Maqasid al-Shari‘ah, Climate Governance, and Ecological Responsibility: A Comparative Study of Islamic Environmental Ethics in Morocco and Malaysia

Abstract

Climate change has emerged as one of the most significant ethical, political, and civilizational challenges confronting contemporary Muslim societies. This article comparatively examines how Islamic environmental ethics and maqasid al-shari‘ah frameworks are operationalized within climate governance discourse in Morocco and Malaysia. While existing scholarship frequently treats Islamic environmentalism as a theological or symbolic discourse, comparatively limited attention has been devoted to the institutional and interpretive mechanisms through which Islamic ethical reasoning shapes environmental governance and public ecological engagement. Drawing upon comparative textual analysis of state environmental policies, religious institutional publications, climate governance initiatives, Islamic legal scholarship, and international environmental reports, the study demonstrates that contemporary Islamic environmental ethics increasingly functions as a mediating framework linking religious legitimacy, ecological responsibility, and sustainable governance. The findings reveal that Moroccan climate governance discourse generally emphasizes religious-national stewardship rooted in Maliki jurisprudential traditions and monarchic environmental legitimacy, whereas Malaysian environmental initiatives more frequently integrate Islamic developmental ethics, public policy modernization, and participatory sustainability discourse. The article argues that maqasid al-shari‘ah increasingly provides a flexible interpretive mechanism through which Muslim societies negotiate tensions between economic development, ecological sustainability, and religious authority. This study contributes to Islamic studies scholarship by integrating Islamic jurisprudence, environmental humanities, political ecology, and comparative governance analysis into an interdisciplinary framework for understanding contemporary Islamic environmental ethics.