Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices on Climate Change in a Muslim Community in Knoxville, Tennessee

Abstract

Muslims are religiously obligated to care for the Earth, yet little empirical research exists on how Muslim communities in the U.S. engage with climate change. This study used a mixed-methods approach to explore climate change knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among 82 Muslims in Knoxville, Tennessee, building on prior theoretical or internationally focused work. Results found that participants largely accepted anthropogenic climate change and were strongly willing to act, citing Islamic principles such as stewardship and divine accountability as key motivators. However, many felt underinformed and lacked clarity on how to take action. Religious texts, more than religious leaders, shaped environmental views, offering interpretations that both aligned with and diverged from scientific narratives. Education and personal experience were the most frequently cited sources of climate understanding. Religion emerged as an important source of climate knowledge and a filter through which scientific information was interpreted. The knowledge and environmental attitudes inspired by their religion guided many participants to mitigate climate impacts, although some expressed a more fatalistic view of climate change. These findings suggest that effective climate communication in Muslim communities should integrate faith-based teachings with scientific messaging and engage religious leaders as amplifiers. Expanding this research to include more diverse Muslim populations across the U.S. can provide deeper insight into how Islamic worldviews shape climate engagement and behavior.

1. Introduction

Amid ongoing climate change, rapidly growing cities face increasing threats from natural disasters, as both the intensity and frequency of hazards rise [1,2,3,4]. Urban areas are especially vulnerable due to high population density, aging infrastructure, and social inequalities that shape how risk is experienced and managed. Preparation for these compounding hazards must address not only physical vulnerabilities but also the social and cultural factors that shape risk perception and adaptation. In this context, adaptation depends not only on infrastructure and policy, but also on how individuals and communities understand, care about, and act upon climate risk. Research shows that individuals’ knowledge and attitudes related to climate change significantly influence their willingness and ability to engage in adaptive or preventive behaviors [5]. For instance, Aiken et al. [6] found that perceived risk was one of the strongest predictors of climate action; individuals who viewed climate change as a serious threat were more likely to have taken steps to address it. Yet, climate communication and adaptation planning often fail to account for cultural and religious differences that may mediate this engagement.

As cities grow more diverse and complex, deeper insight into how diverse communities understand and respond to climate change is essential for supporting climate adaptation. The knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) framework provides a useful structure to examine these dynamics. By better understanding community KAP, policymakers and planners can target education, communication, and intervention efforts to build more climate-resilient populations. KAP has largely been applied in public health and environmental behavior, and it is increasingly being applied to climate adaptation research [7,8,9]. However, its use to examine the role of religion, especially Islam, in shaping climate change KAP is limited.

Environmental stewardship is inherently part of Islam, but there is little empirical research on how these beliefs shape climate change attitudes and mitigation activities, especially in the U.S. [10]. The focus on Muslims in the U.S. is critical because, though Muslims have been studied in some other locations, geographic variability is inherent in risk perception as religion is constantly rooted in the local cultural environment [11,12]. Wolf and Moser [13] recommended studies that focus on specific communities to provide insights into particular population segments and reveal culturally or geographically resonant framings. Given the growing presence of Muslims in American cities and the potential for religious leaders and faith-based community organizations (FBCOs) to influence behavior, understanding how U.S. Muslims engage with climate change is an important but underexplored area of study.

This paper addresses that gap through an exploratory case study of Muslims in Knoxville, Tennessee, using the KAP framework. The objective of this research is to gain a greater understanding of how Muslims, as a religious and cultural minority, perceive and are willing to take actions toward mitigating climate change, and the role of the Islamic faith and Muslim FBCOs in shaping these perceptions. Presenting our results within a KAP framework adds to the literature addressing the relationship between climate change understanding, beliefs, and mitigation activities. We focus on the following research questions:

RQ 1. How knowledgeable are Muslims living in Knoxville, Tennessee, on climate change, and how do religion and other sources contribute to that knowledge?

RQ 2. What attitudes do Muslims living in Knoxville, Tennessee, have about climate change and how are these attitudes shaped by their religious beliefs?

RQ 3. Are Muslims living in Knoxville, Tennessee, willing to take action to mitigate climate change and how does this relate to their religious beliefs?

RQ 4. Are the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Muslims living in Knoxville, Tennessee, related and how does religion play a role in connecting them?

To answer these questions, we administered a survey to Muslims living in Knoxville, Tennessee, and analyzed their responses using the KAP framework, with particular attention to how religious beliefs influence self-reported climate change KAP. This paper begins with a review of the relevant literature on climate change attitudes and actions, the role of Islam in shaping environmental views, and the KAP framework. We then describe our methods, present our findings, and discuss how our results contribute to the existing literature and inform future efforts to engage faith-based communities in climate change adaptation.

1.1. Factors Shaping Climate Change Attitudes and Actions

An individual’s physical surroundings and experiences may impact their environmental beliefs and perceptions of climate change [12,14,15,16]. For instance, residents living in areas identified as physically sensitive to the impacts of climate change, such as coastal communities, may perceive a greater risk associated with global climate change [12,15]. Similarly, Spence et al. [14] found that people who had been impacted by floods in the U.K. were more likely to be concerned about climate change and take action by cutting their energy use. However, Whitmarsh [17] found that being impacted by a flood did not affect climate change outlooks in southern England, blurring the relationship between climate change perceptions, knowledge, and personal experiences. In the same study, Whitmarsh [17] found that experiencing the health impacts of air pollution tended to demonstrate a greater understanding of climate change, once again pointing to personal experience increasing climate change literacy.

Sociodemographic factors also contribute to climate change attitude and practice [15,16], though results are mixed as to which variables are significant contributors. Some studies have found that females have heightened perceptions of climate change risks [15,18,19]. The impact of age on climate change attitudes has varied across studies. For example, McCright and Dunlap [20] found that age did not impact climate change beliefs, while Burow et al. [21] found that younger individuals were more concerned about climate change. However, both studies agreed that education impacted the belief that climate change is anthropogenic, with the more educated individuals being more likely to believe that human activities are the primary cause of climate change [20,21].

Political and religious affiliation, economic status, media exposure, and sense of community and place could also impact an individual’s climate change attitudes [16]. For instance, Himmelfarb et al. [16] found that in the southeastern U.S., Democrats were more likely to accept the scientific explanations of climate change than Republicans. Some studies also found that religious individuals and those with higher economic status were more likely to be climate change skeptics [16,20].

Race and ethnicity are also believed to have an impact on climate change attitudes [16,22,23,24], with ethnic and racial minorities in the U.S. (mostly Hispanic, Latinx, and Black) being more concerned about climate change than White Americans [16,22,23,24,25,26,27]. Moreover, concerning immigrants, since foreign-born status has also been linked to increased perceptions of natural disaster risk, especially in the case of Hispanics in the U.S. [27,28], immigrant population density is believed to be one of the reasons behind the geographic variation in climate change attitudes across the U.S. as well as the variation between urban and rural areas of the country [26]. However, there is a lack of studies on the climate change attitudes of racial minorities in the U.S. other than Hispanic, Latinx, and Black communities.

1.2. How Islam Contributes to Climate Change Beliefs

Religion is a multifaceted concept that encompasses systems of beliefs, meaning, and values, while also functioning as an identity, set of practices, and form of power [29]. As such, religion can shape how individuals understand and interact with the natural world, and can provide a space for supporting both ecosystem and human wellbeing. Within the context of climate change, one study found that most religious institutions situated climate change within their moral and religious frameworks, according to their websites, meaning they described it not only as a scientific and political issue but also a moral and spiritual one [30]. Their websites also described deep, faith-based climate engagement, including not only environmental activities but also increasing the profile of the climate change issue, describing such advocacy as a moral imperative [30]. This is a specific example of how these groups may practice religious environmentalism, in which religious institutions guide individuals to respect the earth and consider social and economic policies that support the environment [31]. They present alternative ways of conceptualizing the relationship between people and the environment and provide mechanisms for applying principles of faith to practical action on climate change [32]. Indeed, religion’s ability to motivate action and shape collective behavior positions it as a powerful force in climate mitigation and adaptation. Posas [33] argued that religious institutions are uniquely situated to inspire ethical responses to climate change and mobilize individuals toward meaningful engagement. These relationships between religion and climate change knowledge and practice, however, vary significantly between denominations [34].

Islamic religious interpretations of climate change come in a variety of forms, including official declarations from institutions and authorities, for example, the “Islamic Declaration on Climate Change,” and confessional scholarship [35]. Some of the attitudes influenced by religious beliefs that may impact climate change include consumption level, diets (i.e., meat vs. vegetarian/vegan), population growth, mitigation efforts, and desire to adapt to climate change [36]. For instance, Muslims believe that people are caretakers/stewards (Khalifa) of the Earth and need to protect what God has given us [10,35], and are encouraged not to be wasteful, especially of water or food [36]. However, that does not translate into vegetarianism/veganism, as there is also the belief that God created animals for our sustenance.

After reviewing the literature on Muslims’ attitudes and practices regarding climate change, Koehrsen [10] showed that Muslims in different parts of the world do not have a uniform opinion on climate change and have developed a variety of responses to it, each informed by their individual interpretations of the religion [10]. For instance, using The 2015 Global Attitudes Survey, Skirbekk and Pędziwiatr [36] found that 37% of Muslim respondents in Muslim-majority countries believed that climate change is impacting people’s lives now, 38% believe that it would have an impact on people’s lives in the near future, 11% believed that climate change would have no impact for many years, and 8% believed that climate change will never harm people. The “Life in Transition” Survey results showed that more than half of the Muslims living in Asia and Europe believed “climate change is a very serious problem”, with the lowest percentage of those in agreement with the statement in Bulgaria (18%) and the highest (74%) in Azerbaijan [36]. Interestingly, despite the high percentage of Muslims in Azerbaijan believing in the seriousness of climate change, only 2% took action to help combat climate change, compared to 77% of Swedish respondents who believed in the seriousness of climate change and 70% taking action [36]. This shows the variation in climate change attitudes and actions of Muslims across different geographic regions and how their understanding of climate change may not translate into action. It further emphasizes how communities integrate into the society they live in, with their beliefs reflecting not only their religion but also the beliefs of their local communities.

Muslims in the U.S. are a demographically diversified minority; they are from different parts of the world and speak different languages. Therefore, when studying Muslims, researchers must separate “Islam” (the religious knowledge system) from “Muslims” (the people and groups that identify with Islam), as individuals may have divergent understandings of the religious knowledge system [10]. For instance, many concepts in Islam help Muslims deal with calamities, whether it is sickness or natural hazards. “Tawakkul,” which is the Arabic word for trust and reliance on God while doing your best to help yourself [37], is in line with the saying “God helps those who help themselves.” In contrast, “Tawaakul” means complete reliance on God without making an effort to help yourself, which is the fatalistic attitude Muslims are discouraged from. However, some Muslims may misinterpret the term and take it to only mean trust in God, which results in them adopting fatalistic attitudes toward environmental hazards and change [37].

Muslim leaders are recognized as people of substantial influence and a significant role in molding the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of Muslims, including those regarding the natural environment, and have a substantial effect on their lives and consumption habits [36]. In their survey of Muslim leaders (i.e., Imam, teacher, Chaplain, village elder) from various parts of the world, Skirbekk and Pędziwiatr [36] found that the majority of Muslim leaders believe that climate change is ongoing and that it has anthropogenic causes and negative impact on humans, both now and in the future. They are in favor of increasing taxes to address climate change. The authors also found that, of the Muslim leaders surveyed, 85% agreed that “Muslim religious leaders should be more active in actions related to climate change” and many quoted verses from the Holy Quran and Islamic concepts that promote environmentalism.

Because of how religion intersects climate change perceptions and actions, faith-based community organizations (FBCOs) have the potential to serve as key collaborators in building community resilience, to enhance the overall effectiveness and interconnectedness of social-ecological systems [38]. This collaboration may include efforts to both mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change, as well as to prepare for and respond to climate-related events and other natural disasters [38].

1.3. KAP Framework for Understanding Motivation to Mitigate Climate Change

The KAP framework has been used in the public health and behavioral science fields since the mid-20th century [28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38]. For example, there is a history of using KAP surveys to assess opposition and support around family planning [39]. More recently, KAP was used in research related to climate and health. In their extreme heat vulnerability analysis framework, Wilhelmi and Hayden [8] employ KAP as a component of their adaptive capacity measure alongside household and community resources and social capital, noting the importance of assessing KAP in place of demographic analyses to understand adaptation behaviors. Other work using KAP in related fields has addressed heatwave interventions [7,9], air pollution and respiratory health [40], climate change education [41], and climate change adaptation within targeted groups such as farmers [42] college students [43], children [44], and teachers [45]. Indeed, many KAP studies related to the environment and sustainability have been conducted in an educational environment [46]. Studies such as these provide KAP information about survey participants such as their scientific understanding of environmental threats and preferred sources of information (knowledge), their belief in climate change, level of concern, and perceived magnitude of the threat (attitude), and the frequency and number of behavioral changes they make to mitigate the threat, or how they teach students about it (practice). Religion can influence all three aspects of climate change KAP, as discussed in the previous section with a focus on Islam, though different denominations vary in how they teach and influence their participants’ understanding, concern, and behavior [34]. Studies also assess connections between knowledge, attitudes, and practice, largely finding that the relationship is not straightforward, as an increase in knowledge and/or levels of concern does not always result in practice. Religion could amplify the relationship between knowledge/attitudes and practice, as religion itself is practiced and not just believed, but more work is needed to understand how local faith communities influence climate-positive behavior [32].

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Study Area

The state of Tennessee is in the southeastern U.S., a region known for political and religious conservatism (Figure 1). In a 2023–24 survey by the Pew Research Center, 72% of adults in the South said religion is somewhat or very important in their lives. Christianity was the predominant religion reported by the respondents in that survey (68%), while only 1% identified as Muslim.

From 1970 to the present, average temperatures in the southeastern U.S. have increased by an average of 1 °C (2 °F) [47]. Temperatures in this region are projected to continue to rise throughout the 21st century, with fluctuations due to natural climatic variability [47]. Significant increases in the number of warmer days (35 °C/95 °F or higher) and decreases in freezing events are two of the most significant effects of this regional warming on Knox County [47]. This shift toward more extreme and variable conditions can impact the profile of precipitation-related risks in the region, such as drought and flooding, as described in the National Climate Assessment (NCA; currently unavailable online). The NCA also showed that in the 2010s, the number of nights with minimum temperatures exceeding 24 °C (75 °F) was almost twice the long-term average from 1901 and 1960, and the freeze-free season extended by nearly a week and a half longer than any other period in the historical record.

The City of Knoxville, Tennessee, serves as the county seat of Knox County and is the third-largest city in the state. It is located within the Great Appalachian Valley—locally referred to as the Tennessee Valley—positioned between the Great Smoky Mountains to the southeast and the Cumberland Plateau to the northwest (Figure 1). These surrounding mountain ranges influence the region’s climate by moderating the extremes seen in flatter areas at similar latitudes, helping to buffer cold winter air from the north and soften the intensity of hot summer winds from the west and south. Previous research has shown that Knoxville specifically has had an increase in high summer heat indices in the last half of a century, along with a significant decrease in seasonal snowfall totals [21].

2.2. Survey

Approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) was obtained prior to data collection (UTK IRB-24-08099-XM). Data were collected through the administration of a survey following the IRB’s ethical guidelines. Respondents were contacted through social apps like WhatsApp and GroupMe through groups made by the Muslim community in the former and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Muslim Student Association in the latter. The survey was created on Qualtrics XM and distributed as a link. Snowball sampling was used to encourage individuals who received the survey to distribute it to their peers in the Muslim community. The survey was distributed in May 2024 and made available until mid-July 2024. Characteristics of the 82 survey respondents are provided in

Table 1. Self-reported characteristics of survey participants (n = 82). Survey respondents were predominantly educated, young, or middle-aged females who believed religion was very important.

Category	Response option	N (%)
Age	18–29	37 (45%)
	30–49	41 (50%)
	50–69	4 (5%)
	70+	0 (0%)
Gender	Female	59 (72%)
	Male	23 (28%)
Race	Asian/Pacific Islander	18 (22%)
	American Indian or Alaskan Native	0 (0%)
	Black or African American	5 (6%)
	Hispanic or Latino	3 (4%)
	White/Caucasian	4 (5%)
	Middle Eastern or North African (Arab)	49 (60%)
	Multiple Ethnicities/Other	3 (4%)
Nationality	Born in the US	34 (41%)
	Born in another country	48 (59%)
Marital status	Single	27 (33%)
	Married	52 (63%)
	Separated or divorced	1 (1%)
	Widowed	2 (2%)
Preferred language	Arabic	8 (10%)
	English	59 (72%)
	English, Arabic	15 (18%)
Education	Less than high school	1 (1%)
	High school/GED	9 (11%)
	Some college, but no degree	16 (20%)
	College degree (AA, BS, etc.)	32 (39%)
	Advanced degree (MA, PhD, etc.)	24 (29%)
Importance of religion	Not at all important	0 (0%)
	Somewhat important	2 (2%)
	Important	2 (2%)
	Very important	78 (95%)

. At the end of the survey, respondents were directed to a raffle entry page for a chance to win one of five $100 gift cards of their choice.

The survey included 28 questions to gather demographic information and information on extreme weather, climate, and climate change topics. For this work, we use questions related to climate change KAP, basing our KAP measures on five questions. Knowledge questions asked if the respondents feel knowledgeable about climate change and mitigation options. Attitude questions asked whether respondents believe climate change is anthropogenic and causing more hazardous weather locally. One practice question asked if respondents are willing to make changes to their lifestyle to combat climate change. These questions were Likert-scale ranging from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 4 (Strongly Agree). Respondents were also asked three binary questions about lists of sources, including whether that source shaped their knowledge about climate change or affected their willingness to make changes to their lifestyle, and whether they considered it a trusted source. Additionally, respondents were asked one open-ended question: “Please describe how your religious beliefs impact your beliefs and actions surrounding climate change.” All quantitative data are presented in tables herein. Data are available in alternate formats by contacting the authors.

2.3. Analysis

This study employed a mixed-methods design, integrating both quantitative and qualitative data from a survey to explore participants’ KAP related to climate change. Quantitative data were collected through a series of Likert-scale and dichotomous (yes/no) questions, while qualitative insights were obtained from a single open-ended question. Given the limited sample size, the quantitative analysis was mostly restricted to descriptive statistics (e.g., frequencies, percentages, and means), which provided an overview of participants’ responses and highlighted general trends within the dataset. We conducted Spearman correlation analyses to examine associations between participants’ knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported climate-related practices. Two-item composite scores were created to represent climate change knowledge and attitudes after testing their reliability using Cronbach’s alpha. For the knowledge items (α = 0.69, average inter-item correlation = 0.53), internal consistency was acceptable, suggesting the items measured a shared underlying construct. The attitude items showed good internal consistency (α = 0.78, average inter-item correlation = 0.65). These reliability values support the use of simple composite scores in this exploratory analysis. These analyses were intended to identify potential relationships rather than test formal hypotheses. Further statistical analyses were not conducted due to insufficient statistical power. Subgroup analyses were considered but not pursued due to limited variability in key participant characteristics (e.g., age, gender, education, religiosity) commonly associated with climate change KAP (Table 1). All statistical analyses were performed in R Project for Statistical Computing, version 4.5.

We used directed content analysis [48] to examine the qualitative responses (n = 43). After responses were categorized by knowledge, attitude, and practice, they were analyzed to identify recurring themes and representative quotes that enriched and contextualized the quantitative findings. Each of the recurring themes is described in the relevant section in the results along with the sample representative quote(s). This exploratory analysis offers a preliminary understanding of climate-related KAP in the study population. Future research with a larger and more diverse sample is recommended to enable hypothesis testing, subgroup comparisons, and multivariate modeling to examine potential associations among KAP constructs and demographic variables.

3. Results

The responses to the KAP Likert scale survey questions are given in

Table 2. Survey respondents’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices on climate change and mitigation measures (n = 71). Participants were asked, “How much do you agree with the following statements?”.

KAP Category	Statement	Strongly Disagree (1)	Disagree (2)	Agree (3)	Strongly Agree (4)	Mean (SD)
Knowledge	I am well-informed on the issue of climate change.	3	17	41	10	2.82 (0.72)
	I am well informed on actions I need to take to protect myself from climate change impacts.	4	20	36	11	2.76 (0.78)
Attitudes	The climate is changing due to human activities on Earth.	2	6	34	29	3.27 (0.74)
	Climate change is causing more hazardous weather in Knoxville.	2	12	39	18	3.03 (0.74)
Practice	I am willing to make changes to my lifestyle to combat climate change.	3	6	45	17	3.07 (0.70)

, and discussed alongside themes from the open-ended questions in the relevant sections on knowledge, attitude, and practice. All mean scores from the Likert scale questions are within a standard deviation of each other, and all medians were 3 (“Agree”), indicating there were no statistically significant differences in the responses to the five questions.

3.1. Knowledge

The knowledge measures resulted in the lowest mean scores of the KAP survey questions (Table 2). Approximately one-third of the respondents perceived their climate literacy as lacking, which is surprising due to our relatively educated population of survey respondents.

Respondents gathered information about climate change from a variety of sources, with their answers reflecting perceptions of the credibility of official institutions and personal experiences (Table 2). The most used sources for shaping climate knowledge were education and personal experience, which were also trusted by most people. Government sources were also trusted by most respondents but have had less influence on climate knowledge than other sources. Informal sources were used and/or trusted less often. Social media was nearly as common a source as the government but only trusted by half of the respondents.

Religion was a common source for shaping respondents’ knowledge about climate change (

Table 3. Sources influencing respondents’ knowledge and practice (n = 71). Respondents were asked (Y/N) if information from the following sources shaped their knowledge of climate change or willingness to make changes to mitigate climate change (shaped practice). They were also asked if they generally trust information about climate change from a list of sources. Choices here were slightly different from the original list where noted.

Source	Shaped Knowledge N (%)	Shaped Practice N (%)	Trusted Source N (%)
Education	65 (92%)	56 (79%)	59 (83%) 1
Personal experience	60 (85%)	54 (76%)	65 (92%) 2
Religion	52 (73%)	49 (69%)
Television	46 (65%)	42 (59%)	50 (70%)
Government organizations	41(58%)	42 (59%)	64 (90%) 3
Social media	39 (55%)	32 (45%)	35 (49%)
Family and friends from the FBCO	33 (46%)	38 (54%)	52 (73%)
Family and friends from outside FBCO	33 (46%)	35 (49%)	48 (68%)
AM/FM commercial radio	33 (44%)	30 (42%)	40 (56%)
Religious leaders	28 (39%)	33 (46%)	50 (70%)

¹ This was listed as “schools” for the trusted source. ² This was listed as “environmental cues” for the trusted source. ³ This was listed as “environmental management agencies” for the trusted source.

), highlighting the intersection of Islamic beliefs and environmental awareness. In the open-ended question, a few responses connected climate change to eschatological beliefs, suggesting that environmental degradation aligns with signs of the approaching Day of Judgment: “My religious beliefs support the idea of climate change because I understand that the world is in a state of decline until the last day arrives.” Thus, their climate change knowledge stems from religious teachings. One respondent referred to their religion as indicating climate change is occurring, but that it is cyclical, stating, “My religion indicates that there will be a cyclical change in the environment (the Middle East will return to a green haven).” This demonstrates that characteristics of climate change as informed by religion can differ from those taught in traditional education venues and other official sources. Religious leaders were a trusted source for information on climate change for 70% of respondents, but the least common source noted. Notably, more respondents felt their religion shaped their knowledge of climate change (73%) compared to religious leaders (39%).

3.2. Attitudes

Respondents mostly agreed that anthropogenic climate change is occurring (Table 2). In their open-ended answers, some respondents cited the Quran [30:41], detailing how it connects human behavior to environmental degradation, and framing climate change as a direct consequence of moral and ethical failings: “Corruption has appeared throughout the land and sea by [reason of] what the hands of people have earned so He may let them taste part of [the consequence of] what they have done that perhaps they will return [to righteousness].” This demonstrates that, for some respondents, their belief in anthropogenic climate change may be rooted in spiritual causes of environmental degradation rather than physical modifications of the environment.

Respondents also generally agreed that climate change is causing more hazardous weather in Knoxville (Table 2). Several respondents noted that future disasters are mentioned in the Quran, so climate-induced disasters are not surprising. One respondent noted that belief in the relationship between disasters and Islam could be rooted in the disasters that occurred during past prophets, which formed their teachings on disasters. Several noted that prayer and reliance on God while doing their part (Tawakkul) were seen as sources of comfort and guidance during extreme weather.

3.3. Practices

Most respondents (87%) agreed or strongly agreed that they are willing to make lifestyle changes to combat climate change. In the open-ended question, respondents consistently accentuated their role as stewards or custodians of the Earth, a responsibility they described as divinely ordained and linked to accountability. This stewardship was often framed as a duty to preserve and protect the environment as an act of gratitude and respect for God’s creation. Despite their belief in a spiritual cause of climate change, they elaborated on how this belief drives them to adopt sustainable practices and mindfulness in their daily activities, such as reducing waste, avoiding fast fashion, minimizing plastic use, and sourcing products from eco-friendly companies. Even those who connected climate change to eschatological beliefs believed that this further reinforced their urgency for sustainable actions, as many respondents expressed the need to uphold the balance established by God. A few participants also described their religion as teaching them to generally be mindful of or accountable for their actions, and they applied this to environmentalism. Others simply said they rely on God or pray.

3.4. Relationship Between Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices

The three KAP variables were correlated with each other (α = 0.05). Knowledge was moderately positively correlated with both attitudes (r = 0.35) and practice (r = 0.43). Thus, participants with more knowledge about climate change were more likely to believe in anthropogenic climate change and report more willingness to act. The strongest relationship was between attitudes and practice (r = 0.53), indicating that those who believe climate change is anthropogenic and affecting Knoxville were strongly linked with reported climate-friendly behaviors.

In the open-ended responses, a common theme was connecting knowledge gained from religious teachings and texts to their willingness to practice mitigation measures. One participant described this connection: “Islamic teachings emphasize the principles of Al-Ilmu (knowledge), Ikhtiar (effort), and Tawakkul (trust in God) to help people prepare for disasters. That’s what I believe and practice.” Another said, “Islam teaches us that we are custodians of the planet and we need to take care of it. It also teaches us to take actions to protect ourselves.” One participant connected knowledge and pro-environmental attitudes, saying, “I believe there is a wisdom behind why there is a big emphasis on environmental conservation in my religion.”

Other participants wrote how their religion affected a singular aspect of climate change KAP. Participants would state that they need to care for and protect the resources provided by Allah, indicating action, but did not root this action in knowledge or attitudes about the Earth or climate. Others noted that they rely on prayer for safety and/or comfort during extreme weather, an example of an action they take that is not based on environmental knowledge. However, while some participants seemingly saw prayer as valid singular action, one participant said that Islam “teaches us to take actions to protect ourselves and not just pray and wait for God to save us,” noting the importance of the knowledge aspect of the religion that causes them to both pray and engage in mitigation.

A final subset of participants shared their fatalistic beliefs, which were disconnected from environmental knowledge or practices, stating things like “I believe that Allah (god) is in control.”

4. Discussion

In this study, we explored climate change KAP in the Muslim population in Knoxville, Tennessee, with a specific focus on how religious beliefs and trusted sources shaped their climate literacy and action. We aimed to fill a gap in understanding Muslim climate change perceptions within the U.S. using empirical evidence, as most work connecting Islam to climate change beliefs has focused on places outside the U.S. and/or was theoretical [10]. Though our small sample size prevents in-depth statistical analyses, from the quantitative and qualitative data emerges a story that suggests formal education is not necessarily the primary driver of climate engagement and that individual interpretations of religion moderate how it affects climate change KAP and the relationship between knowledge, attitude, and practice.

4.1. Climate Knowledge from Education, Experience, and Faith

For RQ 1, we aimed to determine how knowledgeable Muslim residents were on climate change and what sources contribute to that knowledge. Previous research suggests climate change knowledge is limited across the world and is not directly linked to level of education [13]. Thus, it is not surprising that nearly one-third of our relatively educated survey respondents reported feeling underinformed about the topic. However, formal education was the most common and a mostly trusted source for climate change information for the respondents, indicating that education plays a critical role in providing scientifically grounded knowledge on environmental issues. A prior study pointed to formal education as an important knowledge source due to multiplier effects, where educated individuals share the information they learned with their community, which informs bottom-up solutions [49]. Social networks were not a major source of knowledge in the current study, but perhaps many of the educated individuals in our study are the potential sources of knowledge in their communities.

Personal experience is also a knowledge source for climate change information; even if not recognized in traditional definitions of knowledge, formative personal experiences of residents are a critical consideration in climate change KAP research [50]. These experiences include those that are direct, meaning an individual experiences an extreme weather event firsthand, or indirect, such as virtual or vicarious exposure [51]. In the current study, respondents largely relied on and trusted their personal experience for climate change knowledge. This high reliance on personal experience aligns with some prior studies that found direct exposure to climate-related events or environmental degradation can enhance awareness and concerns about climate change. However, some studies found that direct experience with an extreme weather event may not affect knowledge [17], or even that belief may play a role in an individual perceiving that they experienced evidence of climate change [51]. Results of the current study suggest personal experience is an important part of the study population’s knowledge on climate change, which we postulate may be rooted in the deep spiritual connections to the environment as described by the participants, a potential link between experience and religion.

Religion provided climate change knowledge to approximately three-quarters of the respondents. While they trusted their religious leaders for climate change information, they were largely not a source of knowledge; instead, it was the religious text that they used to build their knowledge. This was demonstrated in the open-ended question where respondents described verses they used to distill climate change information. The knowledge they gained from their religious text did not always match traditional scientific knowledge. While previous studies have framed religion as a filter for scientific knowledge [52], our results suggest religion is also considered a direct source of knowledge for subsets of the population who consider religion a major aspect of their lives. The limited influence of religious leaders, despite being trusted sources, may signal either a barrier or an untapped opportunity in advancing climate change literacy; is this limited influence a result of their disengagement, or does it reflect their constituencies’ preference for alternative sources of information?

4.2. Moral and Eschatological Interpretations of Climate Change

For RQ 2, we measured Muslim attitudes toward climate change and determined how religion influences these attitudes. Cultural worldviews fundamentally shape individuals’ attitudes toward climate change [13], suggesting that Muslim attitudes are likely influenced by their Islamic viewpoints. Indeed, Muslims often hold a faith-guided perspective on climate change, though interpretations of its causes and consequences vary across contexts. Case studies, including the current one, demonstrate this variation, as do broader geographical comparisons [10]. For instance, in some regions, climate change skepticism among Muslims has been attributed to beliefs that it is a Western conspiracy aimed at weakening Muslim-majority countries [53] or to the view that climate change reflects divine will or signals the end times [54]. Conversely, in other areas, Muslim communities largely accept that climate change is driven by human activity.

Our participants aligned with this latter view: most believed in anthropogenic climate change and, to a slightly lesser extent, connected it to an increase in local extreme weather. This stands in contrast to much of the surrounding southeastern U.S., a region characterized by widespread climate skepticism often linked to religious and conservative political views [20]. Notably, while religion is frequently cited as a source of climate skepticism, particularly in the Southeast, our findings suggest otherwise. Among survey respondents, 97% considered religion (i.e., Islam) important or very important, and 89% agreed or strongly agreed that climate change is anthropogenic. This is a greater belief in anthropogenic warming compared to the general public in Knoxville [21]. These findings seemingly diverge from earlier research on Christian communities, which found religious individuals more likely to be environmental skeptics [20]. Overall, climate change attitudes of the study respondents were more heavily influenced by education, experience, and religion, perhaps diminishing the influence of the broader regional culture. That said, many respondents in the current study described their belief in anthropogenic climate change as being rooted in spiritual reasoning rather than Western scientific reasoning, e.g., due to humans’ spiritual actions, which include immoral physical alterations to the environment, such as wastefulness or destroying ecosystems. Rather than citing scientific facts, Quranic verses were cited as evidence of environmental degradation resulting from human moral failure, echoing prior research on the role of religious ethics in shaping environmental views in other religions [55]. One could argue that this approach allows the respondents to believe in anthropogenic climate change while also agreeing with the non-scientific sentiment of the overall region.

4.3. Faith-Driven Environmental Stewardship

For RQ 3, we assessed whether Muslims living in Knoxville were willing to take action to mitigate climate change, and how this relates to their religious beliefs. Quantitative results suggested our respondents, who were largely female, were motivated to make lifestyle choices to mitigate their impacts on climate change. Previous work on environmentalism and Islam found that American Muslim women engage in pro-environmental behaviors similar to the frequency of the general population, but they are not taking action on environmental issues [56]. Overall, this group is willing to take action but may need encouragement and support. Respondents’ written responses often aligned with literature emphasizing how Islamic teachings frame humans as Khalifa, or stewards of the Earth, charged with protecting what God has entrusted to them [10,35].

For RQ 4, we assessed the relationship between knowledge, attitudes, and practice. Quantitatively, the three variables are connected, and qualitative responses often supported this result, as participants often described how their religion connects environmental knowledge and attitudes with practice, demonstrating how religion is indeed a practice itself [32]. The frequency at which they framed their actions based on religion, whether through beliefs about divine cycles or the Day of Judgment, reveals how theological understanding can be both a means for interpreting climate change and a motivator for sustainable behavior. Interestingly, eschatological beliefs, such as climate change aligning with signs of the Day of Judgment, were not used to justify inaction. Some studies have shown that such beliefs can reduce agency in people, thinking they have no control [13], or that people who follow a religion that believes in end-of-the-time scenarios are less likely to support attempts to address climate change [57]. However, in the current study, such beliefs increased respondents’ sense of urgency and accountability, though some participants did express fatalistic views that support inaction. While some participants wrote about how religion connected their attitudes or knowledge with their beliefs, others wrote about how religion simply drove them to act (or not act), focusing on actions like prayer but not connecting this action with information. Chitando [58] refers to religious individuals who only use prayer to mitigate climate change as “escapist prayers” and recommends religious leaders to pray for courage to face climate change and to present innovative strategies for mitigating environmental issues.

Future climate communication should engage these religious frameworks rather than bypass or contradict them. While Muslim environmentalists remain in the minority [10], many may be willing to take some measures to protect the Earth as part of their spiritual duty. Our study indicates more people in this community are willing to mitigate their lifestyle than people who know how, demonstrating a need for education surrounding relevant actions to take. Due to their overall trust in religious leaders, if Muslim leaders as a whole were more active in climate change mitigation, as a group of them suggests they should be [36], it could result in more activity across the Muslim community.

4.4. Limitations

The majority of our sample participants included educated young to middle-aged Muslim women and may not be representative of the overall Knoxville Muslim population. Due to lack of variability in the sample, we were unable to assess how KAP varies among demographics. For example, age [21], education [20,21] and gender [15,18,19] have been important factors in some climate change studies in the past, but we are unable to address their impacts on beliefs in this study and instead the results are biased towards our main sample population.

The survey instrument did not measure all important aspects of climate KAP in the context of religion. For example, individual characteristics such as belief strength, frequency of prayer, and scriptural engagement were not obtained. Additional quantitative and qualitative questions are necessary to better operationalize religion and provide clear insight into its role in climate change KAP. Furthermore, in this study, the behavior variable was operationalized based on willingness to act to mitigate climate change. While some participants provided written responses indicating actions they are willing to take, we lack information about the extent to which the remaining participants are actively engaging in mitigation behaviors and whether there are barriers to their intended actions.

4.5. Future Research Directions

A clear next step is to employ a larger survey, which would require sampling from a larger area, to determine how religion moderates the KAP variables in this community. Some questions could be used directly from our survey instrument for comparison, but additional quantitative and qualitative questions are necessary to provide more depth. The quantitative questions could be used to create KAP measures for structural equation modeling to model the relationship between knowledge, attitude, and practice. Qualitative questions should be used to gain a deeper understanding of the quantitative responses, as they were integral to interpreting survey results due to different interpretations of Islam and climate change. For example, a person who perceives themselves to have high climate literacy may believe in a spiritual cause of climate change instead of the traditional scientific explanation based on the greenhouse effect.

Generally, the Knoxville Muslim community was motivated to make changes to their lifestyles to combat climate change, but not everyone knows how. Future research could work to determine what steps they are currently taking, how to educate the community on opportunities to reduce their own climate change footprint and build resiliency, and the potential roles of Muslim leaders in spearheading these efforts.