An alien visitor to planet Earth would be shocked by the state it is in. The destruction of the life-preserving ozone layer is going on unnoticed. Climatic changes are having a devastating effect on the lives of millions of people across the globe. Everywhere it is a time of crises – and moral paradoxes. Food riots are now becoming the norm in Africa and Asia – as Europe boasts of the highest food mountain reserves ever.
A tropical cyclone has just devastated Burma leaving thousands dead and millions homeless and hungry. In China a massive earthquake has led to the same human plight. Now it seems where all the political and military threats have failed nature will triumph: both Burma and China have had no option except to open their normally closed societies to the rest of the world.
Humanity is facing not a single crisis but like the times of Pharaoh a multitude of plagues. The future is bleak and gets bleakier by the day. As temperature rise, scorching droughts ravage the earth, ancient glaciers melt into a rising sea, and expanding deserts obliterate fertile land. In its feverish state, the world is turning on its inhabitants with devastating consequences.
We are slowly awaking to the realisation that the very survival of humankind is at stake. We are consuming and destroying the world at a rate beyond its ability to self-repair and regenerate. Put simply, we are ‘eating’ ourselves out of house and home.
Over the last three years the world has consumed more food than it has produced. Global food shortages are beginning to impact even the dining tables of Europe, as food prices soar. For the already-hungry poor in developing countries, it is a stark matter of life or death.
Environmentalism in Europe awoke in the late 19th century, and grew in the 1960’s, only now reaching the mainstream. It is working its way into school curriculums and government policies as we belatedly begin to acknowledge the reality of limited resources and the impact of reckless consumption.
In the search for solutions, scientists are fixing their hopes, somewhat ironically, upon technology. Our own behaviour and attitude towards our world seems to be escaping close scrutiny once again. Greener products will only take us part of the way. At some point we are going to have to take a hard, honest look at ourselves and accept that we are the source of the fever burning the planet. Pollution, using food as biofuel, deforestation and over-fishing are all just symptoms of the greed within.
Last year, Britain’s Environment Agency asked the country’s leading environmental experts to compile a list of 50 actions to help save the planet. A technological solution – more energy-efficient products, topped the list. However, in second place was a plea for “religious leaders to make the environment a priority for their followers.” With Christians and Muslims making up around 55% of the world’s population, approximately 3 billion people, it was a wide-reaching suggestion.
Almost 1400 years ago, one religious leader was already raising environmental consciousness in his disciples, teaching them to live in harmony and balance with the natural world and all of creation. That leader was the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings upon him, and he taught by example, setting a high standard of ethical behaviour and good character. Prophet Muhammad had a profound respect for the environment, something intrinsic to his way of life. He was a ‘mercy to mankind’ and his compassion extended to all of creation – the fauna and the flora; the land and the water.
According to Islam the job of mankind in relation to the rest of creation is that of ‘khalifa’ or guardian. Although the world belongs to God, humans are His tenants, with the right to share its resources on the understanding that we won’t damage, waste or destroy what is in our trust. It’s all there in the small-print of the tenancy agreement. Tragically, we’ve proven to be delinquent tenants, tearing the place apart while still in residence. We shall all end up in court, of course, once the Final Eviction notice is served. Meantime, there is a chance to make things right.
The Prophet lived his life in balance, avoiding extremes and maintaining justice in all his transactions with creation. Although we have yet to completely understand the ecological balance of the planet, we are courting disaster by destroying delicate systems and taking more than we give. In environmental terms, maintaining balance involves a give and take that is both proportional and sustainable.
The Prophet lived life in a simple, frugal manner. His material possessions were few, he shared what he had with those around him, and gave preference to others’ needs over his own. “Moderation is the best of actions,’ he said.’ In contrast, the consumerist lifestyle in our modern world is a selfish, wasteful and unsustainable way of life driven by insatiable appetites. If everyone in the world consumed as much as the worst-offending nations, by 2050 we would need eight more planets to feed the demand.
The new green mantra is ‘Reduce, Recycle, Reuse’ – basic concepts which were taught by the Prophet. He forbade excess and taught his companions to avoid wasting even plentiful resources. When asked whether waste was a factor when washing for prayer, the Prophet replied “Yes, even if you are by a flowing river.” Being led by our appetites is discouraged in the Qur’an, where God says,
“… eat and drink: but waste not by excess for Allah loves not those who waste.”
(Qur’an 7:31)
In the USA today, almost half of all edible food is wasted, mostly ending up as polluting landfill. The Prophet encouraged people to avoid leaving leftovers, saying,
“You do not know which part of your food carries the blessings.”
We are advised to control and reduce our appetites instead of indulging them, as the Prophet says, “God has not created a vessel which when it is filled is worse than the belly. So if there is no avoiding it then make a third for food, a third for drink and a third for breath.”
Living in a desert environment naturally instils a great respect for the conservation of limited resources such as water and arable land. When he migrated to the city of Medina, the Prophet encouraged productivity by planting trees and groves of date palms. “Whoever reclaims and cultivates dry, barren land will be rewarded by God for the act. So long as men and animals benefit from it He will record it for him as charity.” “If Judgement Day should arrive while you are planting a seedling,” said the Prophet, “be certain to plant it, if you are able.”
The Prophet established some of the first nature sanctuaries on earth, where trees could not be cut down, or animals harmed. He declared Medina a ‘haram’ a sacred sanctuary, and re-established the sanctuary of Makkah. Green spaces were also designated as ‘himas’, protected areas. The two sanctuaries of Makkah and Medina exist to this day, almost 1400 years later.
We could do worse than follow his example in protecting the world’s rainforests from destruction. Rainforests, the ‘lungs of the planet’, contain at least half of all the world’s species, but are being destroyed before we even begin to discover their natural treasures.
The Prophet warned his followers against wanton destruction, giving the example of a Prophet of old who was stung by an ant and in retaliation burnt the entire nest. God rebuked him saying, “Because one ant stung you, you burned a whole community that glorified Me.”Hunted to extinction, the songs of praise of the Dodo and the Great Auk are no longer heard on earth, thanks to mankind’s greed.
The Prophet taught that food should be both halal (permissible) and tayyab (pure or wholesome). The concept of tayyab includes ethical issues of animal welfare and the use of pesticides. Muhammad himself ate very little meat. In the last 50 years the amount of meat eaten per person in the world has doubled. Massive areas of land are given over to growing crops for cattle whose methane emissions add to global warming.
Around 23 per cent of the human population consumes around 80 per cent of the planet’s resources. Reducing consumption and sharing what we have are essential tenets of religion. “The believer is not the one who eats his fill while his neighbour at his side is hungry.”
The Prophet told his companions, “Food for one is sufficient for two. The food for two is sufficient for three, and the food for three is sufficient for four.” He also warned that refusing surplus water to those in need of it was “sinning against God and man.” The concept of sharing is not about charity, as every living thing has a right to a due share in the world’s resources. This right also extends to future generations who stand to inherent a depleted poisoned planet – unless we radically change our ways.
In Islam the consequences of our mistakes are seen as gifts from God, allowing us an opportunity to stop, reflect and mend our ways.
“Corruption has spread far and wide over land and sea, due to the actions of humankind and Allah is giving them a taste of their own actions as a means of finding a way back to Him.”
(Qur’an 30:41)
A time of crisis can be a time for reflection, and change. Urbanisation is partly responsible for cutting us off from the signs of God found in the natural world. Living in narrow city streets, our horizons limited and choked by skyscrapers, out of touch with the seasons, we have become isolated, deaf and blind, with little in our surroundings to encourage us to reflect.
The Prophet was a revolutionary in his time, and his teachings on how to relate to the world are more vital than ever. It is time to call for a planet-wide revolution to regain a sense of the sacred – of human life, of animal life, of all of creation. If each of us can commit to living sustainably, and treading lightly upon the Earth, perhaps we can soothe the fever gripping the planet, and restore the harmony of balance to the world.
Samina Faiz
a freelance journalist and Editor of EcoIslam – the official publication of the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IFEES). She is based in Birmingham, Britain.