Much of contemporary green political thought has often been argued to have a strong anarchist bias. But similarly, a countervailing authoritarian bias also pervades environmental discourse and the wider political structures. Authoritarianism — a dense censorship of all limits to compulsory forms of authority — is, in fact, a signature of most political systems, with anarchism as its radical antagonist. Rather, this binary has resulted in the long-term mischaracterisation of anarchist thought as one rooted in disorder instead of being derived from ethical self-organisation. But the bigger question is whether anarchism or authoritarianism are sustainable models for a green and just future.

This chapter explores the issue in the light of the philosophy of Sufi Naqshbandi thought, particularly the teachings emanated from the heart of Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani (q), Shaykh Muhammad Adil, and the classical Masters of Naqshbandi genealogy. It builds upon Islamic spiritual governance (wilayah), Gandhian self-rule (swaraj), Tolstoyan Christian anarchism, and ecological political theory to argue that both anarchism and authoritarianism are unable to cultivate the moral and spiritual discipline necessary for authentic ecological balance. Rather, Sufism offers a third way, a model of governance predicated on inner purification (tazkiyah), divine remembrance (dhikr), and just leadership (imamat) that can provide a coherent, viable, and sustainable answer to the contemporary ecological and political crisis.

Political Theory: The Illusion of Anarchism and Authoritarianism

Modern political discourse is often reduced to a cartoonish binary of anarchism (absolute freedom) vs. authoritarianism (absolute control). This binary is particularly apparent in environmental political and philosophical discourse, with eco-anarchists arguing for decentralised, non-hierarchical systems and eco-authoritarians (sometimes called eco-fascists) arguing that the only hope of enforcing ecological policies is through strong state control. But both are fundamentally wrong, as they ignore the [organically accumulated] conventional and spiritual aspects of governance.

To echo what Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani (q) said, ”

The world is already under the dominion of Divine Will; human governance, if not aligned with Divine Law, is an illusion.” ¹ This is the Sufi idea that you cannot impose order from without; it has to come from within. The contemporary Grand Shaykh of the Naqshbandi Order, Shaykh Muhammad Adil, further clarifies:

“Neither absolute freedom nor absolute control can bring about justice. True harmony can only be reached through the discipline of self and submission to divine wisdom.” ²

This critique is not specific to Sufism. Leo Tolstoy, a Christian anarchist and devotee of Islamic mysticism, wrote that political systems do not work when they discard moral and spiritual development. ³ Likewise the great poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal saw individualism of the West and despotism of the East as false paths, defining the true path in terms of khudi—selfhood drawn from Divine remembrance. ⁴

Governance Problem and Green Thought

Both leave traces of bias in the contemporary environmental debate on the anarchist left and authoritarian right. An eco-anarchist (like Murray Bookchin) wants to see decentralised ecological communities. Eco-authoritarians (like the green technocrats) claim strict control on their state will keep us (them) from ecological collapse. ⁵ Both camps, however, suffer from a basic flaw: with no overarching transcendent principle, anarchism often overlooks some aspects of human moral inadequacy. Outside control is forced, but inner change is ignored. As Shaykh Dagestani (q) used to say: “A society that rejects divine authority will always fall into tyranny, whether in the name of freedom or in the name of order.” ⁶ This complements the critiques of materialist political ideologies that were so deftly made by Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, who showed that they are doomed to failure because they divorce human governance from Divine wisdom. ⁷

Footnotes

¹ Nazim al-Haqqani, Mercy Oceans: Rising Sun, Lefke, Cyprus: Haqqani Foundation, 1992.
² Muhammad Adil, Sufi Path of Love and Discipline, Istanbul: Naqshbandi Press, 2021.
³ Leo Tolstoy, The Kingdom of God is Within You, Moscow: Posrednik, 1894.
⁴ Muhammad Iqbal, The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, 1930.
⁵ Murray Bookchin, The Ecology of Freedom, Palo Alto: Cheshire Books, 1982.
⁶ Dagestani, Wisdom of the Saints, Beirut: Dar al-Tasawwuf, 1955.?
⁷ Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, The Refutation of Materialism, Cairo: Dar al-Fikr, 1881.

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