Integrating Sufism and Environmental Ethics: A Comparative Study of al-Qushayrī and Holmes Rolston III

Afda Alif Muhammad; Muhammad Ihza Fazrian -; Waryani Fajar Riyanto

doi:10.21580/tos.v14i1.25047

Authors

Afda Alif Muhammad Department of Islamic Philosophy, Faculty of Ushuluddin and Islamic Thought, Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0009-0004-2513-1936
Ihza Fazrian Department of Islamic Philosophy, Faculty of Ushuluddin and Islamic Thought, Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3304-8085
Waryani Fajar Riyanto Department of Islamic Philosophy, Faculty of Ushuluddin and Islamic Thought, Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5873-4205

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21580/tos.v14i1.25047

Keywords:

al-Qushayrī, Holmes Rolston III, Environmental Ethics, Sufism, self-purification, systemic values

Abstract

The global environmental crisis intensifying in our era highlights the need for new conceptual approaches to address this existential issue. This study examines the relationship between environmental ethics and Sufism, based on systemic values inherent in Holmes Roston III and the Sufistic concept of self-purification. This qualitative research employs document analysis, focusing on al-Qushayrī's Subtle Allusions and Holmes Rolston III's Environmental Ethics, analyzed through a comparative framework and supported by secondary data. The study investigates the Sufistic concepts of ascetism, fear of God, and contentment alongside the systemic values of environmental ethics. It proposes the integrative concepts of prevent-repair, care-guard, and conviction-kindness as key outcomes. These findings underscore the importance of environmental ethics, personal spirituality, and intrinsic awareness, providing both theoretical and practical insights.

Contribution: Theoretically, this study advances the integration of Sufism and environmental ethics through combining Sufistic values (internal) with systemic values (external). It provides a framework for cultivating a balanced attitude and a conscious relationship with God, humans, and nature, grounded in Qur’anic principles and ecological awareness.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Afda Alif Muhammad, Department of Islamic Philosophy, Faculty of Ushuluddin and Islamic Thought, Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta

Department of Islamic Philosophy, Faculty of Ushuluddin and Islamic Thought, Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Ihza Fazrian, Department of Islamic Philosophy, Faculty of Ushuluddin and Islamic Thought, Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta

UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Waryani Fajar Riyanto, Department of Islamic Philosophy, Faculty of Ushuluddin and Islamic Thought, Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta

UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, Indonesia

References

Al-Qur’ān al-Karīm.

Abdel-Latif, Sara. “Sufi Master and Qur’an Scholar: Abū’l-Qāsim Al-Qushayrī and the Laṭāʾif Al-Ishārāt.” Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations 24, no. 1 (2013): 144–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/09596410.2013.732270.

Abdelzaher, Dina M, Amr Kotb, and Akrum Helfaya. “Eco-Islam: Beyond the Principles of Why and What, and Into the Principles of How.” Journal of Business Ethics 155, no. 3 (2019): 623–43. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3518-2.

Abdul-Matin, Ibrahim. Green Deen: What Islam Teaches About Protecting the Planet. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2010.

Abdullah, Amin. Falsafah Kalam Di Era Kontemporer. Yogyakarta: IRCiSoD, 2022.

Abdullah, Muhammad Amin. “Dimensi Etis-Teologis Dan Etis-Antropologis Dalam Pembangunan Berwawasan Lingkungan.” Al-Jami’ah: Journal of Islamic Studies 49 (1992): 17–26. https://doi.org/10.14421/ajis.1992.049.17-26.

Al-‘Afīfī, Abū ‘Alā. Al-Taṣawwuf Al-Thawra Al-Rūḥiyya Fī Al-Islām. London: Hindawi, 2020.

Al-Qaraḍāwī, Yūsuf. Ri‘Āya Al-Bī’a Fī Sharī‘a Al-Islām. Cairo: Dār al-Shurūq, 2001.

Al-Qushayrī. Al-Risāla Al-Qushayrīya. Jeddah: Dār al-Minhāj, 2017.

———. Laṭā’if Al-Ishārāt. Vol. III. Lebanon: Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmīya, 2007.

———. Laṭā’if Al-Ishārāt. Vol. 1. Lebanon: Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmīya, 2007.

———. Naḥw Al-Qulūb Al-Ṣaghīr Wa Al-Kabīr. Egypt: al-Hai’a al-Miṣrīya al-‘Āmma li al-Kitāb, 2008.

Al-Shāfi‘ī, Muḥammad ibn Idrīs. Al-Umm. Vol. IV. Dār al-Wafā, 2001.

Al‐Damkhi, Ali Mohamed. “Environmental Ethics in Islam: Principles, Violations, and Future Perspectives.” International Journal of Environmental Studies 65, no. 1 (2008): 11–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207230701859724.

Anas, Mālik ibn. Al-Muwaṭṭā’ vol. 1. Mu’assasa Zayd ibn Sulṭān, 2004.

Basyūnī, Ibrāhīm. Al-Imām Al-Qushayrī Ḥayātuhu Wa Taṣawwufuhu Wa Ṡaqāfatuhu. Egypt: Maktaba al-Ādāb, 1992.

Becher, Anne, and Joseph Richey. American Environmental Leaders: From Colonial Times to the Present. Vol. 1. New York: Grey House Publishing, 2008.

Belhaj, Abdessamad. “Legal Knowledge by Application: Sufism as Islamic Legal Hermeneutics in the 10th/12th Centuries.” Studia Islamica 108, no. 1 (2013): 82–107. https://doi.org/10.1163/19585705-12341276.

Blackburn, Simon. Kamus Filsafat. Translated by Yudi Santoso. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar, 2021.

Chiabotti, Francesco. “The Spiritual and Physical Progeny of ʿAbd Al-Karīm Al-Qushayrī: A Preliminary Study in Abū Naṣr Al-Qushayrī’s (d. 514/1120) Kitāb Al-Shawāhid Wa-l-Amthāl.” Journal of Sufi Studies 2, no. 1 (2013): 46–77. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1163/22105956-12341246.

Egri, Carolyn P. “Spiritual Connections with the Natural Environment: Pathways for Global Change.” Organization & Environment 10, no. 4 (1997): 407–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/192181069701000405.

Goreau, Thomas J F, and Raymond L Hayes. “2023 Record Marine Heat Waves: Coral Reef Bleaching HotSpot Maps Reveal Global Sea Surface Temperature Extremes, Coral Mortality, and Ocean Circulation Changes.” Oxford Open Climate Change 4, no. 1 (2024): 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfclm/kgae005.

Guessoum, Nidhal. Islam’s Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science. London: I.B. Tauris, 2011.

Hawken, Paul. Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming. New York: Viking, 2007.

Hayat, Imran, Muhammad Sajad Malik, Muhammad Waris Ali, Muhammad Husnain, Muhammad Sharif, and Abdul Haleem. “The Role of Islamic Environmental Ethics in the Alleviation of Climate Challenges and the Preservation of the Ecosystem.” Russian Law Journal 11, no. 11s (2023): 395–404. https://doi.org/10.52783/rlj.v11i11s.1967.

Helli, Abdulrahman. “Does the Qurʾān Offer Foundational Principles for Environmental Ethics?” Journal of Islamic Ethics 9, no. 1–2 (2024): 19–43. https://doi.org/10.1163/24685542-20240003.

Himawanti, Izza, Imam Faisal Hamzah, and Muhammad Faiq. “Finding God’s Way: Spiritual Well-Being on the People Who Do Tirakat Mlaku.” Teosofia: Indonesian Journal of Islamic Mysticism 11, no. 1 (June 6, 2022): 43–62. https://doi.org/10.21580/tos.v11i1.10721.

Hope, Marjorie, and James Young. “Islam and Ecology.” crosscurrents.org, 2011. https://www.crosscurrents.org/islamecology.htm.

Husain, Majid. Environment and Ecology: Biodiversity, Climate Change, and Disaster Management. Vol. III. Delhi: Access Publishing, 2015.

Ḥusayn, ‘Abdullāh. Al-Taṣawwuf Wa Al-Mutaṣawwifa. London: Hindawi, 2017.

Institut Agama Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah, ed. Ensiklopedi Islam Indonesia. Jakarta: Djambatan, 1992.

Irawan, Bambang. “Environmental Protection from the Perspectives of Indonesian, Sufi and UK Muslim Environmentalists.” Heritage of Nusantara: International Journal of Religious Literature and Heritage 5, no. 2 (2016): 230–256. https://doi.org/10.31291/hn.v5i2.151.

Islam, Md Saidul. “Old Philosophy, New Movement: The Rise of the Islamic Ecological Paradigm in the Discourse of Environmentalism.” Nature and Culture 7, no. 1 (2012): 72–94. https://doi.org/10.3167/nc.2012.070105.

Jenkins, Willis. “Islamic Law and Environmental Ethics: How Jurisprudence (Usul Al-Fiqh) Mobilizes Practical Reform.” Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology 9, no. 3 (2005): 338–64. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853505774841641.

Keeler, Annabel. “Sūfī Tafsīr as a Mirror: Al-Qushayrī the Murshid in His Latācif Al-Ishārāt.” Journal of Qur’anic Studies 8, no. 1 (2006): 1–21. https://doi.org/10.3366/jqs.2006.8.1.1.

Khalid, Fazlun M. Signs on the Earth: Islam, Modernity and the Climate Crisis. England: Kube Publishing, 2019.

Longo, F. Dominic. Spiritual Grammar: Genre and the Saintly Subject in Islam and Christianity. USA: Fordham University Press, 2017.

Lovelock, James. Gaia: A New Lookat Life on Earth. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Mahzar, Armahedi. Islam Masa Depan. Bandung: Pustaka, 1993.

Majid, Nurcholis. Islam Doktrin Dan Peradaban: Sebuah Telaah Krisis Tentang Masalah Keimanan, Kemanusiaan, Dan Kemodernan. Jakarta: Paramadina, 1992.

Mojaddedi, Jawid A. “Legitimizing Sufism in Al-Qushayri’s ‘Risala.’” Studia Islamica, no. 90 (2000): 37–50. https://doi.org/10.2307/1596163.

Munji, Ahmad. “Ri‘Āya Al-Bī’a Fī Al-Taṣawwuf Al-Islāmī.” Teosofia: Indonesian Journal of Islamic Mysticism 5, no. 2 (2016): 133–45. https://doi.org/10.21580/tos.v5i2.1726.

Muslimin, J. M., L. Chakim, and Fauzani. “Maqasid Al-Shariah in Environmental Conservation of Yusuf Al-Qardawi’s Perspective.” In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Recent Innovations, 869–77, 2020. https://doi.org/10.5220/0009919008690877.

Muvid, Muhamad, and Nur Kholis. “Contribution of Sufism Trilogy in the Formation of Religious Behavior: A Proposed Model.” Cogito XVI, no. 2 (2024): 29–53. http://repository.uinsa.ac.id/id/eprint/3324/.

Nahdi, Maizer Said, and Aziz Ghufron. “Etika Lingkungan Dalam Perspektif Yusuf Al-Qaradawy.” Al-Jami’ah 44, no. 1 (2006): 195–221. https://doi.org/10.14421/ajis.2006.441.195-221.

Nasr, Hossein. Islam Dan Nestapa Manusia Modern. Bandung: Pustaka, 1993.

Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. Man and Nature: The Spiritual Crisis of Modern Man. London: Unwin Hyman Limited, 1990.

———. Tasawwuf Dulu Dan Sekarang. Translated by Abdul Hadi W.M. Yogyakarta: IRCiSod, 2020.

Nelson, Anitra. Beyond Money: A Postcapitalist Strategy. London: Pluto Press, 2022.

Norton, Bryan G. “Conserving Natural Value.” Environmental Ethics 18, no. 2 (1996): 209–14. https://doi.org/10.5840/enviroethics199618233.

Nugraha, Aulia Rahman, and Naupal Asnawi. “Dialogue Between Islam and Environmental Ethics Through the Seyyed Hossein Nasr Thought.” International Review of Humanities Studies 4, no. 3 (2019): 797–810. https://scholarhub.ui.ac.id/irhs/vol4/iss3/2.

Palmer, Joy A., David E. Cooper, and David Cooper, eds. Fifty Key Thinkers on the Environment. London: Routledge, 2003.

Parray, Tauseef Ahmad. “Recent Qur’ānic Scholarship: A Critical Evaluation of Ziauddin Sardar’s ‘Reading The Qur’Ān.” Hamdard Islamicus 42, no. 4 (2019): 67–73. https://doi.org/10.57144/hi.v42i4.30.

Pojman, Louis P. Environmental Ethics: Readings in Theory and Application. 7th ed. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2015.

Resnik, David B. Environmental Health Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Robinson, Deena. “The Biggest Environmental Problems of 2021.” earth.org, 2023. https://earth.org/the-biggest-environmental-problems-of-our-lifetime/.

Rolston, Holmes. Environmental Ethics: Duties to and Values in the Natural World (Ethics And Action). Philadelphia: Temple Univ. Press, 1988.

———. Naturalizing Values: Organisms and Species. North American Association on Social Philosophy, 1998.

———. Science and Religion: A Critical Survey. New York: Random House, 1987.

———. “The Future of Environmental Ethics.” Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 69 (2011): 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1017/S135824611100018X.

Rolston, Holmes, Sam Lebenson, and Justin Wong. “An Interview with Holmes Rolston III.” The Harvard Review of Philosophy 29 (2022): 131–36. https://doi.org/10.5840/harvardreview2022293.

Safdar, Saad Saood, and Ghulam Shams-ur-Rehmam. “The Roots of the Ecological Crisis in the Theological and Philosophical Landscape of Modern Civilization: An Analysis of Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s Perspective.” Islamic Studies 60, no. 3 (2021): 287–308. https://doi.org/10.52541/isiri.v60i3.1847.

Sardar, Ziauddin. Reading the Qur’an: The Contemporary Relevance of the Sacred Text of Islam. London: Hurst & Company, 2011.

Simuh. Pergolakan Pemikiran Dalam Islam. Yogyakarta: IRCiSoD, 2019.

Siroj, Said Aqil. Allah Dan Alam Semesta: Perspektif Tasawuf Falsafi. Jakarta: Yayasan Said Aqil Siroj, 2021.

Smith, Kimberly K. Exploring Environmental Ethics: An Introduction. New York: Springer International Publishing, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77395-7.

Soemarwoto, Otto. Indonesia Dalam Kancah Isu Lingkungan Global. Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 1991.

Suzuki, Nobuhiro, Rosa M Rivero, Vladimir Shulaev, Eduardo Blumwald, and Ron Mittler. “Abiotic and Biotic Stress Combinations.” New Phytologist 203, no. 1 (2014): 32–43. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.12797.

Sviri, Sara. “Review of Al-Qushayrī, Principles of Sufism, Trans. B.R. Von Schlegell, Introduction: H. Algar, Berkeley 1990.” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 19 (1995): 272.

Svoboda, Toby. “Why There Is No Evidence for the Intrinsic Value of Non-Humans.” Ethics and the Environment 16, no. 2 (2011): 29–30. https://doi.org/10.2979/ethicsenviro.16.2.25.

Tracy, Sarah J. Qualitative Research Methods: Collecting Evidence, Crafting Analysis, Communicating Impact. Second. New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell, 2020.

Turner, Darrell J. “Holmes Rolston III.” britannica.com, 2010. https://www.britannica.com/topic/environmental-ethics-philosophy.

villanova.edu. “Dr. Holmes Rolston III - 2005.” Accessed June 2, 2024. https://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/president/university_events/mendelmedal/pastrecipients/holmes_rolston.html.

Wang, Li, Feng Wei, and Xin-an Zhang. “Why Does Energy-Saving Behavior Rise and Fall? A Study on Consumer Face Consciousness in the Chinese Context.” Journal of Business Ethics 160, no. 2 (2019): 499–513. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-3944-9.

Wilber, Ken. The Marriage of Sense and Soul: Integrating Science and Religion. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1998.

Yafeh, Hava Lazarus. Studies in Al-Gazālī. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1975.

Yafie, Ali. Merintis Fiqh Lingkungan Hidup. Jakarta: Ufuk Press, 2006.