Sketching Consciousness: Natural and Built Environments

Abstract

This chapter provides an exhaustive, detailed tradition of spiritual, moral, and legal concerns for both natural and built environments, as articulated by Islam’s intellectual tradition. It thus lays a foundation for why those motivated by Islamic ethics must consider environmental impact. The discussion explores the market potential of an integration between contemporary Islamic capital markets and global socially and ethically responsible markets, as represented by ‘voluntary non-governmental codes, building a pioneering bridge between them, in the context of the issuance of a ‘green’ sukuk (akin to a ‘green’ bond). Further, this chapter examines why and how contemporary real estate projects developed by Islamic finance and other Muslim communities should implement classical Islamic concerns for built environments given the impact of architecture on individual and collective well-being.

Portions of this chapter appeared in Umar F. Moghul and Samir H.K. Safar-Aly, “Green Sukuk: The Introduction of Islam’s Environmental Ethics to Contemporary Islamic Finance,” The Georgetown International Environmental Law Review 27:1 (2014).