The history of environment is an increasing academic discipline that combines natural sciences with numerous approaches from (intellectual) history, anthropology, geography, social sciences, philosophy as well as law and economics. It focuses on the close relationship between human beings, societies and their environment as essential aspects of human culture and civilization. Literary and cultural studies and theology furthermore essentially provide important perspectives on the inescapable entanglement between humankind and their environment. The increasing awareness that human beings are only a part of nature and that human actions affect their natural environment globally strengthened an awareness of the responsibility of humankind for a sustainable living. The practices and the knowledge of cultures concerning nature and environment, how humans traditionally perceive it and how they treat it are culturally diverse. In 2008 the UNESCO defined these practices and this knowledge as an integral part of an intangible cultural heritage that is worth not only being preserved but being studied as well. The aim of the roundtable was to elaborate on approaches to nature and environment protection from an interdisciplinary perspective with a focus on Egypt which is a particularly apt place since it features some of the most long-standing efforts within the realm of bio-consciousness within the Arab world.

The first day started with a welcome note by MONA AYOUB and FATMA SOLIMAN (both Cairo). BIRGIT SCHAEBLER (Beirut) introduced the roundtable and emphasized the essential importance of exploring the relationship between humans and their environment. She raised some important questions that kicked off the conference. How can religions, theologies and cultural traditions fruitfully contribute to create a broader awareness for the importance of sustainability and environment protection, specifically in the Arab world? With consideration to European societies the thesis of Lynn White (1907-1987) have shown remarkably that interpretations of holy scriptures can have a tremendous effect on how humans understand themselves and their environment. White argued that the literal interpretation of Gen. 1,28 was an impetus for the rigorous abuse of nature in pre-modern Europe and can be considered as an underlying reason for the ecological crisis in industrial societies. White’s harsh critique stimulated Christian theology to reflect on its potential concerning humans understanding of nature and focused on new readings in order to support the responsibility of humankind in its interaction with its natural environment.

The first panel of the roundtable explored the perception of nature in classical and contemporary Arabic and Islamic discourses. HANS-PETER POEKEL (Beirut) discussed the concept of “nature” in classical Arabic and Islamic thought and its relations to theological discussions about the free will and the concept of creation. He pointed to the elusiveness of the concept of nature itself, specifically in its relation to humankind with an internal, external or intrinsic connotation. A problematic concern is the self-understanding of humankind, namely if it has nature or if it is nature; a question that even for European societies is not solved yet. The following discussion also raised gender aspects of the dichotomy between nature and culture.

LAURA WICKSTROM (Turku) discussed the MENA region’s current experiences of degradation of already limited natural resources through climate change and rapid population growth and contextualized it with approaches in Islamic eco-theology. She stressed that the environmentalist discussion in the region focused specifically on questions concerning Islamic theology, social justice, human rights, anti-capitalism and anti-imperialism and expressed itself in different fields such as Islamic law, practical conservationism, mystical-philosophical discourses, and political, social and economic initiatives as well as a green lifestyle. She traced how blame directed at the Jewish-Christian tradition by environmentalists in the 1960s led to a debate about religion as a way out of destruction, with the early example of the Iranian scholar Seyyed Hossein Nasr and his promotion of a return to a sense of holiness. In light of a regional competition, the discussion became dominated by Saudi-Arabia in the 1980s and is now led to a considerable extent by Muslims living in the West. Wickstrom concluded that there is no comprehensive environmental discussion in Islam as such, but rather approaches ranging from feminist ecology, the promotion of radical social reform to the idea of gradual reform through sustainable development and the Islamic finance sector. The following discussion sharpened the distinction between an Islamic contribution as being derived from authoritative sources and the contribution of Muslims which does not necessarily have to be Islamic.

BIRGIT KRAWIETZ (Berlin) presented and discussed an Arabic monograph on the popular Egyptian preacher Yūsuf al-Qaradāwī on Sharī'a Ecology, published 2011 in Cairo, as an in-depth example in the framework of the uṣūl al fiqh. Attempting to defy a Western monopolization of ecology, al-Qaradāwī identifies sources specifically in the Qur'ān and the judicial literature that can be interpreted in a way that they support an ecological awareness. Al-Qaradāwī points to ecological global challenges that he understands theologically as a disruption of God’s cosmological order. Countering it is only possible with an increasing awareness within an Islamic framework. Krawietz also pointed out some weak points in al-Qaradāwīs discussion of the topic that deserve to be considered and revised. The discussion brought out the importance of the media in the Arab World and its role in the support to create a better awareness for ecology.

The second panel of the day considered practical aspects of the relation between humans and nature with a focus on contemporary Egyptian initiatives. The panel was opened by ABDELWAHAB AFEFE (Cairo) who discussed the cultivation of medical plants in Southern Sinai and a mangrove program along the red sea coastline that connects the global importance of the mangrove ecosystems with the needs of the local population. Afefe emphasized the contribution of local communities and their reservoir of orally transmitted knowledge.

HALA BARAKAT (Cairo) continued the discussion on local initiatives and focused on anthropological research on tribes around the St. Catherine monastery in Sinai. Looking at their customs she emphasized their vast knowledge of the nature around them as well as their ability to ensure a sustainable lifestyle, such as fertilizing plants, feeling responsible for wildlife, as well as the traditional ḥilf conservation system, that regulates which areas and resources can be accessed by humans at what time. In her presentation Barakat explored the traditional rules and limitations of resource-gathering that aim to ensure a rehabilitation of the eco-system.

The second day focused on contemporary debates and challenges regarding nature and ecology in the urban context of the Arab world. RICHARD TUTWILER (Cairo) pointed out that contemporary urban development in the Arab world in the form of ‘gated residential communities’ or ‘compounds’ presents a primary example of the clash between sustainable living and the culturally highly valued images such as that of the green ‘oasis’. The juxtaposition between sustainable and culturally valued lifestyles was identified as a major issue in Egypt but also the wider Arab World concerning contemporary urban projects. It is striking that urban development necessitates the difficult process of transforming and adapting traditional cultural ideas to contemporary environmental conditions.

As a starting point for a culturally and environmentally symbiotic urban development approach RICHARD HOATH (Cairo) presented the new campus of the American University in Cairo as a case study that combines natural desert landscapes with small ‘oases’, sections of artificial greenery that form a flourishing and diverse natural ecosystem. This achievement was intensely debated as a model for future progress in culturally and environmentally sensitive urban planning in the region. In the recently founded New Cairo area, which is to become the new administrative center of Egypt, the garden of the American University has developed within only a few years into a biosphere of threatened species.

In the final panel KHALED ELNOBY (Cairo) further demonstrated the multifariousness and complexity of the conflict between the evolution of environmental protection and the conservation of an intangible cultural heritage by highlighting the opposition between legal and cultural legitimacy in the practice of falconry in Egypt. Elnoby remarked the difficulty to distinguish between ‘natural heritage’ and ‘cultural heritage’, especially in the case of communities that claim a strong kinship with their environment. As the discussion on this topic revealed, national governments play a key role in making such distinctions. The speaker explained that applications for UNESCO cultural heritage status must be filled only by nation states. He confirmed that lobbying for certain cultural practices, like in the case of falconry, can be a successful tool for advancing their recognition as a protected species.

TATIANA VILLEGAS-ZAMORA (Cairo) complemented this observation by providing the international perspective on the processes of recognizing certain practices and traditions as (intangible) cultural heritage at the UNESCO. The presentation initiated a discussion on the question in how far the secularized recognition of certain practices as intangible cultural heritage, in particular also those relating to nature, can accurately capture these practices’ essence, as it was argued that many of them share a strong spiritual core that is impossible to ignore. This represents an important line of inquiry into the interdisciplinarity and complexity of cultural heritage, even more general on a global scale.

The roundtable concluded with a focus on the relationship between nature and harmony, covering a cluster of issues that connected much of the content of the previous presentations and discussions. SALMA TALHOUK (Beirut) discussed her field studies on the perception of nature among youth in rural Lebanon. Talhouk analyzed how Lebanese adolescents consider nature and what they regard as nature with unexpected results. She remarked that the inclusion of harmony with nature has a lot of consequences for tracing the problematic relationship between humans and their environment and the identification of the primary actors, as well as their interests and needs in this dynamic. Where is nature to be located on the two-pronged tier of rural versus urban areas? Who possesses the primary power in terms of potential for environmental protection or destruction? How and to what degree affect informal experiences of nature through the family a person’s outlook on their environment? And how can we retrieve information about the old traditions of former, agrarian communities to learn from their approach to a life in harmony with nature? Talhouks presentation has on one hand shown remarkably the difficulty to define nature and on the other emphasized the impact of emotions.

Conference Overview:

Mona Ayoub / Fatma Soliman (Cairo): Welcome Address

Birgit Schäbler (Beirut): Introduction

Panel: Perspectives and Challenges of Nature and Ecology in Muslim Societies

Hans-Peter Pökel (Beirut): The Concept of “Nature” in Classical Arabic and Islamic Thought

Birgit Krawietz (Berlin): Islamic Eco-Jurisprudence on the Rise?

Laura Wickstrom (Turku): Islamic Ecological Views, Climate Change and Possible Security Threats in the MENA Region

Panel: Nature in Egypt

Abdeslwahab Afefe (Cairo): The Traditional Knowledge of Nature in Egypt and the Role of Local Communities

Hala N. Barakat (Cairo): Desert People and Nature

Discussion

Philippe Maupai (Cairo): Greeting Words

Panel: Contemporary Challenges of Nature and Ecology in Muslim Societies

Richard N. Tutwiler (Cairo): The Oasis Metaphor: How Developers Incorporate Nature in Contemporary Arab Urban Development

Richard Hoath (Cairo): Rapidly Emerging ῾Natural᾽ Ecosystems in a New City: A Case Study of AUC᾽s New Campus

Panel: Perspectives on Living in and with Nature in Egypt and Beyond

Khaled Elnoby (Cairo): Falconry – between Pride and Crime: A Case Study of Falconry Conditions in Egypt

Tatiana Villegas-Zamora (Cairo): Traditional Knowledge and Practices Concerning Nature and the Universe and Their Contribution to Sustainable Development

Salma Talhouk (Beirut / Washington): Everyday Nature in the World of Lebanese Rural Youth

Final Discussion