FROM SPIRITUAL ECOLOGY TO ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE: The Ecological Engagement of Sufi Orders in Australia

Asfa Widiyanto, Fejrian Yazdajird Iwanebel, Aris Widodo

Abstract


This study examines the growing significance of eco-Islamic spirituality in Australia, particularly in the post-pandemic context where environmental awareness and faith-based initiatives have gained renewed attention. The study addresses two main questions: How Sufi communities in Australia conceptualize and integrate spirituality with ecological awareness, and How they contribute to environmental protection policies and sustainability initiatives. Focusing on three Sufi orders-the Inayat Khan, the Nimatullahi, and the Ansari-this research employs qualitative field methods, including content analysis of teachings, community documents, and observations of spiritual-ecological practices, informed by Corbetta’s framework of social research. The findings indicate that these communities share a common spiritual framework for responding to ecological challenges. Their environmental engagement is grounded in Islamic ethical principles articulated by their leaders, including tauhîd (divine unity), khilâfah (stewardship), amânah (trustworthiness), mîzân (cosmic balance), Khidmah (service), and tazkiyah (spiritual transformation). These principles are translated into concrete practices such as eco-retreats, permaculture projects, waterconservation initiatives, and the use of renewable energy technologies, including solar panels. By linking spiritual teachings with practical ecological initiatives, Australian Sufi communities demonstrate how grassroots religious movements can contribute to environmental sustainability and support broader environmental governance agendas.

Keywords


Islamic spirituality, green world-order, climate crisis, Australian Sufi communities

Full Text:

PDF

References


Abdin, Amira Shamma. “Love in Islam.” European Judaism: A Journal for the New Europe 37, no. 1 (2004): 92–102. https://doi.org/10.3167/001430004783515063.

Akman, Kubilay. “Sufism, Spirituality and Sustainability / Rethinking Islamic Mysticism through Contemporary Sociology.” Comparative Islamic Studies 4, nos. 1–2 (June 2010): 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1558/cis.v4i4.1-4.2.1.

Ansari, Es-Seyyid Es-Shaykh Taner. The Sun Will Rise in the West: The Holy Trail. Edited by Elizabeth Muzeyyen Brown. New York: Ansari Publications, 2000.

Ansari, Sheikh Ibrahim. Getting Out of The Way. New York: Ansari Publications, 2010.

———. Getting Out of The Way. New York: Ansari Publications, 2010.

Bouma, Gary. Australian Soul: Religion and Spirituality in the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Bunyadzade, Konul. “Eco-Imagination and Sufi Phenomenology.” In Eco-Imagination towards a Sustainable Future, vol. 8, edited by Detlev Quintern and Daniela Verducci, 23–32. Islamic Philosophy and Occidental Phenomenology in Dialogue. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-67659-8_3.

Cook, Abu Bakr Sirajuddin. “Sufism in Australia: A Brief History.” Sacred Footsteps (Australia), July 2022. https://sacredfootsteps.com/2022/07/14/sufism-in-australia-a-brief-history/

———. “Tasawwuf ‘Usturaliya: Prolegomena to a History of Sufism in Australia.” Australian Journal of Islamic Studies 3, no. 3 (February 2019): 60–74. https://doi.org/10.55831/ajis.v3i3.119.

Cook, Abu Bakr Sirajuddin, and Rami Dawood. “On the History of Sufism in Australia: A Manuscript from the Broken Hill Mosque.” Journal of Sufi Studies 11, no. 1 (March 2022): 115–35. https://doi.org/10.1163/22105956-bja10021.

Corbetta, Piergiorgio. Social Research: Theory, Methods and Techniques. London: SAGE Publications, Ltd, 2003. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781849209922.

Hancock, Rosemary. “Ecology in Islam.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion, by Rosemary Hancock. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.510.

Hermansen, Marcia K., and Saeed Zarrabi-Zadeh. “Sufism in Western Contexts.” In Sufism in Western Contexts, edited by Marcia K. Hermansen and Saeed Zarrabi-Zadeh, 1–36. London: Brill, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004392625_002.

Hasan, Nor, Masyithah Mardhatillah, Moh Mashur Abadi, and Ainur Rahman Hidayat. “ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM IN INDONESIAN PESANTREN: The Role of Lora in Mainstreaming Islamic Eco-Theology in Tapal Kuda, East Java.” Teosofi: Jurnal Tasawuf Dan Pemikiran Islam 12, no. 2 (2022): 280–306. https://doi.org/10.15642/teosofi.2022.12.2.280-306.

Irawan, Bambang. “Environmental Protection from the Perspectives of Indonesian, Sufi and United Kingdom Muslim Environmentalists.” Heritage of Nusantara: International Journal of Religious Literature and Heritage 5, no. 2 (March 2017): 230–61. https://doi.org/10.31291/hn.v5i2.151.

Jalal Al-Din, Rumi. Look, This Is Love: Poems of Rumi. Translated by Annemarie Schimmel. Boston and London: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1991.

Javed, Nayyar. “Sufi Path: Possibilities of Transcending Limited and Limiting Identity.” In Radical Human Ecology: Intercultural and Indigenous Approaches, by Rose Robert, 161–78. Edited by Lewis Williams. London & New York: Routledge, 2016. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315603476.

Kahil, Abdallah. “Ecology and Islam.” In Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion, edited by David A. Leeming, 735–39. Berlin: Springer International Publishing, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24348-7_9328.

Kelsy, Atiqa. “The Whirling Dervish: An Eco Critical Perspective on Sufism.” SSRN Electronic Journal, 2023, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4323373.

Koehrsen, Jens. “Muslims and Climate Change: How Islam, Muslim Organizations, and Religious Leaders Influence Climate Change Perceptions and Mitigation Activities.” WIREs Climate Change 12, no. 3 (May 2021): e702. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.702.

Lobo, Victor. “Sufism, Green Schools, and Spirituality: A Holistic Approach to Sustainable Education.” In Redefining Sustainability, edited by Jacinta Dsilva, 83–88. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-88380-4_8.

Maulana, Abdullah Muslich Rizal, Linda Alfionita, Yuangga Kurnia Yahya, and Syamsul Hadi Untung. “Anthropocentrism in Christian Eco-Theology: Origin and Debate.” IJoReSH: Indonesian Journal of Religion, Spirituality, and Humanity 3, no. 2 (December 2024): 197–220. https://doi.org/10.18326/ijoresh.v3i2.197-220.

Milani, Milad. “Sufism in Oceania (Australia and New Zealand).” In Sufism in Western Contexts, edited by Marcia K. Hermansen and Saeed Zarrabi-Zadeh, 378–93. Leiden: Brill, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004392625_016.

Milani, Milad, and Adam Possamai. “Sufism, Spirituality and Consumerism: The Case Study of the Nimatullahiya and Naqshbandiya Sufi Orders in Australia.” Contemporary Islam 10, no. 1 (January 2016): 67–85. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-015-0335-1.

———. “The Nimatullahiya and Naqshbandiya Sufi Orders on the Internet: The Cyber-Construction of Tradition and the McDonaldisation of Spirituality.” Journal for the Academic Study of Religion 26, no. 1 (August 2013): 51–75. https://doi.org/10.1558/arsr.v26i1.51.

Milani, Milad, Adam Possamai, and Firdaus Wajdi. “Branding of Spiritual Authenticity and Nationalism in Transnational Sufism.” In Religions, Nations, and Transnationalism in Multiple Modernities, edited by Patrick Michel, Bryan S. Turner, and Adam Possamai, 197–220. New York: Palgrave Macmillan US, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58011-5_10.

Murad, Munjed M. “Sufi Views of Nature.” In Sufi Cosmology, edited by Christian Lange and Alexander Knysh, 189–204. Leiden: Brill, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004392618_011.

Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. Sufi Essays. Chicago: Kazi Publication, 1999.

Putra, Dedisyah, Zuhdi Hasibuan, and Sabrun Edi. “Islamic Perspectives on Environmental Conservation and Government Policies on Mitigating the Natural Disaster in Indonesia.” MIQOT: Jurnal Ilmu-Ilmu Keislaman 47, no. 2 (December 2023): 186–203. https://doi.org/10.30821/miqot.v47i2.1103.

Sayem, Md. Abu. Religion and Ecological Crisis: Christian and Muslim Perspectives from John B. Cobb and Seyyed Hossein Nasr. 1st ed. London: Routledge, 2022. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003287285.

Smart, Ninian. Worldviews: Crosscultural Explorations of Human Beliefs. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1995.

Snider, Anne-Marie, and Samara McPhedran. “Religiosity, Spirituality, Mental Health, and Mental Health Treatment Outcomes in Australia: A Systematic Literature Review.” Mental Health, Religion & Culture 17, no. 6 (July 2014): 568–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2013.871240.

Sponsel, Leslie E. “Ecology and Spirituality.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion, by Leslie E. Sponsel. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.95.

Upton, Charles, and Rabi’a al-Adawiyya. Doorkeeper of the Heart: Versions of Rabi’a. New York: Pir Press, 2004.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.30821/miqot.v50i1.1580

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


I n d e x i n g :

           

 

 

MIQOT: Jurnal Ilmu-ilmu Keislaman (P-ISSN: 0852-0720; E-ISSN: 2502-3616) by http://jurnalmiqotojs.uinsu.ac.id/index.php/jurnalmiqot/index is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Copyright ©2023 Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara Medan. Powered by Public Knowledge Project OJS.

 View My Stats