Action Briefing Dec 2005 - Jan 2006
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

Islam and the Environment

Fazlun Khalid was the main speaker at the recent meeting co-hosted by Birmingham Friends of the Earth and Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IFEES) as part of Islam Awareness Week.

In his inspiring presentation he kept coming back to the basic contradiction inherent in the current economic paradigm: how can we continue to increase Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and at the same time reduce carbon dioxide emissions and other destruction? We can't. So we need to stop focussing so much on consumerism and GDP as a measure of prosperity.

This is what most environmentalists know lies at the heart of the problems we are facing, but it is rare that a speaker has the courage to tell this to an audience that is not already convinced, as the implication is clearly that those listening need not only to change their own consumption levels but even the systems on which most of their livelihoods depend. But it seemed to resonate well with the audience so maybe we should find such courage more often.

The only infinite resource is credit
Our economic system operates as if everything were infinite; ignoring the inescapable fact that the world is finite. But the way we create money makes it an infinite resource which means we can keep on spending - and this is against Islamic philosophy in which usury (moneylending for profit, and the creation of credit from nothing) is a sin. Regardless of the religious reasons, a system run on debt could never be sustainable anyway.

Fazlun went on to talk about the stance individuals and institutions like Blair and the UN were taking on climate change, saying that those within the system will never go far enough because economics and politics are such powerful masters. We need people to stand up against them and say we need to change our lifestyles - including reducing our 'standard of living' if you judge that by material wealth.

He said that "Muslims might have some lifebelts to throw [to the world] but I’m not sure they know they have them". For example, Sharia (Islamic law) also contains entire books on alternative currencies that operate within Islamic law so why aren't Muslims experimenting with these? Birmingham already has LETS schemes in which Muslims could get involved.

Debate following Fazlun's presentation was equally challenging, particularly on the need for education in the broadest sense: the need to challenge the norms young people are taught to aspire to - well-paid jobs, accumulating wealth, etc. Others said that we shouldn’t draw a line between "lifestyle" actions like recycling and "outside" actions like going on the climate march on 3rd December, which Fazlun urged everyone to attend. They are both decisions about the way we live our lives. There was a recognition that we need to challenge the way we keep on chasing after ‘more stuff’ when we know it doesn’t make us happy; and when it is at the expense of the things that do make us happy, like communities that work together and a healthy environment.

There's a key role for faith communities to play in challenging consumerism - they have something else to stand on (a shared value system) that’s more spiritual than materialist. This is not to say that others don't, but this is certainly a unifying factor among all faith communities that should always be built on to make changes.

For further information, visit the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences website www.ifees.org.uk

Jenny Thatcher and Karen Leach