Islam, Humanism and Ecology

In various articles in this website and elsewhere, I have been developing a form of Islamic thinking I call Process Islam. The most systematic articulation so far is in

, but all of the articles above are important to my ongoing project. In many contexts I speak of Process Islam as a form of Islamic Humanism. I realize, however, that the phrase can be misleading, if the word "humanism" suggests a Promethean perspective saying that "man is the measure of all things." I realize as well that for many process thinkers, with their ecological orientation, the phrase can also suggest a human-centered approach that neglects the value of the more-than-human world. I do not intend the word to have these connotations. In Islam the Qur'an itself speaks of the whole of creation on the analogy of a tree of life, or a single life cell, emerging from and returning to its divine source. An Islamic Humanism will see human dignity and human rights as situated within, not apart from, this larger created whole, itself evolving through time, with each creature having (in the words of process theology) intrinsic value. The short note below is intended to clarify this point, bringing my perspective into conversation with two Christian process thinkers, Bruce Epperly and John Cobb. (It is explained more thoroughly in my Masters thesis, just accepted at the University of Oslo.) I hope this note and the works above bring Process Islam into conversation with the larger project of international process theology, which is to encourage the development of just and sustainable communities throughout the world, including the Islamic world. (For more on this see

by Jay McDaniel and Philip Clayton.) My sense is that Islam can make a powerful contribution to this deeply humane -- and, yes, biophilically humanistic -- hope.