Ecology and Islamic values -II

Living with and loving Allaah's Creation
Let us think about some of the ways that Islam's spiritual orientation
and its concrete rulesfor social and economic life, offer potential
solutions to concrete problems that face us.
Islam asks us to submit to Allaah,to bend toward our creator as a reed
bends in the wind. Put in another way, this suggests we should live
with divinely-ordainednature, not opposed to it. We should not strive
to create radically artificial environments, but instead adapt
ourselves moreflexibly to the natural environments we have. Allaah has
made this easy for us in manyways: We have been given a lunarcalendar
to keep us in touch withthe natural lunar rhythms, and a daily
time-keeping system based on the sun, whose position is thekey to the
timing of the five daily.By orienting our time-frame around these
divinely provided systems, we automatically move in harmony with the
solar and lunar rhythms that are, accordingto the Quran, among the
most powerful signs of Allaah.
At a more mundane level, we have to ask ourselves questions like: Does
living in harmony with nature mean that we should give up air
conditioning? Certainly if we attain gratitude and inner peace by the
grace of Allaah, we will be less desperate to make every last detail
of our physical existence as comfortable and luxurious as possible.
Since air conditioning will always be a luxury that only a tiny
percentageof the world's population will ever be able to afford,
perhaps we should at least be frugal (and grateful) in our use of it,
and try to use our wealth to feed our hungry fellow human beings.
Likewise, we should build modestly with local, natural materials, and
eat modestly with locally-grown, natural foods. We should use
mechanical transport with moderation, relying as much as possible on
such healthy, pollution-free, non-fossil-fuel burning means as walking
and bicycling, and as little as possible on private auto-mobiles.
Social and Political Activism
None of these individual actions, however, will save the planet if it
continues to be dominated by ruthless exploiters. We need to become
Islamic-environmental activists, organizing and agitating for both
Islamic and environmental causes and showing how the two are closely
linked. By demonstrating concernfor our planet, and a commitment to
finding solutions, we will be spreading a positive image of Islam to
all. Together, the rising army of eco-warriors and the awakening
Muslim Ummah will carry the green banners of Islam and
environmentalism to every cornerof the planet, creating the basis for
the sustainable, balanced, harmonious society of the future.
Quranic Concepts: The Deepest, Purest Source of Environmental Wisdom
Meezaan "Balance"
Literally "the scale of balance." The word Meezaan expresses the
harmony of Allaah's creation. It expresses the perfect equilibriumand
absolute justice of creation, which humans, as successors are obliged
to help maintain. Allaah Says (what means): "The sun and moon revolve
to a reckoning/and the grasses and trees bow in adoration/He raised
the sky and set the balance/so that none maytransgress against the
balance." [Quran, 55:5-8] Humans must helpmaintain the cosmic balance
by acting justly toward nature as well as toward each other. The built
environment and the natural environment should be inperfect harmony,
as suggested bythe fact that Meezaan also means, "ground design" in
architecture. Traditional Islamic architecture, especially masjid
architecture, harmonizes building, landscape and sky in many marvelous
ways. The most famous and influential 20th century architect, Frank
Lloyd Wright, drew heavily on traditional Islamic architecture ashe
revolutionized Western architecture. Wright refused to build the usual
rectangular boxesthat squat like alien presences onthe landscape.
Instead, he used graceful Islamic-derived forms to harmonize and
balance indoors with outdoors, building with landscape, and humanity
with the rest of creation.
Ayah, "Sign"
The word ayah means, "sign" as well as "Quranic verse." The first way
the early Muslims recognizedthat the Quran is the word of Allaah was
due to the miraculousbeauty of its verses. Likewise the Quran invites
us to look at the beautiful world around us as a sign pointing to its
Creator. We are meant to "read" these signs and gain ever-deeper
knowledge and appreciation both of creationitself, and especially of
the Creator Who set such signs before us. The Quranic revelation began
with the command "iqra'","read!" This commanded Allaah's last
messenger, Muhammad , to begin reading/reciting the words of Allaah.
It also commanded the people to whomthe message was sent to
becomeliterate—and within a few generations Arabic, with the Quran as
its central influence, hadbecome the world's leading written medium of
expression. Finally, at the most general level,"iqra'!" commanded all
humans to "read" the book of Allaah's creation to decipher its truth
andbeauty, which always points beyond itself toward its Creator. If we
look at the world around usas an ever-shifting panorama of signs of
Allaah, rather than as a meaningless heap of dumb brute matter, we
will contemplate it with awe and act as cautious andrespectful
stewards rather than hyperactive, transgressive exploiters.
Haraam, "Forbidden, Off-Limits"
The concept of Haraam, whose legal meaning is "forbidden," suggests
the necessity of setting limits that must not be transgressed.
Traditionally the"Haraam" was the intimate part of the house which was
off-limitsto strangers and casual visitors. Westerners, colonialists,
wishing to transgress whatever limits they found in the lands they
invaded, projected their own fantasies upon the private areas of the
Muslim home, turning this innocent word into the salacious English
word "Haraam." But the original word Haraam, with its implication that
limits sometimes need to be drawn, is the word Western culture really
needs to borrow from Islam. Among the places where limits need to be
drawn, and spaces setaside, are the earth's remaining natural areas.
Nature parks, game preserves, wilderness areas, and so on are
absolutely essential to the future of our planet. Yet when a secular
government says, "Don't transgress in this area because the law says
so", many people, driven by greed or desperation, will not listen.
Under an Islamic system, when an area is declared Haraam, and Quranic
precepts invoked to protect it, Muslims will be much more likely to
sacrifice their immediate self-interest and respect the linesthat must
not be crossed. This is just one example of how sacred law, which
touches our hearts and carries Allaah's imprimatur, is more effective
than secular law, which requires ever-greater armies of
ever-more-corrupt police, soldiers, bureaucrats and prisons to try to
enforce it. In theabsence of Allaah's guidance, man imagines himself
self-sufficient and is driven to violate limits. Allaah Says (what
means): "No! (But) indeed, man transgresses, because he sees himself
self-sufficient. Indeed, to your Lord is the return." [Quran, 96:6-8].
When humans understand that they are not self-sufficient, but utterly
helpless and dependent on a marvelously beautiful and unimaginably
complex natural world—a natural world which, like us, is utterly
dependent on Allaah for the tiniest nanosecond or smallest subatomic
particle of its existence—they will be overtaken by awe and accept the
limits that sustain the balance (meezaan) of Allaah's creation. - -
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