Environmental Ethics Based on Akhlaq Tasawwuf: The Perspective of Majelis Tarjih dan Tajdid Muhammadiyah

Abstract

The ecological crisis confronting contemporary Muslim societies demands a theological response that goes beyond legal prescription. This article examines how the Majelis Tarjih dan Tajdid of Muhammadiyah the principal jurisprudential body of one of the world's largest Islamic organizations constructs an environmental ethics grounded in the Sufi moral tradition (akhlaq tasawwuf). Drawing on qualitative content analysis of primary fatwa documents, official Muhammadiyah resolutions (putusan), and secondary scholarly literature, the study identifies three interlocking ethical pillars: (1) tawadu' (humility toward creation), (2) zuhd (ascetic restraint from over consumption), and (3) amanah (trusteeship of the earth). The findings reveal that Muhammadiyah's ecotheological framework integrates classical Sufi virtues with the Quranic concept of khalifah fi al-ardh (vicegerency on earth), thereby producing a distinctively Islamic environmental virtue ethics. Unlike legalistic approaches that reduce ecological duty to a set of prohibitions, the Sufi ethical approach fosters an interior disposition of care and responsibility toward the natural world. The article contributes to growing literature on Islamic environmentalism by demonstrating how a modernist-reformist movement can appropriate mystical ethics without abandoning its rationalist commitments. Practical implications for environmental education and Islamic organizational policy are discussed.