Climate Crises and the Reshaping of the Islamic World

Throughout history, episodes of extreme and catastrophic climatic conditions have often had religious consequences, and that is true of all faiths. In the Islamic context, that includes the rise of the faith in the 620s CE, and the various phases of Ottoman history in Europe in Early Modern times. Extreme conditions such as prolonged droughts have resulted in politic turbulence. Arguably, we find such a context for the Syrian civil war over the past decade. On a broader canvas, while the fact of global climate change is well recognized, its religious consequences are less explored. In fact, some of the regions likely to be hardest hit by projected changes are precisely the areas most vulnerable to religious conflict, and it is likely that future climate developments would be reflected in new kinds of religious movement, and perhaps of greater violence.