Michael D. Palmer —The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Religion and Social Justice K CHAPTER 10 Contemporary Expressions of Social Justice in Islam Erin E. Stiles T his essay examines expressions of social justice in modern Muslim contexts. Since the nineteenth century, Muslim intellectuals and activists from many parts of the world have emphasized justice, social justice, and the maintenance of social welfare as core values of the Islamic tradition. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century thinkers and reformers urged the renewal of Muslim societies and stressed the need not only for resistance to European imperialism in Muslim lands, but also the necessity for internal reform to address the plight of the disadvantaged in Muslim communities. A common thread that united many of these reformist thinkers was the need to reconsider the sacred sources of Islam, specifcally the Qur an and the hadith reports of what the Prophet Muhammad said and did, in light of their relationship to the historical context in which they were revealed and vis-à-vis changes in the modern era. We can follow this thread through to discussions of gender justice, which has been a major component of the modern expression of social justice in Muslim contexts. In recent years, scholars and activists have considered the status of women and gender relationships in the sacred sources and within the broader Islamic tradition in light of modern values regarding social justice. A related issue is the signifcant efforts at legal reform in the Muslim world that have taken place over the past several decades. Much of this has focused on reforming shari a, Islamic law, to refect modern standards and address the inequities inherent in classical formulations of Islamic law; many of these reforms have focused on remedying gender inequities in the shari a. An issue that has received increasing attention in recent years is the question of the relationship between Islam, social justice, and the environment. At a time when those who suffer most from the effects of environmental degradation are living in poor coun- tries that have had the least to do with human impact on climate change, environmen- tal advocates are increasingly talking about environmental concerns as questions of social justice within an Islamic framework. The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Religion and Social Justice, First Edition. Edited by Michael D. Palmer, Stanley M. Burgess. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2012 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Palmer_5478_c10_main.indd 153 10/28/2011 7:29:54 PM