As with most religious traditions, in the Islamic world the attempt to retrieve environmental values in response to the present ecological crisis is a recent phenomenon. Moreover, the overwhelming majority of Muslim intellectuals remain preoccupied with other issues (such as Western hegemony, local and regional politics, gender issues, the role of religion in society), and accord environmental degradation a marginal status if they pay attention to it at all. Indeed, it might not be an exaggeration to state that environmental discourse is less developed within the contemporary Islamic tradition than among the followers of most other major religious traditions. Nevertheless, the few Islamic thinkers who have addressed environmental values specifically have found much in the tradition that could potentially lead Muslims to value nature and to adopt a more effective and responsible stewardship ethic than one typically sees throughout the Muslim world today.

Humans and Nature in the QurʾĀn