السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته!
Today I wanted to share my thoughts on the islamic perspective on sustainability, overconsumption, and how the hijab has become a commodity in today’s capitalist landscape.
Islamic Perspective on Sustainability
To start, what is Islam’s perspective on sustainability? Most people think of hippies in the 70’s when they think of how the sustainability movement started but we can look back even further when we look into the Islamic perspective on sustainability.
When it comes to sustainability, we can find numerous examples in the Quran where Allah SWT instructs us to practice moderation and care for the planet. In surah Al-An’am Allah SWT says:
وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنشَأَ جَنَّـٰتٍۢ مَّعْرُوشَـٰتٍۢ وَغَيْرَ مَعْرُوشَـٰتٍۢ وَٱلنَّخْلَ وَٱلزَّرْعَ مُخْتَلِفًا أُكُلُهُۥ وَٱلزَّيْتُونَ وَٱلرُّمَّانَ مُتَشَـٰبِهًۭا وَغَيْرَ مُتَشَـٰبِهٍۢ ۚ كُلُوا۟ مِن ثَمَرِهِۦٓ إِذَآ أَثْمَرَ وَءَاتُوا۟ حَقَّهُۥ يَوْمَ حَصَادِهِۦ ۖ وَلَا تُسْرِفُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُسْرِفِينَ ١٤١
He is the One Who produces gardens—both cultivated and wild—and palm trees, crops of different flavours, olives, and pomegranates—similar ˹in shape˺, but dissimilar ˹in taste˺. Eat of the fruit they bear and pay the dues at harvest, but do not waste. Surely He does not like the wasteful.
Surah Al-An’am 6:141
وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِى جَعَلَكُمْ خَلَـٰٓئِفَ ٱلْأَرْضِ وَرَفَعَ بَعْضَكُمْ فَوْقَ بَعْضٍۢ دَرَجَـٰتٍۢ لِّيَبْلُوَكُمْ فِى مَآ ءَاتَىٰكُمْ ۗ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ سَرِيعُ ٱلْعِقَابِ وَإِنَّهُۥ لَغَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۢ
He is the One Who has placed you as successors on earth and elevated some of you in rank over others, so He may test you with what He has given you. Surely your Lord is swift in punishment, but He is certainly All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Surah Al-An’am 6:165
From these verses we can understand that we must not waste the Earth’s resources and that Allah SWT has appointed humans as stewards of planet Earth. As stewards of planet Earth and its resources, we must also preserve the Earth for future generations. What better way to do that than to use Earth’s resources responsibly?
We can also look towards the best of mankind, Prophet Muhammad SAW, for examples of how Muslims should interact with the Earth. The Prophet SAW spoke against overconsumption and emphasized practicing modesty in all aspects of life (Bsoul, Labeeb, et al., 2022). As narrated by Anas, the Prophet Muhammad SAW would conserve water while performing wudhu and ghusl:
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو نُعَيْمٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا مِسْعَرٌ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي ابْنُ جَبْرٍ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَنَسًا، يَقُولُ كَانَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَغْسِلُ ـ أَوْ كَانَ يَغْتَسِلُ ـ بِالصَّاعِ إِلَى خَمْسَةِ أَمْدَادٍ، وَيَتَوَضَّأُ بِالْمُدِّ.
The Prophet (ﷺ) used to take a bath with one Sa` up to five Mudds (1 Sa` = 5 Mudds) of water and used to perform ablution with one Mudd of water.
Sahih al-Bukhari 201, Book 4, Hadith 67
Overconsumption
It’s clear that overconsumption is antithetical to how Allah SWT instructs us to act on planet Earth and how Prophet Muhammad SAW conducted himself. So why do we overconsume?
Capitalism and overconsumption are closely intertwined. As we know, capitalism in today’s form is the root of many environmental and social issues such as the degradation of the environment, exploitation of labour, and large scale inequity.
Despite what we as Muslims know about overconsumption, in 2022 Muslim spend on apparel and footwear was valued at US$318 billion, an increase of 8.4% over the previous year. By 2027, Muslim spend on apparel and footwear is forecast to reach US$428 billion, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 6.1% (Salaam, G., 2023).
What should make one look twice at this figure is the fact that many of the world’s major apparel producers also happen to be Muslim majority countries, such as Bangladesh, Egypt and Turkey. At the same time, these countries regularly top the list when it comes to the worst places to work (ITUC, 2023). This is due to the minimal labour rights in these countries, suppression of union organizing, and unsafe working conditions. As Muslims, we should never be complicit in the harm of others, let alone the harm of our fellow brothers and sisters in Islam.
The Commodification of Hijab
Now that we’ve discussed the link between capitalism and overconsumption, we can start to see why the commodification of the hijab is a natural result of our current capitalist landscape.
In recent years, we have seen an explosion of growth in the modest fashion space with Muslim women creating brands for other Muslim women. With there now being a multitude of hijab brands and abaya brands, it seems that there’s always room to enter the commercial scene (although I can’t say these brands always bring something new). In this way, we have Muslim women acting as both consumers and producers (McLarney, Ellen A., 2010).
With this phenomenon we can also see how the identity of the Muslim woman could become tied to the consumption of these commodities. Today, markers of Muslim femininity have become a commodity and as a result, consumption of modest fashion and beauty has become a way of expressing piety. When Muslim women’s identity becomes tied to consumption, we start to see division along class lines and isolation (McLarney, Ellen A., 2010).
When it comes to examples of the commodification of piety, we can look towards social media. Videos such as being an “abaya girlie” or being a “vela girl” (open links on desktop to view) are centred around consumption. Both individuals and brands carefully create an idea of what the ideal Muslimmah wants to be and position their modest offerings (whether that’s a lifestyle or a product) around it. Being an “abaya girlie” should be as simple as wearing an abaya, no matter how old or how simple it is. Instead, we see the abaya being linked to opulence and luxury.
Brands have also constructed consumer identities around their modest products and consumers then adopt these identities. When this occurs, we see divisions among those who consume and those who can’t (or choose not to). Feelings of loneliness and isolation become apparent when one can’t adhere to the larger group identity. Many Muslim women feel they don’t belong because they don’t fit into the popular (commodified) idea of modesty and may feel isolated from their fellow sisters.
On the other hand, because consumption has become tied to expressions of piety and identity, many women aren’t willing to critically examine their consumption because it becomes a criticism of their identity. This is most apparent when Shein hauls (modest clothing or not) are scrutinized.
Final Thoughts
Overall, there’s a lot of work to be done in our community to return to the way of life Allah SWT commanded of us and our beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW exemplified.
As Muslims, we should be the loudest voices when it comes to fighting for sustainable practices, resisting overconsumption, and making sure we’re not complicit in the exploitation of our fellow humans and planet Earth.
As Muslim women we also need to be more critical of modest clothing brands and our own consumption. We need to ask more of these modest brands as well. How do they source their materials? What are the working conditions like? Is another neutral modest clothing brand necessary? We also need to ask ourselves how we can foster sisterhood and a sense of shared identity without basing it on consumption.
If you made it this far (thank you!), I’d love to hear your thoughts on these topics!
Further Reading and Listening
Bsoul, Labeeb, et al. “Islam’s perspective on environmental sustainability: A conceptual analysis.” Social Sciences 11.6 (2022): 228.
Carrington, Michal Jemma, Detlev Zwick, and Benjamin Neville. “The ideology of the ethical consumption gap.” Marketing Theory 16.1 (2016): 21-38.
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). “2023 ITUC Global Rights Index”. Available at: https://files.mutualcdn.com/ituc/files/2023_ituc_global_rights_index_en.pdf.
McLarney, Ellen A. “Muslim Women, Consumer Capitalism, and the Islamic Culture Industry.” Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies (2010).
Salaam, G. (2023). “State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2023/24”. Available at: https://cdn.salaamgateway.com/reports/pdf/SGIER-2023.pdf.
The Qarawiyyin project. “The Devil Wears Zara | Iman Masmoudi”. Available at: https://qarawiyyinproject.co/2021/06/30/podcast-ep-16-the-devil-wears-zara-iman-masmoudi/
Muslimmah Musings 