Muslim philanthropy and the environment

The Problem

Religious donations play a huge role in the philanthropic world, but environmental causes only make up about 3% of U.S. charitable giving. By extension, religious organizations are one of the highest recipients of philanthropy and possess the potential to be major contributors to environmental causes.

Though Muslims place high significance on charitable giving and volunteerism, few studies have been devoted to how Muslim populations and organizations donate their time and resources to environmental causes in the U.S. or internationally. In addition, less attention is paid to informal, hard-to-quantify forms of philanthropy, like volunteerism and other forms of advocacy, which are often rooted in cultural practices. As the United States grows more diverse in its religious makeup, improved understanding of the attitudes of Muslims and other faiths toward and support for environmental causes is needed.

The Project

Under the supervision of Shariq Siddiqui, an assistant professor at the IUPUI Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and the director of the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative, research associate Sitashma Thapa is leading a qualitative and quantitative study on environmental resilience and sustainability from an Islamic philanthropy lens.

The project aims to better understand not just how much Islamic communities contribute to sustainability causes, but also which causes are most supported. Causes examined include mitigation, adaptation, and environmental justice. The study aims to incorporate ERI tools, such as the Hoosier Resilience Index and the Hoosier Life Survey, to examine religious attitudes and giving in Indiana and include comparisons between the giving practices of other faiths.

Thapa’s literature review of existing research on the topic of faith-based philanthropy, especially Islam, for sustainability and environmental resilience causes, has contributed to three articles written for the Indianapolis Business Journal by Siddiqui. This review, combined with original research from Thapa, will seek to answer questions about how religious behavior connects with philanthropy and advocacy for climate change topics.

Though the project’s initial focus is on U.S. philanthropic activity, a second phase aims to encompass charitable giving globally. As part of this work, Thapa will lead roundtable discussions with religious leaders abroad, potentially in Indonesia, Bangladesh, or Turkey on the topic of climate change and its relevance to Muslim philanthropy.  

The Path Forward

Thapa has planned a storytelling session for master’s students in the Zakat Foundation Institute Fellowship program to share narratives about their experiences with climate change in their home countries, many of which are disproportionately affected. The session will also focus on philanthropic and advocacy work completed in these communities and the role of faith in motivating action. Participating fellows will be offered the chance to publish these narratives in the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative’s Muslim Humanitarian Review.

Thapa, along with IU Assistant Professor Ash Enrici, has also contributed questions on climate change philanthropy to the 2024 Muslim General Survey. Responses from the survey will contribute to Thapa’s study, slated to be published in a special issue of the Journal of Muslim Philanthropy & Civil Society.

Lastly, Thapa along with IU student Jonayed Hossain are currently working on a case study examining forced displacement due to climate change in Susua Char, an island in Bangladesh. Their findings will be presented at the annual conference of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action.

Updated May 3, 2024

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