A growing body of research stresses the importance of religion in understand-
ing and addressing climate change. However, so far, little is known about the
relationship between Muslim communities and climate change. Globally, Mus-
lims constitute the second largest faith group, and there is a strong concentra-
tion of Muslims in regions that are particularly affected by global warming.
This review synthesizes existing research about climate change and Muslim
communities. It addresses (a) Islamic environmentalism, (b) Muslim percep-
tions of climate change, and (c) mitigation strategies of Muslim communities.
The analysis shows that there is no uniform interpretation of climate change
among Muslims. Based on their interpretations of Islam, Muslims have generated
different approaches to climate change. A small section of Muslim environmen-
talists engages in public campaigning to raise greater concern about climate
change, seeks to reduce carbon emissions through sociotechnological transition
efforts, and disseminates proenvironmental interpretations of Islam. However, it
remains unclear to what extent these activities generate broader changes in the
daily activities of Muslim communities and organizations. Contributions to this
research field are often theoretical and stress theological and normative aspects
of Islam. Empirical studies have particularly addressed Indonesia and the United
Kingdom, whereas knowledge about Muslim climate activism in other world
regions is fragmented. Against this backdrop, there is a need for comparative
studies that consider regional and religious differences among Muslims and
address the role of Muslim environmentalism in climate change mitigation and
adaptation at the international, national, and local scales.
This article is categorized under:
Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Sociology/Anthropology of
Climate Knowledge