Md Saidul Islam

• PhD
• Professor (Associate) at Nanyang Technological University

This research paper explores Islamic Environmental Ethics (IEE), emphasising collective human responsibilities to manage environmental resources and protect the universe from functional degradation. It provides an overview of Islam and modern environmental discourse, aiming to offer a holistic perspective on IEE that encompasses Islamic faith, Isla...

Water is a basic necessity, without which no individual or nation can survive. Every nation, therefore, needs to ensure its water security, which encompasses all dimensions of human health, livelihood and well-being, and food and energy production. All industrial nations first strived to ensure their water security through early substantial investm...

Jamaat-e-Islami (or Jamaat) has been so relevant and significant in Bangladesh politics that scholars describe them as ‘kingmakers’. Since its inception in British India in 1941, Bangladesh Jamaat has been actively mobilizing people, organizing and participating in sociopolitical movements while attempting to reorganize and reshape the sociopolitic...

Waste is an increasingly significant environmental concern in Singapore in light of the shortening lifespan of the nation's Semakau Landfill, which is expected to reach full capacity by 2035. In order to provide a fresh perspective on the age-old problem of waste management and open different conversations regarding waste, we posit that the obscure...

Jamaat-e-Islami (or Jamaat) has been so relevant and significant in Bangladesh politics that scholars describe them as ‘kingmakers’. Since its inception in British India in 1941, Bangladesh Jamaat has been actively mobilizing people, organizing and participating in sociopolitical movements while attempting to reorganize and reshape the sociopolitic...

The international community has recognized the significance of plastic pollution, and there is a growing consensus among governments, organizations, and communities that action is urgently needed. The United Nations Environment Assembly's resolution to combat plastic pollution demonstrates the global commitment to tackling this issue. By focusing o...

Climate change, one of the severest environmental threats to humankind, disproportionately affects low-income, developing countries in the Global South. Having no feasible mitigation alternatives, these countries resort to adaptation efforts to address climate perturbations. Climate change adaptation (or resilience) is primarily a localized course...

Climate change, one of the severest environmental threats to humankind, disproportionately affects low-income developing countries in the global South. Having no feasible mitigation alternatives, these countries resort to adaptation efforts in addressing the climate perturbations. Climate change adaptation (or resilience) is primarily a localized c...

Recent years have witnessed a proliferation of environmental certification regimes in the global agro-food system—a trend characterized as an example of the ecological modernization approach—which emerged largely because of the rise of consumer sovereignty and the neoliberal push for environmental and social “quality” in food production and process...

Regional organizations are central to effectively addressing the current and future impacts of climate change and food security issues. Climate change and food security issues can only be dealt with through extensive policies that adopt a multi-sector, multi-stakeholder approach. An examination of three regional organizations (the Association of So...

The 2007–2008 global financial crisis is considered as the worst global economic crisis since the Great Depression. Many countries were hit hard by the recession and scrambled to acquire water and land in order to secure food and financial security. India and China were two countries that were heavily involved in land and water grabs around the wor...

In recent decades, China and India’s economic development brought both countries to the forefront as the two largest emitters today. Reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and a plethora of other studies highlight that both countries face similar threats from ecological degradation. Apart from ecological degradation, China and Ind...

Food security extends beyond the provision of relief from economic woes and environmental disasters but rather, it should be designed in ways that enable the disadvantaged sections of the population to break out of a vicious cycle of poverty and insecurity. As such, food security echoes the need for sustainable and actionable ways where people from...

This chapter establishes the historical background to ASEAN and its member states, highlights the impacts of climate change on food security in the region, and provides an analysis of the efficacy of the regional initiatives to mitigate regional-level risks of food security considering the impact of climate change. The chapter inquires and assesses...

The issue of climate change has been gaining widespread attention and concern as it has the ability to directly/indirectly affect our standard of living and quality of life. It has often been postulated that changes in climate would have a vast effect on food production systems and that food security might be threatened due to increasing climate ch...

Because of increasing rural–urban migration, cities in the world currently hosting more than half of the world’s population are grappling with food security, which itself is complicated by other factors including climate change. The problem will be even more severe since over 70% of the global population will be living in cities concentrating large...

This chapter synthesizes the impact of climate change and food security on South Asian region, providing: (1) background and history to SAARC and its member states, (2) highlighting the impacts of climate change and food security on SAARC, and (3) providing an analysis of the regional initiatives and its effectiveness to mitigate regional risks of...

Climate change and food security issues are multi-faceted and transcend national boundaries. Regional organizations are therefore optimally positioned to address climate change and food security issues, while actively engaging global partners to slow down or reverse current trajectories. This closing chapter concludes the book by summarizing the fi...

This chapter will present: (1) an understanding about PIF and its member states, (2) highlight the impacts of climate change and food security on PIF, and (3) provide an overview of regional initiatives undertaken and its efficacy to mitigate regional risks related to food security due to climate change impacts. To adequately examine the efficacy o...

Society is at an important intersection in dealing with the challenges of climate change, and this paper is presented at a critical juncture in light of growing recognition that the natural sciences are insufficient to deal with these challenges. Critical aspects of sociological perspectives related to climate change research are brought together i...

Using an interdisciplinary approach, this book evaluates the complex nexus between climate change and regional food security in Asia Pacific. Feeding the planet puts a lot of stress on the environment. The fundamental challenges we are facing today include how to grow more from less in a sustainable manner; how to optimize the entire food value cha...

Over the last few decades, the global shrimp aquaculture industry has grown considerably and experienced important transformations in coastal regions in the Global South. However, despite being a major contributor to GDP and export earnings of the country, the shrimp industry in Bangladesh is not yet fully developed. This important sector is often...

Traditions and practices in food, resting, and hygiene or cleanliness are among the key factors deeply associated with human immunity against fatal diseases and viruses. Al-Ṭibb Al-Nabawī (Prophetic medicine in Islam), similar to popular herbal and Ayurveda medicine, promotes a symbolic narration “prevention is better than cure.” Drawing on this br...

This chapter covers the theoretical and conceptual framework. This study draws on several sociological theories such as secularization theory and its paradigms, modalities of secularism, and Weberian sociology of religion. Secularization theory and modalities (multiple types) of secularism are significant in grasping the sociopolitical and cultural...

This chapter outlines the relationship between Islam and democracy from normative and philosophical viewpoints. Islam is a faith whereas democracy is a political system. The philosophy of Islam based on divine origin often contradicts with Western democratic discourse based on secular doctrinal philosophy. However, a number of Islamic philosophers...

The chapter examines the nature and trends of Islamism in pre-independent Bangladesh. The development of Islamism in the pre-independent Bangladesh was connected to two significant aspects—the global Islamic resurgence and the socioeconomic and political and historical trajectories of the Indian Muslim society. The colonial administration played a...

Referring to and taking insights from earlier chapters, the concluding chapter highlights the major arguments of the book. It also critically evaluates the roles and functions of the Islamist parties. The chapter finally offers some policy recommendations, which will be helpful for policy-makers, academics, and informed citizens for building peace,...

This chapter analyzes state-sponsored secularization and Islamization in Bangladesh. Secularism interpreted by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (the founding president of Bangladesh) was the recognition rather than the rejection of religions. Nevertheless, Mujib proceeded to secularize the society and to that end, he took several measures in practice. But the...

The chapter examines the role of the organized Islam-based political parties in the interplay of Islamism and democracy in Bangladesh. We will critically investigate to what extent the mainstream Islamist political parties in Bangladesh (e.g., Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Islami Oikya Jote, Khelafat Majlis, Bangladesh Khel...

Examining the Islamization theories, the chapter critically discusses the advent of Islam and growth of Muslim society in Bengal (now Bangladesh). The advent of Islam in Bengal has been recorded much before the political conquest of the Muslims of the country. The peaceful missionary activities by the Arab traders and Sufi saints were primarily res...

Locating on a broader South Asian context, this opening chapter focuses on the background information, literature review, research questions, objectives and significance, and methodology of the study. Sociologists earlier predicted that religion would gradually fade in importance and cease to be significant with the advent of modernization and indu...

This chapter elaborates upon the methods used to collect and analyze data for this study. The primary sources of data gathered and used in the research include face-to-face intensive interviews with different categories of informed people—politicians, journalists, human rights activists, Islamic scholars, Islamic party leaders, and academics—and fo...

Climate change and food security issues are multi-faceted and transcend across national boundaries. Therefore, this paper begins with the premise that regional organizations are optimally positioned to address climate change and food security issues while actively engaging global partners to slow down or reverse current trajectories. However, the p...

“Critical, insightful and thought-provoking, Islam and Democracy in South Asia is a real masterpiece on religion and politics uncovering the critical nexus between Islam, political Islam, and democracy in Bangladesh. Rigorous methodologies, thought-provoking debates, and convincing arguments are among the hallmarks of the book.” — Emajuddin Ahamed,...

Local contexts as well as levels of exposure play a substantial role in defining a community’s perception of climate and environmental vulnerabilities. In order to assess a community’s adaptation strategies, understanding of how different groups in that community comprehend climate change is crucial. Public risk perception is important as it can in...

This paper introduces a special issue of Aquaculture that brings together the largest collection of research on aquaculture value chains compiled to date, comprising 19 individual papers and this introductory review. The introduction identifies five themes emerging from research on aquaculture value chains in the special issue, namely: multi-polari...

Wildlife tourism is frequently touted as a solution to the problems of increased poaching, habitat destruction, and species extinction. When wildlife is able to pay for its right to survive through attracting tourists, there is an incentive to conserve wildlife populations and the habitats that support them. However, numerous reports in recent year...

Bangladesh is an overwhelmingly Muslim majority country in South Asia. Islam is quite predominant in its political, social and cultural landscapes. While most classical and the contemporary sociologists predicted that religion would gradually fade in importance and cease to be significant with the advent of the industrial society, Bangladesh has in...

With a growing demand of seafood globally, industrial shrimp has become one of the most lucrative cuisine items in the world. Countries of the global South, including Bangladesh, have become the sites of extraction, production and processing of this commodity; while North America, Europe and Japan dominate the sites of consumption (Islam 2014). Inc...

With apparent ecological and social limits to globalization and development, the current levels of consumption are unsustainable, inequitable, and inaccessible to the majority of humans. Understanding environmental sustainability is a crucial matter at a time when our planet is in peril - both environmentally and socially. This edited collection wi...

Since late 2000s, the political landscape in Bangladesh moved from democracy to an authoritarian kleptocracy, and experienced a new set of political and social narratives. This paper aims to contest some of these dominant/official narratives which have been discursively constructed and promoted by the secularist parties (including the ruling regime...

This article seeks to address the gap in representing micro-level civil society voices and contribute to literature on state-society relations in Singapore’s environmental movement. Given the present constraints of state-NGO communication and cooperation, the state and NGOs negotiate the restrictions by grooming youths as agents of change. Through...

This book provides an introduction to the state of sustainability education in Asia. It covers national policies, institutional policies and practices within Asian universities, sustainability considerations for teacher training at schools of education, and pedagogical practices for sustainability in higher education. With contributors from univers...

Is authoritarianism intrinsic to Islam? Is Islam incompatible with democracy? These questions are frequently debated in the context of the study of the relationship between the Western and Islamic civilization. The debate has gained momentum since the last decade of the twentieth century, especially after the collapse of the former Soviet Union and...

In the context of the exhaustion of marine fisheries, aquaculture increasingly plays a mounting role in the world economy and food security. However, it is confronted with and deeply affected by various threats and disruptions caused by global climate change. Bangladesh, a key site for global aquaculture production, contributes very little to globa...

Our planet is undergoing radical environmental and social changes. Sustainability has now been put into question by, for example, our consumption patterns, loss of biodiversity, depletion of resources, and exploitative power relations. With apparent ecological and social limits to globalization and development, current levels of consumption are kno...

In the last few decades, disaster risk reduction programs and climate initiatives across the globe have focused largely on the intimate connections between vulnerability, recovery, adaptation, and coping mechanisms. Recent focus, however, is increasingly paid to community resilience. Community, placed at the intersection between the household and n...

Recurrent haze in Southeast Asian countries including Singapore is largely attributable to rampant forest fires in Indonesia due to, for example, extensive slash-and-burn (S & B) culture. Drawing on the “treadmill of production” and environmental governance approach, we examine causes and consequences of this culture. We found that, despite some pe...

Md Saidul Islam and Md Ismail Hossain investigate how neoliberal globalization generates unique conditions, contradictions, and confrontations in labor, gender and environmental relations; and how a broader global social justice can mitigate the tensions and improve the conditions.

The Indian government recently resumed the construction of the Tipaimukh Dam on the Barak River just 1 km north of Bangladesh’s north-eastern border. The construction work was stalled in March 2007 in the wake of massive protests from within and outside India. Experts have argued that the Dam, when completed, would cause colossal disasters to Bangl...

Unmasking the neoliberal paradox, this book provides a robust conceptual and theoretical synthesis of development, power and the environment. With seven case studies on global challenges such as under-development, food regime, climate change, dam building, identity politics, and security vulnerability, the book offers a new framework of a "double-r...

Religions are taking on an increasingly influential role in driving the environmental movement and shaping the public policy in the world. However, little research has been done in Singapore to determine the extent to which religious environmental concerns affect state–religion relations despite the nation-state being home to a multitude of traditi...

Animals have encountered cruelty and suffering throughout the ages. It is something perpetrated up till this day, particularly, in factory farms, animal laboratories, and even in the name of sports or amusement. However, since the second half of the twentieth century, there has been growing concerns for animal welfare and the protection of animal r...

Home to 60 percent of the world's population, Asia accounts for 85 percent of those killed and affected globally by disaster events in 2011. Using an integrated sociological framework comprised of the pressure and release (PAR) model and the double-risk society hypothesis, and drawing on data obtained from the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT), Pr...

Like the Green Revolution of the 1960s, a "Blue Revolution" has taken place in global aquaculture. Geared towards quenching the appetite of privileged consumers in the global North, it has come at a high price for the South: ecological devastation, displacement of rural subsistence farmers, and labour exploitation. The uncomfortable truth is that f...

Certification of products from aquatic farming - aquaculture – is contributing to sustainable production, but it also has serious limits. The implication of these limits is that certification needs to be seen as but one of a wider array of strategies for regulating sustainable production. Assumptions that countries in the Global South are unwilling...

Unmasking the neoliberal paradox, this book provides a robust conceptual and theoretical synthesis of development, power and the environment. With seven case studies on global challenges such as under- development, food regime, climate change, dam building, identity politics, and security vulnerability, the book offers a new framework of a “double-...

Contesting the U.S.-centric bias of modern environmentalism, this essay uncovers an “old” paradigm of environmentalism found in the medieval Islamic tradition, the Islamic Ecological Paradigm (IEP)—which, in many respects, is tantamount to many ideologies of modern environmentalism. According to IEP, human beings are a part of, and not above, natur...

This timely study addresses the pressing issue of food security through a range of interdisciplinary contributions, providing both scholarly and policy-making perspectives. It sets the discussion on food security within the little-studied context of its international legal and regulatory framework. The expert contributors explore the key issues fro...

More than 85% of Bangladesh's 150 million people are Muslims. Bangladesh earns its title as “the third largest Muslim country of the world” following Indonesia and Pakistan because of its enormous size of Muslim population. Their religion, Islam, is however becoming a “minority” day by day. While Muslims in the West—in spite of being a minority—are...

This study highlights various totalitarian and undemocratic practices in which Bangladesh's current Awami League-led coalition regime engages. It shows that since its inception in early 2009, the regime has tried to mobilize and manipulate public support from within through - among other means - creating the discourse of "war crimes" and to obtain...

Following modernization paradigm and some local dynamics conducive to development, some Asian countries emerged as economic tigers in the world. Conversely, other Asian countries including Bangladesh failed to taste economic development despite having monetary and technological aids from some developed nations. Drawing on some social and historical...

This research was supported by Japan’s Shipbuilding Industries Limited’s “Graduate Fellowship for Academic Distinction” program at York University. For thoughtful comments and suggestions, the author gratefully thanks Dr. Peter Vandergeest, Dr. Stuart Schoenfeld, and Dr. Hira Singh.

Commercial shrimp in Bangladesh is locally known as “white gold” because of its high transnational value. Historically, farmers have confined shrimp culture to ocean coastlines because shrimp require large volumes of saltwater to reproduce and mature. Recent developments in Bangladesh suggest, however, that the once purely coastal nature of this ac...

This chapter addresses a fundamental question as to why so many Third World countries, despite having tremendous monetary and technological aids, have failed to taste economic development, and whether globalization offers any opportunities and/or challenges for them. The adoption of the European model of development across the formerly colonial wor...

Shrimp aquaculture in Bangladesh linking the European Union, the USA, and Japan exhibits several characteristics of a buyer-driven global commodity chain (GCC). The study shows that, along with the effects of local conditions, buyers’ pressures transmitted through the GCC affect gender and employment relations in the lower segments of the chain. It...

Globalization of the agro-food system has led developing nations to orient their production to meet global markets. Consequently, local agricultural systems are increasingly linked to global commodity networks, and generate complex intersections and sometimes tensions. Cultured shrimp in Bangladesh is such a global commodity that connects the local...

A careful reading and examination of capitalism adumbrates the fact that capitalism expands by constantly revolutionizing its mode of production, and discursively creating and recreating different domains of thought, as without these, capitalism would die. Capitalism discursively created the Third World and thereby deployed a regime of control and...