Islamic Food Justice

Magfirah Dahlan uses the framework of Islamic food justice to query our ethical responsibilities within our contemporary, global food system. Originating within the environmentalist movement, food justice addresses the inequality of environmental harms faced by marginalized groups of people and seeks to address the structural inequalities and injustices baked into the food system. Dahlan contends that Islamic teachings and rituals surrounding food and food systems offer a meaningful intervention within conversations surrounding food justice. While food justice has historically focused on temporary solutions, recent activists and scholars attempt to find more radical, holistic solutions. Across five chapters, Dahlan offers potential solutions for Muslim communities who strive to follow Islamic food norms and address food justice, human/animal interspecies justice, and environmental sustainability. By embracing Islamic vegetarianism and veganism, purchasing organic wares, or starting community gardens, this book argues that an Islamic conception of food justice radically shifts the current discourse on food ethics from a consumerist to a community-focused approach. Dahlan calls for Muslims to reinterpret centuries-old, religious food laws within the context of the modern food system and consider how religious rituals can be a path forward, rather than a hindrance to, achieving food justice.