Anthon Jason
Countless believers long for paradise in the hereafter, a place that holy scriptures so often portray in poetic language as a lush garden with crystal-clear rivers flowing beneath it. Yet a tragic irony rarely enters our collective consciousness: while humanity races to secure a mystical heaven in the next life, it is systematically destroying the very “paradise” God has already entrusted to us on Earth.
This paradox is the key question introduced by Dr. Dicky Sofjan in his presentation at the Wednesday Forum at UGM Graduate School on April 15, 2026. Dr. Dicky Sofjan is an Associate Professor of Inter-Religious Studies in the graduate school of Universitas Gadjah Mada and the CEO of Nglanggeran Eco Village. Choosing a theme that is both sharp and grounded in everyday realities, his talk moved beyond familiar, worn-out theological arguments. Instead, it drilled into a critical question that religious institutions often avoid: “Who should pay the bill for ecological sustainability?”
Beyond the Pulpit and Sermons
For years, debates on religion and the environment have largely been confined to ivory towers. Most of the literature and discussion has stalled at the doctrinal level, circling around interpretations of sacred texts and producing normative claims about how humans ought to act as stewards of the Earth. But when we talk about the climate crisis, nature conservation, and ecological sustainability, we run up against a sobering reality. Every initiative carries a price tag, and that price is high.
In joint research with the International Partnership for Religion and Sustainable Development (PaRD) and Indonesia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs, Prof. Dicky highlights an emerging field he calls sustainable financing in the context of religion and ecology. He stresses that prayers and Friday sermons are not enough to slow deforestation. What is needed is a concrete financing architecture, an approach that is globally known as Strategic Religious Engagement.
Indonesia, he argues, holds remarkable social capital to develop this approach. As the country with the world’s largest Muslim population, now closely followed by Pakistan, and often cited as one of the most religious societies, Indonesia has enormous philanthropic potential. The Charities Aid Foundation has even ranked Indonesia as the most generous nation in the world for seven to eight consecutive years. Religious institutions themselves command substantial financial power. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, Muhammadiyah alone contributed at least 1.3 billion US dollars to pandemic response efforts. Prof. Dicky invites us to imagine what might be possible if financial power on this scale were managed systematically to help rescue a planet in the grip of an ecological crisis.
Islamic Finance Innovation: From Zakat to Green Sukuk
The good news is that a slow but steady paradigm shift is underway. The way Islamic philanthropic circles view the distribution of religious funds is beginning to change. In October 2019, ISESCO, the organization of Islamic countries, issued a landmark declaration stating that zakat can be used to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The policy marked a breakthrough. It opened the way for zakat to be used not only for post-disaster humanitarian relief, but also for conservation efforts and disaster mitigation long before crises strike. Prof. Dicky argues that this is the moment to transform existing allocation schemes. He proposes creating a dedicated funding category for disaster preparedness before calamity hits.
Another significant innovation is the rise of green financing instruments in the form of sharia-compliant bonds, or Green Sukuk. One striking trend is that around 1.5 million young Indonesians have invested in these products. Their individual investments are relatively modest, starting from about Rp500,000 to Rp1.5 million each. Yet the sheer number of participants sends a powerful message. It shows that Indonesia’s devout younger generation is deeply committed to financing efforts to save the planet.
At the grassroots level, innovation is also emerging through waqf. Waqf schemes are increasingly linked to ecological issues through the concept of Waqf Forests. Many individuals are eager to donate their land for conservation. However, these noble initiatives often run into bureaucratic and legal hurdles. Large tracts of land still lack formal title deeds, making it difficult for the government to step in, manage, and protect these waqf forests from various threats. At the same time, there is an ambitious vision to transform religious institutions into hubs of environmentally friendly activity. This ranges from plans to establish 49,000 Eco-Pesantren and convert 800,000 mosques into Eco-Mosques, to the launch of the Green Heart app designed to curb the mountains of plastic bottle waste generated by millions of pilgrims in Mecca.
Closing the Massive Gap Through Strategic Land Acquisition
For all the promise of these initiatives, the financial reality of conservation at the macro level is strikingly severe. During the discussion, Mark Woodward posed a pointed question: how do we bridge such a massive funding gap? To hit Indonesia’s carbon‑reduction targets through social forestry and green waqf schemes, the country needs an estimated 281 billion US dollars. So far, only about 10.5 billion is actually on the table. Mark argued that many small-scale projects risk becoming little more than window dressing in the shadow of immensely wealthy palm oil barons.
Responding to that challenge, Prof. Dicky offered a tactical, pragmatic answer. The most effective way to halt destructive plantation expansion, he said, is simply to buy the land outright. At Nglanggeran Eco Village, which he manages, he has been urging private investors to purchase surrounding plots to shield them from degradation. He recalled a painful episode when a neighbor decided to sell their land. The asking price was 6 to 7 billion rupiah, well beyond his reach. Because he could not raise the funds, the land went to another buyer, trucks moved in, and the lush old trees were swiftly cut down. For that reason, he argued, private investment and equity are not optional. They are critical financial tools for closing the conservation funding gap in areas the state has effectively left unprotected.
An Expanding State vs. the Resilience of Civil Society
Environmental challenges stem not only from a lack of funding but also from the political climate and bureaucracy. Responding to Jonathan’s question about the shrinking role of the state that has shifted the burden onto charities, as seen in the United Kingdom in 2010, Prof. Dicky painted a contrasting yet equally troubling picture of Indonesia. In today’s Indonesia, it is not the state that is retreating, but rather the space for civil society. The government, meanwhile, is expanding. Under the new leadership, the number of ministries has ballooned to between 48 and 52. This points to a wasteful administration; consider the cost of additional deputy ministers, drivers, gardeners, and security personnel, all of which weigh on the public budget.
Amid a resource-hungry government and the dominance of oligarchs and tech billionaires who exploit nature to power artificial intelligence, civil society and religious institutions are being pushed to serve as the last line of defense. The theological message that religious communities must amplify in this era is “less is more,” a form of spiritual resistance to consumerism, teaching believers to focus on what they truly need in life, rather than on everything they desire.
Repairing the Heart’s Hardware
In the end, resolving the ecological crisis demands more than massive funding, technological brilliance, or government regulation alone. Theologically, the Qur’an offers a profound perspective when it speaks about sacrifice and struggle (jihad). Sacred texts often place the sacrifice of wealth before the sacrifice of life. This does not mean that money is more valuable than a human soul, but rather that letting go of material wealth is often a far more difficult test of human commitment.
Sacrificing wealth unlocks significantly more concrete opportunities to contribute to the common good and to the preservation of nature. Prof. Dicky closed his presentation with a philosophical reflection. Climate solutions, he argued, have been overly fixated on hardware in the form of technology and science, or software in the form of policy and law. What is most essential, yet too often forgotten, is the “hardware of the heart”.
This is about consciously embracing our role as khalifah, as guardians of what has been entrusted to us on this Earth. Talking about religion and the environment without a real willingness to reach into our pockets for concrete action is nothing more than empty romanticism. If we truly believe that God created this Earth as a sacred trust, then it is time we proved it. We cannot be a community that endlessly longs for a heavenly paradise while our own hands are busy cutting down trees and draining rivers, destroying the very “paradise” that has already been granted to us on the Earth where we stand.