Longtermism: Merely a Modern Moniker for a Medieval Idea?

I. Introduction.

Longtermism, according to one of the leading proponents of the idea, Will MacAskill, is the
notion that those who will live in the long term future matter just as much, morally, as those
beings that are alive today, and that although current conceptions of who society ought to
care about is restricted to living people, this understanding must change because there is, on
society at large, a moral obligation to care, and to ensure that future people are able to live
their lives satisfactorily.1 MacAskill coined the term Longtermism in 2017, in a bid to help
concretize the idea of caring about future people into one word that helped make it sound like
a consequential movement.2 As a result, it is obvious that ‘longtermism’ as it is now known,
can be termed as ‘brand new’, in the grand scheme of ideas.

This, however, is not to say that the ideas that longtermism espouses are particularly brand
new. To the contrary, it has been admitted that longtermism builds on a rather long historical
concern for future people.3

A perception that may be gleaned is that longtermism is ‘Western’, so to speak. In this

regard, one need not look further than the lead scholarship in this area, 4 where most of the
literature comes from,5 who it talks about, and the solutions espoused by longtermists6 – all of
which, appear to be Western. And so, longtermism is very much perceived as a brand-new
creature from the West, and its recent explosion is indicative of the same. This conception
will be challenged in this paper. In fact, the paper claims that these ideas about future people,
and future people in general, were already part of Islamic thought 1400 years ago.

In this paper, the author seeks to illustrate how Islam, and the initial flagbearers of Islam, 7
have historically preached tenets of longtermism, despite the religion finding inception some
1
MacAskill W, ‘Longtermism’, Effective Altruism Forum, 26 July 2019 —
<https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/qZyshHCNkjs3TvSem/longtermism> on 16 September 2022.
2
MacAskill W, ‘Longtermism’, Effective Altruism Forum, 26 July 2019.
3
Moorhouse F, ‘Longtermism: An Introduction’, Effective Altruism Forum, 27 January 2021 <
https://www.effectivealtruism.org/articles/longtermism> on 17 September 2022.
4
Most of the scholars who write on longtermism and are popular for doing so are Western writers such as Nick
Bostrom, Will MacAskill, Hillary Greaves, and Nick Beckstead.
5
As a direct consequence, most of the literature emanates from the West.
6
Solutions provided to issues such as X-Risk are often centered around the capabilities of the West. Even
decision making when voting, which is one of the ideas that longtermists such as MacAskill preach, are focused
on Western ideas of a political divide. In most countries in the Global South, a strict right-left policy divide is
often absent.
several centuries ago.8 Not only will this study find that there is a moral obligation on
societies to care about future people, but that Islam, the Prophet, the Caliphs and even its
prominent leaders place this obligation as one that is of great import. It will also look at the
contextual factors around why Islam places great obligation on the importance of future
people. As a matter of making things clear, the following must be taken note of. First, the
teachings of Islam, or what makes Islamic rules, is the following: the Qur’an – the word of
God – and the teachings of the Prophet and his immediate companions – known as hadith. 9 It
is the foregoing that is the make-up of Islam, and the ‘rules’ of Islam. And so, when the
author refers to quotes from specific Caliphs, for instance, these quotes essentially become
rules, or teachings of Islam.

Having said the above, this paper looks at the historical period in which Islam gained
prominence, in and around the 7th century. Much of what the study uses as evidentiary
exemplification comes from the Quran, the Hadith, the Shariah, general teachings of Islam,
and other scholarly work.

The next chapter studies what longtermism is in further detail, such that when the discussion
on how Islam has preached longtermism is embarked upon, the reader is to well versed with
longtermism itself. Chapter three begins the crux of the discussion and argues that Islam not
only encouraged thinking about future people, but it places an active moral obligation on
everyone to care about future people. Chapter four concludes the essay.

II. Ideals of Longtermism

Arguably, for all ideas, there must be some aspects, features, and components that make the
idea what it is. Longtermism is no different. This chapter seeks to illustrate the intrinsic
features of longtermism. Only once these features are illustrated can a parallel be drawn to
the Islamic conception of longtermism. Essentially, because this essay seeks to argue that,
despite the perception of longtermism being a western idea, Islam has not only preached it for

7
In this regard, the author refers to the Prophet Muhammad, and his companions, otherwise known as the,
Caliphs of Islam, Tab’een, and the Tabi-Tab’een. These are people who took over following the death of the
Prophet, learnt directly from the Prophet, and their teachings hold hefty credence even in the Islamic world
today. The Prophet was quoted saying, ‘so it is upon you to be upon my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly
Guided Caliphs’, See: Hadith 28, 40 Hadith an-Nawawi.
8
Potočnik D, ‘Islam between the past and the present’ 2(2) International Journal of Euro-Mediterranean
Studies, 2009, 1.
9
See footnote 4 for details on who the immediate companions are. To mention in general passing, the reader
would be right to assume that, given that these companions have long since died, that new ‘rules’ do not exist,
and Islam is, since the death of the Caliphs, a ‘complete’ religion.
centuries, but it continues to do so today. Historically speaking, Islam has been a proponent
for longtermism, and the modern conceptualization of longtermism is quite similar to that of
Islam.

To begin with, it ought to be understood that longtermism is an idea borne out of the
Effective Altruism (EA)10 – the idea that campaigns for maximizing the good a person can
do.11 EA is fairly modern, and it therefore follows that longtermism, as it is now known, is
even more of a novel idea. The basis underpinning longtermism is the understanding that the
number of people to come, far exceed the number of people who have lived thus far.12 And
so, if this true, and it is in fact true that the number of people to come far exceed those who
have lived, then, according to longtermists, it follows that we ought to place greatest
consideration, in terms of decision making, on future people. 13 In saying so, Hillary Greaves
and MacAskill have postulated that that decision making must be premised on two factors:
(a) every option that is near-best overall is near-best for the far future; and (b) every option
that is near-best overall presents significantly more benefits to far future people, than it does
to near future people.14 From here, one thing is clear – there is a significant importance placed
on not just decision making, but decision making that maintains the interest of those in the far
future.

According to longtermists, another important tenet of longtermism is that extinction of

human species must be avoided at all costs, and in the inverse, the human species must
perpetuate.15 It is quite easy to see why this is the case: after all, no decision matters, if future
people cease to exist. With this in mind, longtermists stress on the importance of avoiding
any risk that could exacerbate the odds of humanity going into extinction. To put a term to

10
MacAskill W, ‘What is longtermism?’ BBC Future, 8 August 2022 —<
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220805-what-is-longtermism-and-why-does-it-matter> on 26 September
2022.
11
Gabriel I, ‘Effective altruism and its critics’ 34(4) Journal of Applied Philosophy, 2017, 457.
12
MacAskill W, ‘What we owe the future’, Basic Books, New York, 2022, 23.
13
As of this period in time, there are around 5,000 years of recorded history. In as much as the question of how
long we have existed can be settled, how long the human species will last for is anything but set in stone.
MacAskill and Greaves argue that, if one were to merely go by the length of existence the typical mammalian
species experiences, then, humanity has 200,000 years more to live. And as such, just because there are billions
of people yet to come, simply because of this fact, we must care about their lives. Temporal distance to them is
immaterial. They are human like us, and therefore we must care for them.
14
MacAskill W and Greaves H, ‘The case for strong longtermism’ Global Priorities Institute, GPI Working
Paper No. 5, 2021, 3 —< https://globalprioritiesinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Case-for-Strong-
Longtermism-GPI-Working-Paper-June-2021-2-2.pdf> on 27 September 2022.
15
Beckstead N, ‘On the overwhelming importance of shaping the far future’ Published PhD Thesis, The State
University of New Jersey, New Jersey, 2013, 4.
this phenomena, Nick Bostrom discusses ‘existential risk’.16 By existential risk, Bostrom
means: a risk “that threatens the premature extinction of Earth-originating intelligent life or
the permanent and drastic destruction of its potential for desirable future development.” 17 In
other words, anything that could potentially end human existence, is an existential risk, and it
must be avoided at all costs. By way of providing concrete examples as to what would
constitute an existential risk, one could consider catastrophic incidents relating to climate
change, nuclear war, bioterrorism, the misuse of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), etc.
Interestingly, the worst aspect is not that the foregoing events may cost the lives of billions of
people who are alive at that time; rather it is that the potential of humanity’s future existence
would be stopped, trillions of potential future lives would be lost, and that a great amount of
potential achievements by the human race would never occur.18 From the foregoing
discussion, it is clear that for longtermism, the perpetuity of the human race is a necessity.
That this is a necessity ought to be stressed and kept in mind for later discussions in this
paper.

Another issue characteristic to longtermism is the serious thought that must be put in ordinary
decision making.19 It is arguable that every decision one makes, has a ripple effect to how
things turn out in the future – even the most seemingly menial and ordinary decisions. 20 For
instance, say you see someone drowning in a swimming pool. It appears that the obvious
decision would be to try and save the drowning person. A direct consequence of this decision
is that you saved a person, so they can go home to their families. But what is less obvious
would be the finer details: perhaps that person was a breadwinner in a family, and so, by
saving them, the following happens: the family has a breadwinner, and so they get to eat; they
keep their roof over their head; the kids in the home get to continue going to school because
their family has a source of income; they get (at the very least) a chance to choose a career
path, and to try and make a life for themselves; the children get to grow up with their parents;
the family has a chance to continue living as they were. Even large-scale decisions such as
choosing a career path, as argued by MacAskill, ought to be thoroughly thought out, with the

16
Bostrom N, ‘Existential risks: Analyzing human extinction scenarios and related hazards’ 9(1) Journal of
Evolution and Technology, 2002.
17
Bostrom N, ‘Existential risk prevention as global priority’ 4(1) Global Policy Journal, 2013, 17.
18
Parfitt D, ‘Reasons and Persons’ Oxford University Press, London, 1984, 454.
19
Beckstead N, ‘On the overwhelming importance of shaping the far future’ Published PhD Thesis, The State
University of New Jersey, New Jersey, 2013, 3.
20
Beckstead N, ‘On the overwhelming importance of shaping the far future’, 3.
impact the decision will make on future generations in mind. 21 And so, clearly, there is much
weight placed on the thought that must be put into the ripple effect of decision making.

It must be noted that there are perhaps many more features of longtermism, and in the interest
of full disclosure, the author merely chooses to discuss a few, such that this essay is concise.
From the foregoing chapter, two things about longtermism seem to stand out further: one, that
longtermism is centered around the idea that future people matter as much as those that are
living, and two, that, as living human beings, we owe a duty to ensure that future people not
only exist, but they thrive (and whether they will thrive is based on what we do today).
Therefore, it follows that if Islam were preaching longtermism, or at least a type of
longtermist thought, first, there must be evidence that Islam has placed on its followers the
moral obligation to care about future people in a way that shows that they matter as much
those in the present. Once that is shown, it must also be shown as to whether Islamic Shari’ah
has placed certain guidelines to ensure how that ought to be done. In later parts, this essay
will seek to do just that – to show that Islam places an obligation to care about future people,
and that Islam actually shows how that ought to be done.

III. Islamic Conceptualization of Longtermism

The preceding chapter set the stage by presenting a semi-detailed overview of what
longtermism entails. In this chapter, the author moves to show that Islam has historically been
a champion of longtermist thought since its inception in the 6-7 th century. In saying so, the
author looks at various lenses such as what Islam has said about maintain a habitable earth for
the benefit of all people (including future people), decision making, and the necessity of
ensuring the perpetuation of the human species, thereby avoiding extinction.

Naturally, the first task this paper must accomplish in this section, is to actually show that
there is enough evidence to suggest that Islam places moral obligations to care about future
people. There is plenty of evidence to show that this is the case. One way to do the same,
would be to illustrate that, at the very least, there is evidence to show that there was some
concern for future generations and that future generations were in the conversations, during

21
MacAskill W, ‘What we owe the future’, Basic Books, New York, 2022, 248.
the inception of Islam. Here, the hadith’s provide an excellent source.22 The paper now moves
to illustrate various instances where Islam places an impetus on future generations.

Firstly, it can be said that future generations were kept in mind when the Prophet was
carrying out his mandate to spread Islam. To be precise, he has been quoted saying that those
who believed in Islam were blessed; but those who believe in Islam without seeing the
Prophet (future people) are an extraordinary seven times more blessed.23 From this Hadith,
not only is the fact that the Prophet acknowledged future people and future Muslims, but he
essentially declared that those in the future are far more superior than living people.
Interestingly, he merely said that those who did not see him and believed were blessed; they
could be people born a hundred million years after his death. This is not a solitary time when
the Prophet specifically thought of future generations. Another instance that comes to mind is
when the Prophet talked of the Quraysh, a tribe that opposed Islam. He said, “I do hope that
Allah will bring forth from their progeny those who would worship Allah alone and not
associate partners with Him".24 From this, it is clear that future people were of great
importance to the Prophet, and his actions had them in mind. Or at the very least, that he
acknowledged that future people would exist, and because he would not be there to guide
them, his recorded actions would be used as an example for future people. And so clearly, the
leading flag bearer of Islam, the Prophet, clearly cared or at the very least, kept future people
in mind, during his life several centuries ago.

Another instance that illustrates that Muslim’s 1400 years ago demonstrated an awareness for
the people in the future comes from a hadith regarding one of the Caliphs of Islam. 25 Shortly
following the death of the Prophet, his immediate successor, Abu Bakr, ordered one Zaid Ibn
Thabit, to make a collection of Quranic verses in 632 AD. 26 Admittedly, the primary and
immediate reason for the collecting and putting down Quranic verses in writing can be
understood from the context of how the whole situation played out. Before Ibn Thabit was
tasked with collecting the verses, the Muslims had been through a bloody battle – the Battle
22
‘Hadith’ refer to the sayings of Prophet Muhammad as reported by his close companions. See, Encyclopedia
Britannica, online Edition at —<https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hadith> on 28 September 2022. Islamically
speaking, the teachings of the Hadith, are called sunnah. Scholars say that everything about Islamic rulings are
either found in the Quran or the Sunnah. And so, citing the Hadith’s offer a strong source
23
Musnad Aḥmad 12578
24
Al-Bukhārī, al-Ṣaḥīḥ, 3059.
25
A ‘caliph’ in Islam refers to those people who were handed the mantle following the passing of the Prophet. It
ought to be noted, however, that different sects of Islam believe there were a different number of Caliphs. For
instance, Sunni Muslims believe there were only 4 Caliphs, while Shiism believes in a total of 12 Caliphs.
26
Waraich M, ‘Orientalists on the Early History of the Compilation oftheQuran: A Studyof “The Origins of the
Koran”by Ibn Warrāq’ 1(2) Al Qamar Journal of Islamic Studies, 2018, 7.
of Yemama.27 Here, the Muslims lost various men who had memorized the Qur’an. After this,
based on the counsel of Abu Bakr’s companions, and with the cognizance that the words of
God may be lost, the collection of Quranic verses was ordered for. However, it has been
argued, understandably, that the fear of losing the verses was problematic because future
generations would not get access to the Qur’an.28

Even when it came to issues such as land distribution after the spoils of war won by Muslims,
there is clear indication that there was deep thought about progeny. This can be exemplified
by a scenario where, Umar ibn Khatab, one of the Caliphs of Islam, declared that spoils of
war would not go solely to the victors. Instead, he said that he would preserve land and
weaponry such that future generations would benefit. The exact quote is rather critical given
that it is explicit in mentioning, ‘future generations’: "But for the future generations, I would
have distributed the land of the villages I conquer among the soldiers as the Prophet
distributed the land of Khaibar." Here, the Caliphs decision making illustrated exactly what
MacAskill said about decision making: he made a decision that was best for people of future
generations, and second, that the option he picked presented significantly more benefits for
future people, as opposed to living people. And so, this is yet another example of the fact that
indeed, that historically, Islam, and Muslims of the time by extension, have had the needs of
future people well in mind.

After having shown that future people are of concern, Islamically speaking, the next part of
this section goes into show how Islam places importance on ensuring that future people live
well and thrive.

To longtermists, the conservation of the environment remains critical. But specifically, it is

unimpeachable that a tenet of longtermism is leaving for future generations a habitable and
good Earth. Among the many tenets discussed in longtermist literature, risks emanating from
climate related disasters remain ever presant. It can be said that the reason for this is that a
climate related disaster has the potential to end humanity as we know it. 29 In fact, according
to Nick Beckstead, merely recognizing that climate change as a potential risk, and instituting

27
Muir W. ‘The Coran: Its Composition and Teaching and the Testimony it Bears to the Holy Scriptures’ The
Macmillan Company, 1920. Pages 38. See also, Furber M, ‘Obligations to Future Generations A Shari‘ah
Perspective’, Tabah Paper Series No. 6 of 2012, 24.
28
29
Posner R, ‘Catastrophe: Risk and Response’ Oxford University Press, London, 2004, 12. See also, Broome J,
‘The most important thing about climate change’ in Boston J, Bradstock A, Eng D (eds) Public Policy: Why
Ethics Matters, ANU Press, Australia, 2010, 101-116.
plans to deal with the risk was a significant step. 30 Moreover, threats such as climate change
are said to have been the impetus for the need for a campaign stronger than mere
‘sustainability’.31 Clearly then, environmental conservation, and the curbing of climate
change is at the forefront of longtermism, or at least, it is a crucial factor of consideration.
However, for good measure, it must also be made clear that there is debate on the
longtermism forum over whether climate change presents an ‘existential risk’ in and of
itself.32 Nonetheless, what is agreed upon is that for future generations, should a good Earth
be left.

Islam places critical impetus on Muslims to ensure that the Earth is left clean and proper for
future generations, with conservation being on the forefront. Islamically, all that is bestowed
on Earth is said to be a ‘gift’ from God. 33 Because of the same, it is said that none can misuse
and waste the gifts from God. When it comes to the environment, this is no different. It has
been strictly prohibited by God Himself, and later the Prophet Muhammad (the Prophet), for
instance, to be wasteful in any regard, including with environmental resources. The Qur’an is
explicit when God says ‘O Children of Adam! Wear your beautiful apparel at every time and
place of prayer: Eat and drink: But waste not by excess, for Allah loveth not the wasters’.34
As regards the Prophet, he has been quoted saying “Do not waste water, even if you are at a
running stream”.35 It is further said by God, that all that is on Earth has been put in trust of
human beings, and as beneficiaries, we must therefore protect its rights. 36 On the same, the
Qur’an states that God offered the trust of the nature to the mountains, but they declined to
bear it; when humans were asked the same, they accepted. 37 There are many other revelations
from God, and quotes from the Prophet. And so, what exactly do these verses and
declarations mean?

30
Beckstead N, ‘On the overwhelming importance of shaping the far future’ Published PhD Thesis, The State
University of New Jersey, New Jersey, 2013, 68.
31
Samuel S, ‘What we owe to future generations’ Vox, 2 July 2021 —<
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22552963/how-to-be-a-good-ancestor-longtermism-climate-change> on 27
September 2022.
32
See the EA forum where there is debate regarding this topic. For an example, see —
<https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/eJPjSZKyT4tcSGfFk/climate-change-is-in-general-not-an-existential-
risk>
33
34
Qur’an
35
Musnad Aḥmad 7065
36
Lewis M, ‘Islam and accounting’ 25(2) Accounting Forum, 2020, 110.
37
Quran 33:72. For a commentary on the verse, see —<https://myislam.org/surah-ahzab/ayat-72/> on 14
October 2022.
The foregoing has been interpreted to mean, obviously, that we must protect the environment
and the Earth at all costs, given that it is an Amanah (a trust).38 But bearing more weight to
the context of this paper, scholars have further agreed that the duty to protect the environs of
Earth is one placed on the living, such that those who may live in the future are guaranteed to
benefit from God’s gift. In fact, Bagader et al. were categorical in their interpretation of the
foregoing verses, and the idea that the Earth is a gift to mankind. In their view, the
conservative use of nature and the gift of God is not reserved for ‘one generation above other
generations’.39 To the contrary, living beings must ensure they utilize the environment in a
way that keeps in mind the interests of future generations. 40 In other words, Islam prohibits
excessively using the environment for the sole benefit of living beings. Instead, everyone
must conserve natural resources for the benefit of all people – living and future people. It is
common knowledge that the exacerbation of climate change, and among the critical reasons
for a potential climate disaster, is the excessive utilization of resources.41 And so, Islam has,
in essence, placed obligations on beings to ensure that climate change is not an issue, by
ordaining that resources be used conservatively. Further credence regarding the Earth being
for future generations is found by scholars in their interpretation of the verse ‘It is God who
has made for you the Earth’.42 Here, ‘you’ has been interpreted to mean “the earth is not
created only for one generation of creatures but for every generation: past, present, and
future.”43

So, environmentally speaking, it is clear that Islam has placed on its followers a deep moral
obligation to ensure that the same is conserved for future generations, in one way or the other,
with the ultimate goal that humans leave a good Earth for future generations to benefit from.
Anything to the contrary would be a violation of the teachings of Islam. Interestingly, these
verses that impart onto Muslim’s an obligation to care about the environmental concerns of
future generations were revealed over 1400 years ago.

But there is much more than mere environmental conservation. Shari’ah is a branch of
Islamic canon law. It is believed to be the total of what God ordained to be the set of rules,

38
Islam M, ‘Towards a green earth: An Islamic perspective’ Asian Affairs, 2004, 48-57.
39
Bagader et al., Environmental Protection in Islam, International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN
environmental policy and law Paper no. 20 rev 2–3.
40
Bagader et al., Environmental Protection in Islam, 19.
41
Stichting Natuur en Milieu, Towards a sustainable use of natural resources, 1-15.
42
Quran 40:64.
43
Izzi Dien, Environmental Dimensions of Islam, James Clarke & Co, Cambridge, 2000, 75.
values, and laws that must be followed. 44 It is said that, if one were to do as Shari’ah
prescribes, they would be granted a place in heaven. So, there is great importance placed on
Shari’ah. After all, if one were to be faithful to the rules of Shari’ah, they would go to
heaven. And so, if it can be shown that Shar’iah actually prescribes a moral obligation to care
about future, surely, then, the authors point will be made clear.

Deeper looks into the Shari’ah and its objectives reveal how critical future generations are to
the success of Shari’ah. Notably, Shari’ah seeks to safeguard necessities or ‘dharuriyyat’. It
has been said, that the necessities, in Shari’ah are five: protection of life, property or wealth,
health, religion, lineage and progeny, and dignity.45 It ought to be further noted that
everything propagated and proposed by Islam seeks, intrinsically, to protect these
necessities.46 Said differently, the protection of property, health, progeny, dignity and life is at
the forefront of everything Islam seeks to protect. In the interesting of protecting the
necessities, Ibn Ashur posits that there are two wats to do so: first, there must be the
legalization of all measures to ensure that these interests are protected and preserved for not
just individuals, but for the whole community; 47 and second, ‘protect these interests and
entities from destruction by preventing anything that can violate, damage, or destroy these
entities’.48 So sacred, in fact, is the protection of the necessities, that Islam places stringent
deterrents as far as exile for some who seek to steer the proverbial ship away from strongly
protecting the necessities. So it is therefore clear that these dhuriyyat are extremely
sacrosanct. That we must protect progeny (or nasl), life, property, dignity, and the religion.

With this view, even a superficial look reveals something important: that Shari’ah seeks to
protects lineage and progeny. This essentially means that Shari’ah is not only aware that there
will be future people, but it seeks to ensure that those people are protected. But, for progeny
to exist at all, Islam would have to emphasize on the need to procreate, such that there
actually are generations to protect. It does so variously. For instance, the Prophet has been

44
Rauf I, ‘Shariah and the objectives of Islamic law’ in Defining Islamic Statehood: Measuring and Indexing
Contemporary Muslim States, Palgrave Macmillan, London, England, 2015, 17-35. See 17-19.
45
Duguri S, Salleh M, Hassan I, Azmi M, ‘The Application of Maqasid Al-Shari’ah in the Foreign Policy of
Islamic States’ 11(3) International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Science (2021), 89.
See also, Ghazzali M On Legal theory of Islamic Jurisprudence, Vol 2. Syarkah al-Madinah al Munawwara li
al-Tiba’ah, Madinah, 2014; Ayyubi F The objectives of Islamic law and their connections with legislative
evidence, Dar Ibn al Jauzi, Riyadh, 2011; Ashur, Objecives of Islamic Law, Dar al Nafaes, Amman, 2001.
46
Auda J, Maqāṣid al-Sharī ah as philosophy of Islamic law: A systems approach, International Institute of
Islamic Thought, 2008, 4.
47
Ashur M, Obectives of Islamic Law, International Institute of Islamic Thought, Washington DC, 2006.
48
Ibrahim AH, Rahman NNA, Saifuddeen SM, Baharuddin M, ‘Maqasid al-Shariah Based Islamic Bioethics: A
Comprehensive Approach’ 16(1), Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, 5.
quoted saying that he would be proud of an ummah (community) with great numbers, and so
he encouraged marriages and offspring.49 Second, in Islam, pre-marital sexual relations are
prohibited,50 and reserved for marriage, and in turn, marriage is given sanctity, such that
marrying completes half of faith. 51 The key objective this seeks to achieve, is the
advancement of progeny. To briefly connect this with longtermism, Will MacAskill is also of
the opinion that having kids is an important part of furthering the cause of longtermism. 52
Lastly, in the spirit of ensuring lasting generations and the perpetuation of the human species,
Islamic Shari’ah prohibits abortion, except where the life of the mother is shown to be in
danger.53 Thus, it is clear how Shari’ah stringently protects the preservation and perpetuation
of humans. It is seen as a necessity – a dhuriyyat – to do so. The discussion here then
becomes, well, if Islam encourages creating humans, it follows, one, that there is an active
awareness to the fact that future people will exist, and two, that if they will exist, then,
Shari’ah must ensure (and its rules ensure) that their lives and livelihood are both protected,
because protection of life is one of its key objectives. Thus, a big part of the Shari’ah law is
pegged on the perpetuation of the human species, and the avoidance of total extinction.54

Shariah seeks to ensure, inter alia, the protection of life. However, this is not reserved for the
living life alone. It is simply that Shari’ah exists to protect life. And so, if it exists to protect
life, would this not follow that both existing life and future potential lives all matter, and are
worthy of protection? On face value, one may argue that it does not say it places a moral
obligation on future lives, either. However, that it actually does is especially clear if further
considerations are put on how much emphasis is placed on the continuity of the human
species and the avoidance of extinction, as mentioned earlier, and the overall subsidiary
objectives of Shari’ah.

Generally, decision making, and the consequences thereafter are critical in Islam. Even on the
most basic level, Muslims are aware that every decision they make can either lead them to
heaven or hell in the hereafter. Simply, that every decision and every act following the
decision is a good deed, or a bad deed. 55 The argument here will be as follows: if future
49
Irwa’ al-Ghaleel, 1784.
50
Quran 17:32.
51
al-Mu’jam al-Awsaṭ 992
52
MacAskill W, ‘What we owe the future’, Basic Books, New York, 2022, 200-202.
53
Al Matary, ‘Controversies and considerations regarding the termination of pregnancy for Foetal Anomalies in
Islam’ 15(10) Biomedical Ethics, 2014, 2.
54
Furber M, ‘Obligations to Future Generations’, 19
55
In this regard, what matters, in few instances, is the act itself, in most others, the consequence and
circumstance. For instance, one of the few where contextual factors do not matter is in associating a being with
God (shirk) – it is wrong and unforgivable; see, Quran 4:48 – “Surely Allah does not forgive that a partner be
generations matter, morally, in Islam, it follows that decision makers must ensure that
decisions they take are with the best interest of the progeny, who matter morally, and are
worthy of protection. Islam, therefore, is a religion which takes consequences of actions very
seriously (almost as if it subscribes to a consequentialist thought). In fact, in this regard, Al
Shatbi writes:

Examining the consequences of actions is consistent with the objectives of the Shari‘ah, whether
the actions concerned are in accordance with or contrary to the Shari‘ah. Therefore, the mujtahid
does not judge an action performed by a legally responsible individual, whether it is one of
commission or omission, until he has examined the action’s resultant consequences. 56

Therefore, examining consequences of actions – all actions – is important. And because Islam
has historically placed importance on future people, it follows that one ought to consider the
consequences of their actions with future people in mind, as did the Caliphs, and the Prophet.

At the very basic level, and in summation, as long as the reader is convinced that one, the
Prophet and the Caliphs were aware and cared about future people, they must also be
convinced that Islam places an obligation to care about future people. This arises from the
very basic idea that in Islam, what the prophet did is sunnah, and his sunnah (teachings)
ought to be followed.

IV. Conclusion

In final summation, this paper sought to challenge the conception that longtermism and what
it preaches is Western and new. In dispelling the same, the paper began by showing the tenets
of longtermism. Then, it moved to show that, at the very least, 1400 years ago, the
flagbearers of Islam cared, and were aware of future people. After this was done, the paper
then explored some ways in which Islam places an obligation on living people to care,
morally, about future people; either through perpetuating the human species and avoiding
extinction, or leaving behind a more habitable Earth, or even in the consequences of decision
making.

ascribed to Him, although He forgives any other sins for whomever He wills.” On the other hand, other
decisions, such as deciding to abort a pregnancy may not be a bad action, if it is under the right circumstance;
see, l Matary, ‘Controversies and considerations regarding the termination of pregnancy for Foetal Anomalies in
Islam’ 15(10) Biomedical Ethics, 2014, 2. Nonetheless, the consequence of an action is extremely important to
keep in mind.
56
Al-Shāṭibī, Al-Muwāfaqāt fī uṣūl al-Sharī‘ah, 194-195.
It would be imprudent to claim that the Islamic conceptualization in the idea that future
people matter as much as living people is exactly the same as longtermist thought. However,
what is more digestible is that the idea that is deemed Western, that future people matter, was
actually practiced by Muslims 1400 years ago, and that not only did the flagbearers of Islam
know they would, but they took steps to ensure that the needs of future people were looked
after.