Seyyed Hossein Nasr, a professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University, believes Islam is more disposed toward environmental stewardship than other faiths, and should probably be regarded as
the "green" religion. At the same time, he allows that Islamic governments have often put economic progress ahead of the environment, and many Islamic societies expect the West to find some technological solution to the woes of the planet.
Still, as Nasr told CBC Radio One's
IDEAS, "Christianity in the West has had a tremendous problem: how to come to terms with the environment at a time when its most devout followers have not shown much interest in the environment."
As for the greening of Islam, he says "the Qur'an addresses not only human beings, but also the cosmos. It is much easier to be able to develop an environmental philosophy. "Birds are called communities in the Qur'an ... it is so easy to develop an authentic Islamic philosophy of the environment."
Nasr's interest in science, religion and the environment spans five decades. He's published dozens of books including
Man and Nature: The Spiritual Crisis in Modern Man. In it, he compares how Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam, particularly its Sufi expression, see humankind's relationship with the environment.