From:  (Rashid)
Subject: Ecology & Islam
Followup-To: soc.culture.arabic
Organization: NH
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 16:52:49 GMT

Essay on Islam and environment by A. and I. Hussain

Ecology An Islamic Perspective

In light of todays environmental crises, many secular and religious
scholars have begun to look into the possible responsibility religion
shares in the desecration of nature in the past few centuries. As Ziauddin
Sardar writes;

The roots of our ecological crises are axiomatic: they 	lie in our belief
and value structures which shape our 	relationship with nature, with each
other and the lifestyles we lead. 

For this reason traditional religions like Christianity, Judaism and Islam
are held responsible as they supposedly espouse an anthropocentric reality.
Lynn White Jr. sees this as being the root cause for the ecological
problems of today. 
(He refers specifically to the problem inherent in the Christian tradition,
but in a general sense extends it to all the monotheistic religions, as
opposed to the pantheistic ones. About blaming Christianity, Parvez
Manzoor, in The Touch Of Midas, writes: ...Christianity does not bear the
blame for our environmental problems. It is the divorce of Christian ethics
from the pursuit of knowledge, in fact what is known to be the age of
rationalism that ushered us into the era of environmental degradation. )


White decries not only the dualistic nature of mans relationship with
nature but also the idea that it is Gods will that man exploit nature for
his proper end... as  Man shares, in great measure, Gods transcendence
over nature. 

This paper is a sincere effort to investigate the validity of Whites view
that the disrespect for nature is inherent in the very nature of these
religions. Dealing only with the Islamic tradition, it will take into
consideration the nature of man, his place in relation to God, his rights
and responsibilities before God, and his relationship to the rest of the
world with regard to his rights over it. In other words the world-view of
Islam is to be the starting point for the examination of mans relation to
the world of external nature.

All religions, customs, schools of thought, and social 	philosophies rest
on a world view. A schools aims, 	methods, musts and must nots all result
necessarily 	from its world view... A world view can become the basis of an
ideology when it has attained the firmness and 	breadth of philosophical
thought as well as the holiness and sanctity of religious principles.  

The primary basis of an Islamic world view is the idea of tauhid, or the
oneness of God. A world view based on tauhid  sees this universe as
originating from God, returning to Him, and centered around Him. It is a
world created and sustained by God with a purpose, and a design. This
entire universe being a product of His divine wish, it is a universe
unfolding with a divine purpose. The reference point, the center of all
things is God.

...Tauhid  is the matrix for human thought and action, it is all pervasive
and penetrates every aspect of our endeavour. 

The essential prerequisite, in Islam, is the belief in this absolute
oneness and unity of God. 

"God the Ultimate reality is One, and everything other than God comes from
God and is related to Him. No true understanding of anything is possible
unless the object in view is defined in relationship to the divine. All
things are centered on God." 

Tauhid  is the point of origin of a theological doctrine of ecology. All
things seen or unseen are Gods signs (ayat ) and act as witnesses to His
existence. All things in the universe are manifestations of Him, all are
from Him.
Human nature is the other key facet of the world-view of Islam. Man enjoys
a very important role in this cosmos. Although all things are made by God
and identified with God in as much as their being created by Him, man is
the only one who enjoys having a microcosmic part of God within him. Man
enjoys the privilege of housing a part of God. In the Qur'an God says He
has breathed His spirit into man.

"When thy Lord said unto the angels: lo! I am about to create a mortal out
of mire, And when I have fashioned him and breathed into him of My Spirit,
then fall down before him prostrate."  

This verse provides essential insights into man's position and nature in
this universe. Although he is a creation of God he is superior to the rest
of Gods creation as he has within him the spirit of God. In this way he is
unique among the creations of God. It is only man to whom the angels are
commanded to prostrate themselves. Another aspect that separates him from
the rest of creation is his acceptance of the trust offered by God. This
trust was offered to all of creation and man was the only one who accepted
it. 

We did indeed offer the trust to the heavens and the 	earth and the
mountains; but they refused to undertake 	it, being afraid thereof. But man
undertook it (the trust);...  

In a matter of trust and trusteeship, the giver of the trust is giving a
responsibility to the trustee. In other words the guardian of the trust has
a high degree of freedom and accompanying responsibility in the use (or
misuse) of the given trust. 
(This is not an attitude that is unique to Islam as can be seen in the
following quote from the Bible When a man has had a great deal given him,
a great deal will be demanded of him; when a man has had a great deal given
him on trust, even more will be expected of him. (Luke: 12:48). It is,
however, an attitude that is all pervasive in the Islamic world-view.)

The trustee is expected to fulfill the trust in the manner that the giver
of the trust would expect of him.  If man did not have the power to either
use or misuse this trust given to him by God, then the whole idea of
offering the trust, in the first place, would be futile. Abdullah Yusuf
Ali, a commentator of the Quran says of this verse;

There is no trust if the trustee has no power, and the 	trust implies that
the giver of the trust believes and 	expects that the trustee would use it
according to the 	wish of the creator of the trust, and not otherwise. 

Thus man has the freedom to do what he wills with the power invested in him
through these two means. One is his closeness to God in spirit and second
is his acceptance of the trust. Mans superiority, control and power over
nature and the rest of creation was thus a part of this trust. After having
taken the responsibility man had to show that he was indeed worthy of
keeping it. If he forgets about the responsibility of the trust and instead
takes full advantage of the power conferred upon him, the other side of his
superiority takes over. Because he has the spirit of God within him, he now
deems to set himself up in rivalry to God. He wishes to take control of the
destiny of the world not as a trustee but as a demi god.  

	...He was indeed unjust and foolish.  

When the power of his relationship to God is applied without the temperance
of the responsibility of the trust, man misuses and abuses the rights given
to him by God. Nature has been given to man as a trust and nothing more.
His right of domination over it (is) only by virtue of his theomorphic
make up, not as a rebel against nature.  God has given revelation, and the
law (shariah) derived from the revelation to assist and guide man in
fulfilling this trust. Ziauddin Sardar writes;

The ultimate consequence of mans acceptance of 	trusteeship is the
arbitration of his conduct by divine 	judgment. To be a Muslim is to accept
and practice the 	injunctions of the Shariah. Thus the Shariah is both a
consequence of ones acceptance of Tauhid and it is a path. 

The Shariah  gives practical shape to the ethical norms in Islam. No moral
or ethical issue is only an abstract idea in Islam. All are codified in the
Shariah to be preached, practiced and incorporated into the very laws of
the land. The Shariah  seeks to provide a framework, an environment within
which men as individuals and as a society can fulfill the role of trustee.
This Shariah  is the life blood of the Muslim psyche and when ignored
causes the kind of disruption in human life, which can now be seen in the
form of severe ecological crises.  This is because that part of the Shariah
 pertaining to nature has been ignored. 

Instead of working in subservience to God as his vicegerent, man has
developed an axiology that invites him to dominate nature rather than act
as a protector over this aspect of Gods trust. He has set himself on par
with God and About such an action the Quran says.

Indeed you have put forth a thing most monstrous! As if 	the skies are
ready to burst, the earth to split asunder and the mountains to fall down
in utter ruin. 
(Quran. Ch.19. vr.88-89. This verse actually deals with the attribution of
Jesus, son of Mary, to be the son of God. In this context it is being used
to demonstrate the abhorrence of any equal being set up with God. )

In the Islamic world-view the relationship of man with nature should be
like that of a ruler with his subjects. Although the ruler has power over
his subjects, his subjects are a trust over which he stands guards. He is
expected to act in a responsible way (as defined by the revelation) toward
them . Misuse and abuse of his power would shift him from being a leader to
being a tyrant. The end result of tyranny is nothing but a revolt against
the tyrant. This is precisely what is happening between man the tyrant and
nature the tyrannized. Tyranny is effective only in the short term. 

Among the works of Zain-al-Abideen (the fourth Imam of the Shiites), is
his Treatise on Rights. Among the many types of rights described he puts
forward the rights of the subjects over their ruler. In this context they
can be extended to form a value system for the formation of an ethic toward
the environment or any other aspect of the world over which man has power
or dominion.

All acts towards the ruled should be imbued with mercy and justice; the
rulers disposition should be like a father toward his child. 

The right of your subjects through authority is that you should know that
they have been made subjects through their weakness and your strength.
Hence it is incumbent on you to act with justice toward them and to be like
a compassionate father toward them.... 

Man, being above nature due to his theomorphic make-up and the burden of
the trust, must deal in a similar way with the environment. The Treatise
on Rights also describes the rights a subject enjoys over his ruler
through the aspect of the rulers knowledge. Taking knowledge to be
synonymous with intelligence, man is endowed with a higher intelligence
than the rest of creation. Because of this he must assume a role of
guardianship over the rest of creation and use nature in a way that is
worthy of this intelligence. If man does what is befitting of his high
station, then God will increase His bounties toward man. If he does not,
then whatever he was blessed with is withheld or taken back.

The right of your subjects through knowledge is that you should know that
God has made you a caretaker over them only through the knowledge He has
given you and His storehouses which He has opened up to you. If you do
well..., not treating them roughly or annoying them, then God will increase
His bounty toward you. But if you ... treat them roughly..., then it will
be Gods right to deprive you of knowledge and its splendor and make you
fall from your place...
 
Nature has been made subservient to man, but it is as much a creature of
God as man is. Neither has man created nature nor is he in any way able to
sustain it. It is only because God has given him the sufficiency and
capacity can he in any way do so. If he is able to plant a tree and
administer its growth or manipulate its genetic characteristics, it is only
because of the intelligence placed within him by God. Just as God has been
good to man so also man must act with the same beneficence toward nature so
that he may safeguard himself when facing God.

Another key aspect of the Islamic world view is its immense stress on
eschatology. Belief in a day of judgment is essential to the faith of an
adherent. It creates an action guide arising from an awareness that actions
have consequences far beyond their immediately apparent effects. Since man
will be called to account for how he looked after the trust bestowed upon
him, he is forced to not only consider present gains but to plan for the
future in order to fulfill the responsibility with which he has been
invested.

Then on that Day, Not a soul will be wronged in the least, And ye shall
but be repaid the meeds of your past deeds 

Eschatology is the policing force within Islam which guides the believer to
fulfill the trust that he had taken on. The thought of an impending
judgment stops him from taking actions according to his own whims and
fancies. It puts a brake on self-centered aspirations.

Mans role of vicegerency, his mantle of superiority and his responsibility
of trust are laid bare before him in the Quran, it is then his decision to
choose which path to take. On the one hand he has before him all the
treasures of nature to use and exploit as he wishes through the fulcrum of
his knowledge. On the other hand is the temperance of the responsibility
which coexists with the trust and intelligence given to him by God. The
world-view of man and the conceptual foundations which underlie that
world-view decide which course man will take.

It has been the contention of this paper that the roots of the man made
environmental crises, and therefore their resolution, lie in mans
conception of his role in the overall scheme of creation. 
(Parvez Manzoor writes, Can we...check this threat to our planet simply by
introducing stricter legislation against pollution, industrial waste and
nuclear spill? Can we reverse the degradation of our environment by
adopting conservationist policies on both national and international
levels? Or could it be that the whole ecological imbalance betokens the
spiritual and teleological crisis of modern civilization itself? Does it
require fundamental revision of our own way of life, our cherished goals,
indeed our very conception of ourselves and the world? Parvez Manzoor, The
Touch of Midas.)

The  crises that are being faced today have attained a critical mass such
that man is forced to confront certain basic questions about his
relationship to the environment.  These are not questions of technology,
but questions about the fundamental nature of man, the nature of the
universe he exists in, and of the ultimate nature of Reality.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.arabic