Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): The Contribution of Islamic Ethics to Solving the Environmental Crisis
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Abstract
The article argues that the concept of human nature influenced by Aristotle's
idea of humans as social animals has deprived humans of their spiritual
significance. As the modern world, marked by the Industrial Revolution, took
up this idea, it lowered the status of human beings to merely a factor in the
process of industrial production. The modern world's view of planet Earth is
that its very existence is to serve the unlimited consumption of human beings.
These ideas about the nature of human beings and planet Earth have given
rise to the current unprecedented level of destruction of the environment. It
is argued that Islamic environment ethics, for example, the concepts of
human beings as Amanah holders (trustees) and Khalifah (God’s vicegerents
on the Earth); among others, have established an ethical backbone for the
protection and preservation of the environment. It is argued that by drawing
on Islamic ethics, the common ground on which all Muslim countries agree,
the Muslim world can contribute enormously to achieving the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) within the ethical framework set by the UN.
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