Islam and Sustainable Development Goals: an Extended Outline

Abstract

This study explores the intersection between Islamic ethical principles and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 1 (SDG 1): No Poverty. It argues that Islam provides a comprehensive moral and institutional framework that aligns with, and in many ways deepens, the contemporary discourse on poverty eradication. Drawing from primary Islamic sources—the Qur’an, Hadith, and classical jurisprudence—this research identifies key concepts such as zakat (obligatory almsgiving), waqf (endowment), and takaful (mutual support) as enduring mechanisms of social justice and wealth redistribution. Through a qualitative analysis of these principles and their application in selected Muslim-majority societies, the study demonstrates how Islamic social finance and ethical economics can contribute to sustainable poverty alleviation. Moreover, it highlights that poverty in Islam is not merely an economic condition but a moral and relational imbalance that requires both individual piety and collective responsibility. The findings suggest that integrating Islamic social ethics into SDG frameworks could foster more context-sensitive and spiritually grounded approaches to sustainable development. Ultimately, this study invites a rethinking of global poverty reduction not only as a technical or financial challenge but as a holistic pursuit of human dignity and maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah—the higher objectives of Islamic law.