A trail-blazing seminar on Islam and Environmental Stewardship: A Call for Action, was held in Brisbane on Sunday, 21st February, 2017.   

This was an initiative of a small group from the Brisbane Muslim community who felt the need to start a conversation—and potential future action—on the view of our faith on issues of climate change that are impacting our environment and the need to highlight our God-given role as stewards on earth. 

The initiative was well supported by the Islamic Council of Queensland, the Council of Imams Queensland, the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change and The Al-Ghazzali Centre.

The Qur’an’s view on the environment and mankind’s role in protecting the earth is clear and the seminar was an opportunity to understand this link between Islamic teachings and mankind’s duties as khalifat ullah fi al-ard (Allah’s custodian of the Earth).

The scene was set by Dr Daud Batchelor presenting “Climate Change in Context, the Evidence for Human-initiated Climate Change, and the 2015 Islamic Declaration on Climate Change”.  

The final presentation was on “Overcoming Wasteful Consumerism to Protect the Environment through Self-Improvement (Tazkiyah) and Contentment (Qana’ah)” by Dr Daud and the seminar concluded with a facilitated group activity led by Faiza El-Higzi to identify key needs and initiatives for follow-up actions in Queensland.

by Imam Daud Batchelor and Sabrina Islam