Islamic environmentalism in Indonesia:

In the last few years, environmental awareness amongst Muslim authorities and Islamic organisations in Indonesia has been rising. They increasingly recognise and articulate an Islamic environmental ethic and actively seek to mitigate environmental problems such as climate change, pollution, degradation or natural disasters. In their environmental efforts to counter socio-ecological degradation and global warming, Islamic scholars have developed an ethical commitment based on the Qur’an and the Hadiths in order to protect the enviroment and act more sustainably.

Permaculture on Islamic principles: The socio-ecological project Bumi Langit

In 2006, Iskandar Waworuntu founded the Bumi Langit permaculture farm in Imogiri near Yogyakarta, Indonesia, where about ten people live and work. They produce food by practicing permaculture, thus enhancing the biodiversity in that region, and provide courses on sustainable agriculture. Bumi Langit also supports and integrates villagers living nearby by providing jobs and occasionally free food. While this socio-ecological project is rather small in scale, it received national and international publicity due to its vigorous co-operation with a wide range of well-known civil society organizations, activists and universities.

Sufism and eco-mysticism: Humans as khalifa and the rejection of excessiveness and ‘Western modernism’

Iskandar Waworuntu converted to Islam in 2000 because Sufism and especially texts by Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207–1273), a well known Sufi mystic and poet, attracted him.

According to Sufi tradition, the universe is a divine revelation and everything is created by God (makhluk). Allah gave everything a specific function and thus it is humanity’s duty to guard the Earth and every creature as its khalifah (custodian). Consequently, according to Iskandar Waworuntu, harming the Earth is sinful. Every person, and especially Muslims, are obligated according to their Islamic environmental ethic to protect the divine creation.