Ecology and Islamic values - III

"Tawheed" and 'Adl, "Unity" and 'Justice"
Allah's Tawheed or Unity is central to the Quranic message, and with
that unity comes perfect justice. The idea that everything in this
world, indeed everything in all of the many worlds that surround us in
space and time, and perhaps other dimensions as well, stems from
asingle source, is a powerful message of unity. Since all of us, and
everything around us, are creations of the one Creator – Allaah, we
must respect the hidden unity that links the many to The One, and
recognize that whatever we do to that which is outside of ourselves,
we are ultimately doing to ourselves. If we abuse other people, we
abuseourselves—though the full effectsof that abuse may not be
apparent until the last day. Likewise, if we abuse nature, we also
abuse ourselves, and the consequences of that abuse will in the end be
fully felt, and perfect justice dispensed by Allaah when we return to
Him. Those who reject this knowledge rationalize their behavior by
saying, "Well, I'm not going to curb my wasteful lifestyle now,
because this catastrophe you're predicting probably won't happen
during my lifetime." Theydo not believe that they will suffer the full
consequences of their own actions. But the Quran stands as a clear
warning that this is not the case, amplifying the inner voice of
conscience Allaah built into our deepest nature: "Then each will see
what he had done in the past; and theywill turn to Allaah, their true
Lord, and all the lies they had fabricated will be of no avail to
them." [Quran, 10:30]
Zuhd, "Renunciation, asceticism"
Zuhd is an especially hard word to translate into English because the
closest cognate, asceticism, carries traces of Christian attempts to
"mortify the flesh." Mortification implies self-torture aimed at
making us feel revulsionfor our physical, earthbound existence. Islam,
however, has nosuch tradition of self-torture. Instead, Zuhd describes
a balanced, judicious approach to abstaining from excesses of
ease,comfort and pleasure-seeking, in order to detach the soul from
potential addictions and instead turn towards Allaah. The wise
detachment of Zuhd is meant to be practiced not just by a few
self-flagellating monks in hair shirts, but by each and every Muslim.
That is why Ramadhaan is a universal requirement, not anoption:
Fasting is a perfect lessonin moderation and self-control, as well as
compassion for the less-fortunate. This moderate, universal Zuhd
could, Allaah willing, help us create a genuinely sustainable world,
by healing the current order at both the spiritual and physical
levels. (These two levels, of course, are intimately connected.) Zuhd
teaches us that giving up our excesses is a blessing, not a
curse—especially if we do it voluntarily, rather than waiting for
Allaah-given natural limits to do it for us. In practicing Zuhd, we
are following a very important Sunnah. Though the leader of a
powerful, rapidly-expanding community, the Prophet Muhammad , lived
and died in a small, hardly-furnished house, leaving behind virtually
no material possessions. He was moderate in his consumption of food
and drink, careful not to waste a drop of water when performing
ablutions, fasted frequently, and prayed devoutly late into the night.
Let us pray that humanity soon discovers the wisdom of hisexample.
Fardh, "Obligation"
Islam prescribes certain specific obligations: prayer, fasting,
bearing witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allaah and
that Muhammad is themessenger of Allaah, paying almsgiving, and
performing pilgrimage are the best known. fardh has been viewed by
some scholars as involving general as well as specific obligations,
that is, obligations from Allaah that may not be specific enough to be
enforceable by the community: being charitable, just, and merciful,
remembering Allaah, putting ones family, community, and planet ahead
of oneself, and so on could be viewed as obligations in the general
sense. In the more common, specifically legal sense of fardgh, there
are obligations incumbent on everyone (fardh al-'ayn) and others that
can be fulfilled for thewhole community by some of its members (fardh
al-kifaayah). Because these obligations are from Allaah, they demand
to be taken seriously. Thus the Islamic world-view emphasizes the
notion of obligation, in contrast to the Western preoccupation with
individualism and rights at the expense of obligations and
responsibilities. The notion of obligation is obviously essential to
any serious attempt to save our environment. If we are governed by the
principle of individual "rights" we will not want to infringe on
anyone's"right" to consume more and more material goods—and to cutdown
forests, dig mines, exterminate animals, spew pollutants, and ravage
ecosystems in pursuit of those goods. An ethic built on obligations
before rights, like theIslamic ethic, seems better suitedto a world in
which is more than six billion people pursuing their"right" to
unlimited material consumption will spell doom for the planet as a
whole. In particular, the obligation of the fortunate to care for the
less fortunate must be universally acknowledged if we are to limit
planetary consumption in a humane, rational manner. Clearly the
Islamic ethic of obligation is well suited to saving the world by
correcting the unbalanced Western, and especially American, ethic of
"rights" whosebottom line is the right of the wealthy and powerful to
unlimited consumption of the planet's resources. - - ▓███▓
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