Islam and Ecology

This course will give your young learner an introduction to the history and traditions of Islam.  

A particular focus for this course will be ecological responsibility, the challenges facing Muslim communities, the 2015 Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change, and Islamic ecological initiatives in the world today.  

The approach for this course will be historical, descriptive, and secular; no personal opinions are offered, only the findings of secular academics will be taught.  This is because Religious Studies is a secular academic discipline not based in any religious tradition nor opposed to any.  It is history and culture, pure and simple. 

The class will be presented as an interactive lecture with plenty of time for student questions, though students comfortable with just listening are absolutely welcome too, of course! 

This class is prepared especially for young learners.   The material will be made approachable just for them.  For parents, the following is a (very) technical and detailed list of topics and terms for each week of the course.  The actual weekly lessons will be delivered so that young learners will easily find them informative and engaging.  I make the 'complex' simple to understand!   

Course Schedule 

Week 1 - The History

Topics covered include: the Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim), pre-Islamic Arabia, the Hanifs, the cultural world experienced by the Prophet Muhammad, Khadija, the visitations of the Angel Jibril, Tawhid and Shirk, Muhammad in Medina (Yathrib), the Sunnah, Hadith, and Sira, the Five Pillars of Islam, the Major Denominations (Sunni, Shi'a, Ibāḍī, Ahmadiyya), and Baha'i (before it became its own religion).

Week 2 - The Qurʾān and Hadiths 

Topics covered include the arrangement of surahs in the Quran, the Quranic concepts of Tawhid, Khalifah, ammanah, fasād, Ummah, qada' and the influence of Aristotle on Islamic tradition, hima (protected natural areas), and the treatment and protection of animals and nature in the Hadiths.  

Week 3 - Sufi Mysticism 

Topics covered include Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (Rumi), the Mevlevi Order of Rumi (Dervish), the Sufi concepts of nafs al-raḥmān and 'ishq, the poetry of Rumi, and Sufi understandings of Tawhid in light of Q 2:115.  

Week 4 - Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change

Topics covered include the Islamic understandings of extravagance and waste (Isrāf and Tabdhīr), harm (ḍara), renewal (tajdīd ḥaḍārī), and renewing the Earth  (Iʿmār al-Ard and ʿUmrān), and the arguments of Islamic scholars (ʿulamā’) in the 2015 Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change. 

Week 5 - Islamic Environmental Activism 

Topics covered in the often claimed example of Dubai as being an ecological civilization, which will be critically examined and contrasted with examples of grassroots Islamic activism from Indonesia and the United States (Green Ramadan Campaign).