Green discourse for religious Islamic Leaders in Jordan: Lessons and Imperatives

West Asia witnessed the birth of early civilisation and was a hub of cultures and ideologies. It served as the crossroad of good governance from the North, beauty from the East, transparency from the West and sense of community from the South. Nevertheless, this same region is today reminiscent of conflicts, extremism, and underdevelopment.

This transformation of West Asia seems to be grounded in a lack of appropriate education and critical thinking. The prevailing schools of thought in education constructed boundaries and barriers between and among disciplines (natural science, humanities and physical sciences). This in turn impeded and prevented the development of a holistic understanding of societal systems. This holistic approach that considers cultural, spiritual, ecological, social and economic components of a system is essential for the sustainable development of West Asia. Furthermore, the teaching of the core values of Islam needs to be reviewed. Re-educating the Muslim community, also known as the median community (Umaah Wasat), into one that celebrates diversity and reformation is critical for a new West Asia to detach itself from its current state. In this regard, religious leaders (Imams) play a key role in communicating the message of Islam as a mercy to humanity (rahma lel alameen).

The following are some lessons learned from a series of workshops for Imams in all parts of Jordan during (2014-15) funded by Friederich-Ebert Stiftung (FES) - Jordan.

Critical thinking (Ijtihad) innovation and lateral thinking:
The 21st century globalised market had exploited, polluted, and over-used natural resources and created the illusion of an infinite pursuit of growth. Market-led policies and consumerism deprived of ecological insight seem pestilential. Hence, a transformative education and learning system that enhances critical and lateral thinking is needed as never before. Exercising the intellect ('aql) is of significant importance in Islam. Innovation (ijtihad) is a dynamic principle in the body of Islam that harnesses logic, observation and experimentation in reaching rigorous conclusions. The Islamic Golden age that later catalysed European enlightenment was a testimony of this Islamic innovation allowing scientific discoveries from many Arab thinkers such as Ibn Rushd, Ibn Tufayl, Ibn Bajah, and Ibn Khaldun, to cite but a few.

Intent of jurisprudence (Maqasid):
In essence, the ecological crisis is linked to ethics and values. Human actions are responsible for the global ecological crisis. Thus, the most important contribution of Islam to the global discourse on environmental issues is the restoration of the spiritual vision of nature, human stewardship and the guardianship role.
The main environmental problems, such as the destruction of natural habitats, loss of biodiversity, climate change, and erosion of soil are triggered by human behaviours and development models. Saving and protecting human livelihoods, ecosystem services and nature are key intents in Islamic jurisprudence (Maqasid).

New discourse that emphasizes and links faith, reason and empathy:
The current Islamic discourse is devoid from reason and empathy (Rahma lel Almeen) and suffers from a lack of ecological insight (Baseera). The philosophy of western education was influenced by the Newtonian model, which looks at nature as an opportunity for exploitation, not as a source of inspiration and innovation.  This paradigm of education led us to a state of “nature-deficit disorder” and contributed to the current global challenges including consumerism, poverty, and climate change. Transformative education informed and guided by Islamic worldviews emphasising unity (tawhid) of natural and social sciences; unity of mind and soul, unity of social and natural capital, and unity of this world (dunia) and the Hereafter is crucial.

It is imperative to re-think our educational systems, which neglected the beauty and majesty of the powers around us in nature and the cosmos, which are essential to nurture our inner world. The extinction of species around us (Ummam Amthalokom) may extend to humankind unless we change our worldviews and development models.  Looking at the Earth system as sign from the Creator (Kitab Manthoor), our mentor for religion, philosophy, science and economics, is key to evolve towards new consciousness and new modes of learning, since the essence of our ecological crisis stems from the current worldview and mind-sets.

Models for Green mosques in Jordan funded by trust funds:
The Islamic cultural values, such as social responsibility and living lightly on the earth (zohd) are intrinsic principles of sustainable development. Social responsibility encompasses the Islamic concept of trust fund (Waqf) or endowment. It is imperative to revive these concepts rooted in the relationship between people and their environment to support a transition to a green economy in West Asia. Green energy is simply about innovation and utilising science and technology to achieve sustainability. Building the capacity of Imams on science and technology and transforming their mosques into green buildings could be a way of introducing sustainability principles to the public. Green mosques and other public buildings are living examples of the concept of education for sustainable development.

In sum, it is imperative to develop community leaders’ and Imams’ competencies and enable them to cope with uncertainty, conflicting values and realities.  The key factors causing decay in any society or institution are lack of creativity, homogenized thinking, restricted choices and limited autonomous thinking and innovation (ijtihad). West Asia, in this current turbulent time, is in dire need of a reflective and transparent society, which actively and critically participates in problem solving and decision-making, and values and respects alternative ways of thinking, and hence is capable of better responding to emerging issues.