環境問題をめぐるイスラームと科学知の新たな関係性

イランにおけるイスラーム法学者と環境専門家による議論に着目して

抄録

As environmental problems have become ubiquitous and perceivable in Iran, increasing numbers of individuals and institutions have recently joined the discussion about ways to confront the problems. Most notably, environmental experts trained in natural science disciplines play a leading role in researching, designing, and implementing environmental policies at the national level. Despite their intensified eorts in science programs, however, Iran continues to struggle with environmental challenges in recent years. Against this background, the government is looking for alternative ways to complement their scientific endeavors in order to further mitigate detrimental effects; they are now beginning to cooperate with religious leaders to address issues of the environment, especially from the perspective of Islam.

The field of the environment has distinctly become an intersection of knowledges of both science and religion, the disciplines of which have been studied by social scientists with attention to the relevant discourses, practices, and institutions embedded within a historically-situated, local context.

The present work explores how Islamic debates concerning the environment unfold in contemporary Iran, where the status of science is also prominent. Drawing on the case study of a meeting in which environmental experts and religious leaders participated and exchanged views about environmental problems, it demonstrates how the rationales of Islam and science are communicated and developing among them in order to cope with environmental problems.