muzammal Hussain, another environmental activist and early proponent of local Muslim environmentalism, encouraged faith-based responses to global climate change and the development of genetically modified foods. Hussain set up his own group in 2004. Before that, he thought that an eco-theology was severely lacking in Britain. He felt that there were strong-minded individuals who wanted to contribute to a Muslim environmental movement, but they were scattered throughout Britain and had no awareness of one another. Each believed that nobody was interested in environmentalism apart from himself or herself, and this led to little action. Hussain believed that to get people of similar beliefs together, group meetings that formed networks and helped individuals to be more effective in local communities were necessary. This idea created the foundation for the London Islamic Network for the Environment and subsequent Muslim faith-based institutions. Hussain considered starting a local Muslim environmental movement and began to engage in environmental activism. In 2003, he gave a presentation on 4 Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion Vol. 9 (2013), Article 6 genetically modified foods from an Islamic perspective during a conference in Reading. Starting at this time, Muzammal urged the British Muslim community to organize local Islamic environmental groups. Hussain set up an informal group, but because of inconsistent efforts, it did not last. In 2004, Hussain used personal Islamic environmental e-mail lists compiled over the years to establish an Islamic environmental group in London. The first meeting consisted of three people and took place on January 10, 2004. On September 5, 2004, this group was officially named LINE (London Islamic Network for the Environment). LINE was the first local British Islamic environmental group. Hussain established networks with the wider environmental movement and still conducts outreach campaigning. His ethos is that beliefs and values about how to view the world should be built into individuals and the groups themselves. LINE drew inspiration from various contemporary Muslim and non-Muslim sources. This may explain why it used both classical and contemporary Islamic theology. Influenced by the World Development Movement, LINE shared experiences and ideas about local Islamic environmental groups with other environmental activists in Brighton. Hussain, who initially wanted a grassroots-based Islamic local group, recognized the significance of ethnic diversity. Hussain achieved this diversity through group psychology and development, meeting skills, and consensus decision making. Seeds for Change, a Western organization, assisted LINE through workshops on issues relating to ethnic diversity. Seeds for Change provides free resources to independent grassroots groups and works with U.K. activists and campaigners to organize action that are intended to lead to positive social change. Also influential for LINE were the Gaia Education book Beyond You and Me, Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, Gandhi’s The Story of My Experiments with Truth, and the life of Abdul Ghaffar Khan. LINE wanted to use Islamic teachings similarly to provide context for the environmental movement. 1 Since the founding of LINE, now known as Wisdom in Nature (WIN), other Muslim environmental organizations have sprung up in Britain, including the Midland Islamic Network for the Environment (MINE) in Birmingham; Sheffield Islamic Network for the Environment (ShINE), formed in 2005 and currently under the leadership of Esther Rischmuller; Reading Islamic Trustees of the Environment (RITE), formed in 2009 and led by Summreen Sheikh, who was inspired by Muzammal Hussain; and Leicester Earth Guardians, which was set up in 2009 and is under the leadership of Ziyaad Lorgat. 1 For further information about the development of the London Islamic Network for the Environment/Wisdom in Nature, see www.wisdominnature. org.uk. Chowdhury: Understanding British Muslim Environmentalism 5