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Contribution short abstract

Sustainable development marked a decolonial shift to SDGs, inadvertently aligning with Maqāsid al-Sharī‘ah and Ibn Khaldun's (d.1406) development framework. This research contextualises sustainability in faith canons, relinks religion with development discourses and faith-informed practice.

Contribution long abstract

The 2030 sustainable development agenda represented a decolonial shift from one-dimensional upward growth to recognition of goals (SDGs) encompassing ecological awareness, equity, partnerships, persistent unresolved concerns (e.g. poverty). This marked a transition from a top-down, wealth- and power-driven progress exacerbated by imperial and colonial legacies to a morally and ethically-informed dimension of cultural and economic globalisation, which brought the SDGs closer to an Islamic development framework, particularly articulated by Ibn Khaldun’s (d. 1406) theory of development and the general philosophical principles of Islamic law (Maqāsid al-Sharī‘ah). In tandem with cultural globalisations and mass migration of faith communities in the West, faith-based organisations (FBOs), Islamic finance and Muslim charitable practices allowed religion to re-emerge in the public domain, and address some social developmental gap-induced crises caused by neoliberal transformations - understood as faith-based contributions to global development. Whilst FBOs strive to demonstrate their compatibility with sustainable paradigms, their development frameworks sometimes lack originality. This research re-examines Islamic canonical texts and contexts to explore how Islam addresses development and historical-contemporary crises around sustainability. Primary findings suggest that sustainability strongly adheres to a faith framework, and development as well, albeit with some complexities and incongruencies. This provides a blueprint for development practitioners whose work overlaps with community work, social welfare, Islamic finance or charitable work for meaningful engagement with modern global development paradigms. By reflecting on the SDGs as a pivotal moment in the discipline, the paper contributes to ongoing debates about decolonising development and strengthening faith-engaged approaches in policy and practice.