Indonesia’s Islamic groups must reverse out of mining industry

Imam Saffet Catovic is director of the United Nations operations of nongovernmental organization Justice for All.
Hajj Fazlun Khalid is founder of the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences.

A controversial move just a few months before the end of Indonesia President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s second and final term has deeply unsettled both environmental and religious communities in Indonesia.

Championed by Jokowi, the country’s mining regulations have been amended to allow religious organizations to operate mining concessions. This marks a troubling shift in the relationship between faith, governance and stewardship of natural resources in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation.

The country’s two biggest Muslim organizations — the Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama — have accepted this decision. By doing so, we see this as a way to keep religious groups silent on pressing environmental issues, and we are also concerned about the possibility of creating a divide between communities and religious groups rather than making efforts to disenfranchise mining companies. This is not just a misguided policy decision; it is a betrayal of our Islamic principles and a threat to the very planet we are divinely mandated to protect.

Mining is synonymous with significant environmental challenges. Its impacts on Indonesia are well-documented and alarming. More than 700,000 hectares of forest in have disappeared, largely due to mining and related activities, according to deforestation monitoring platform The Treemap. Mining operations have also polluted water and soil with hazardous waste, and have decimated traditional hunting grounds. As an archipelagic nation, Indonesia is particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate change. By expanding its mining operations, the country is essentially fueling the very crisis that threatens its future.

The social consequences of mining are equally troubling. Communities, Indigenous peoples and local communities are often displaced, and their ancestral lands are seized for mining use. This violates the basic Islamic principles of social justice and protection of the vulnerable.

In adopting this new mining policy, it seems that Indonesia has lost sight of the fundamental teachings of Islam. Religious leaders should be at the forefront of environmental protection and not be complicit in its degradation. By granting mining concessions to religious bodies, the government is not only enabling ecological destruction but also compromising the integrity and moral authority of these institutions while sowing a divide among the Muslim community.

 

While we respect the autonomy of Indonesia’s government and religious institutions, this policy change presents a complex ethical dilemma as it is in direct conflict with the environmental principles many Islamic scholars and leaders have been promoting in recent years.

In 2015, Islamic leaders came together to support an Islamic Declaration on Climate Change, urging Muslims across the world to take a proactive stance in addressing climate change. It said, “We call on all Muslims, wherever they may be … to tackle habits, mindset, and the root causes of climate change, environmental degradation, and the loss of biodiversity.” The declaration reflected a growing awareness within the global Muslim community of our responsibility to address environmental issues.

Just last year, a team of renowned Islamic theologians, environmental scholars, and leading institutions from diverse countries issued Al-Mizan, a groundbreaking Islamic statement that called for an end to new fossil fuel development. This trailblazing endorsement is a big step forward for the worldwide Muslim community, and we hope Indonesia’s Muslim organizations will take the message to heart.

Indonesia itself has been a beacon in this regard. From local mosques installing solar panels to international Islamic declarations on climate change, the momentum has been building. The 2014 fatwa protecting endangered species and the establishment of the Green Islam movement in 2022 were all signals of how millions of Muslims view their relationship with the natural world.

But now, Indonesia is facing a stark contradiction. How can religious groups, which have long preached the sanctity of God’s creation, justify their involvement in an industry known for its devastating environmental impacts? It can be quite difficult to see how such organizations can continue to advocate for environmental protection while simultaneously being complicit in its destruction.

Pope Francis’ recent call for decisive climate action during his visit to Indonesia serves as a compelling interfaith statement, underscoring the collective responsibility that goes beyond individual religious boundaries. By advocating for environmental stewardship in such a diverse and spiritually rich nation, the Pope highlights how protecting our planet is a universal moral imperative shared across faiths — with religious leaders at the helm of it.

We call on our fellow faith leaders in Indonesia and around the world to double down on our commitment to environmental protection, not retreat from it. As we navigate the complex challenges of the modern world, may we all recommit to the principles of environmental stewardship that are deeply embedded in our faith traditions. We must hold our religious institutions accountable when they stray from these principles. And in the end, we must continue to be a prophetic voice for climate justice.