مفهوم الاستخلاف في الإسلام وأثره في علاج مشكلة التغير المناخي: دراسة تأصيلية تحليلية

(The Concept of Istikhlāf in Islam and Its Impact on Addressing the Problem of Climate Change: An Analytical Foundational Study)

Abstract

This project aims to shed light on an issue regarded as one of the most prominent problems of the present age, namely the problem of climate change. It examines this issue within a foundational framework and connects it to a comprehensive issue that constitutes the Islamic philosophy of human existence on this earth, represented by the concept of istikhlāf in Islamic thought. This study assumes the existence of a close relationship between the concept of istikhlāf and human behaviour on earth. However, practical reality indicates a disconnection between human beings and the requirements of their true function on earth, due to a disturbance in the human perception of their relationship with the earth, the universe, and natural resources, which in turn has led to uncontrolled practices based on domination, consumption, and depletion. Accordingly, the central problem of this research is represented in the following question: To what extent can the concept of istikhlāf in Islam provide a foundational epistemological and civilisational framework that contributes to explaining the roots of the climate crisis and establishes practical foundations for addressing it at the level of the individual, society, institutions, and public policies? In order to answer this problem, it is necessary to collect the legislative texts contained in the Noble Qurʾān and the Prophetic Sunnah concerning the human role of istikhlāf on earth and humanity’s relationship with what Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He, has placed and subjected therein. It is also necessary to examine the writings concerning the problem of climate change and its resulting effects on people’s lives, through an inductive method by means of which a clear picture of both sides of the subject may be formed. Thereafter, through an analytical and synthetic method, these texts will be examined, analysed in depth, and then reconstructed in an integrated form through which the principal features of the proposed solutions to this problem may become clear. Accordingly, the research has established a foundational framework for the concept of istikhlāf in Islam and linked it to human behaviour on earth, ultimately deriving from it four remedial foundations based upon a comprehensive vision that contributes to solving the problem of climate change.

Keywords: Istikhlāf, foundational study, climate change, solutions, Islamic thought.