From Spiritual Crisis to Ecological Ethics: Ecosufism, Religious Authority, and Environmental Governance in Indonesia

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Published: Jun 1, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15642/teosofi.2026.16.1.114-143
Keywords:
Ecosufism; Islamic Ecotheology; Tawḥīd–Tazkiyya–‘Amal; Ecological Consciousness; Sufi Metaphysics; Anthropocene.

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Budi Rahman Hakim
UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta
Herman L. Beck
Tilburg University
Jamhari Makruf
Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia

Abstract

Contemporary Islamic ecotheology has advanced environmental responsibility through institutional reform and ethical reinterpretation of classical principles such as khilāfa and amāna, yet it remains structurally limited by its predominant focus on behavioral compliance rather than the prior conditions of ecological perception. This study addresses that gap by developing Ecosufism as an analytically grounded framework that extends Islamic ecotheology toward a Sufi metaphysical account of the human-nature relationship. Drawing on hermeneutic analysis of classical Sufi sources alongside critical engagement with Nasr, Rosa, Latour, and Weber, the study operationalizes the Tawḥīd–Tazkiyya–‘Amal triad as a functional model specifying the mechanisms through which ontological awareness, ethical self-purification, and embodied ecological action constitute a coherent and sequential process of ecological consciousness. Indonesian cases, including the 2025 Ekoteologi Islam initiative, FNKSDA activism, and Neo-Sufi movements, illustrate the triad’s analytical range while revealing a consistent structural gap between the perceptual transformation Ecosufism prescribes and the institutional conditions required to sustain it at the collective scale. The study contributes an original analytical model that repositions ecological crisis as a problem of ontological perception within Islamic thought.

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Rahman Hakim, Budi, Herman L. Beck, and Jamhari Makruf. “From Spiritual Crisis to Ecological Ethics: Ecosufism, Religious Authority, and Environmental Governance in Indonesia”. Teosofi: Jurnal Tasawuf dan Pemikiran Islam 16, no. 1 (June 1, 2026): 166–195. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://jurnalfuf.uinsa.ac.id/index.php/teosofi/article/view/3924.
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Vol. 16 No. 1 (2026): June
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© The Author(s). Published by Department of Aqidah and Islamic Philosophy, Faculty of Ushuluddin and Philosophy, Sunan Ampel State Islamic University Surabaya, Indonesia.

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