Qur’anic ecological ontology, poverty, and the climate crisis: Ecological and economic correctives

Abstract

This article argues that the Qur’an’s ecological ontology, anchored in mīzān (balance), amānah (trust), and khalīfah (stewardship), and operationalised through ijtihād (independent reasoning), tafsīr (exegesis), and shūrā (consultation), constitutes a normative and policy-ready framework capable of addressing the joint crises of climate breakdown and poverty. Using close textual analysis of Qur’anic āyāt (verses) alongside classical and modern scholarship, I show how Qur’anic injunctions ‘for those believe’ against fasād (corruption) and isrāf (wastefulness) translate into redistributive, sufficiency-based economic model aligned with planetary limits.