Lost Balance

Morteza Afradian

“It is Allah Who has created the heavens and the earth, and He sends down water from the sky and with it He brings forth crops for your sustenance. And He disposed the ships so that they may sail at sea by His command, and He disposed the rivers for you. He disposed the sun and the moon for you, constant [in their courses], and He disposed the night and the day, and He gave you all that you had asked Him. If you enumerate Allah’s blessings, you will not be able to count them. Indeed man is most unfair and ungrateful!” The Holy Qur’an, Ibrahim:32-34)

Islam pays a lot of attention to environment. Good environments support the nation with the best and the most proficient individuals who progress in great steps in the fields of virtue and reformation. In like fashion, evil environments bring about the vile licentious individuals who distribute their mental defects among people.

The universe we inhabit is a sign of God’s creation as is the environment of our innermost selves. They both emanate from the one source and are bonded by only one purpose, which is to serve the divine will. This bonding of the cosmic to the inner core of each individual is the deep ecology of Islam. The Qur’anic view holds that everything on the earth was created for humankind. The tests are a measure of our acts of worship (ihsan) in its broadest sense. That is living in a way that is pleasing to Allah, striving in everything we do to maintain the harmony of our inner and outer environments. But we, as the human beings are destroying the earth by making it devoid of balance.

The lost balance between using water and wasting it, as in the Holy Qur’an we read, “Indeed the wasteful are the brothers of satans, and Satan is ungrateful to his Lord.” (Al-Isra; 27).  The lost balance between right and responsibility, we as human beings do not own the earth it belongs to all the creatures of Allah, it belongs to the next generations and it belongs to all not just us; therefore, we are responsible for taking care of it in a responsible manner.

The lost balance between cultivating the plants and trees, and consuming them:

Muslims are to protect nature’s many bounties given to them by the Almighty. The Prophet Muhammad told his followers they would be rewarded by God for taking care of the Earth. He said: “If any Muslim plants any plant and a human being or an animal eats of it, he will be rewarded as if he had given that much in charity.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari, 8:41) He also compared Muslims to a “fresh tender plant” that bends, but does not break, when afflicted with life’s inevitable calamities. (Sahih Al-Bukhari, 7:547)

Islam has urged humanity to be kind to nature and not to abuse the trust that has been placed on the shoulders of man. In fact, to be kind to animals is an integral part of Islam for Muslims. There are two primary sources defining Islam: The Quran (Muslim Holy Book) and the Hadith (the example, sayings, and actions of Prophet Muhammad). Both emphasize the accountability and responsibility of man toward the rest of creation.

Nature and environment have always played an important part in the lives of devout Muslims. Muslims understand that God has not created all this for nothing. In fact, Muslims have been commanded to find the wonderful signs of God around them so that they will only increase them in their awe of their Rabb (Cherisher and Sustainer).

There are more than 700 verses in the Qur’an that exhort believers to reflect on nature. For example, the Qur’an states: “It is He who has spread out of earth and set in it firm mountains and streams, and of every fruit He has made in it two kinds. He draws the night’s cover over the day. There are indeed signs in that for a people who reflect.” (Al-Rad, 3)

According to Islamic beliefs, the Earth is a sanctuary in which mankind was made to dwell in comfort. The vast oceans, forests and mountains that make up this bountiful planet have been subdued by God for our enjoyment and productive use.

The Almighty Allah commands Muslims in the Qur’an to respect and revere the environment when He says, “Surely the creation of the heavens and the earth is more prodigious than the creation of mankind, but most people do not know.” (40:57)

Sound ecological principles are not limited to Islam, and should be acted upon by followers of other faiths, too. Together we can tackle the environmental problems that besiege our planet. On the occasion of ‘World Environment Day’, people of all faiths should take time to examine their own faith tradition’s advice for taking care of the environment and the earth that we share.

What is environment?

Environment means surroundings; mainly a term used for conditions in which organism live and thus consists of air, water food and sunlight which are based on the needs of all living beings and plants to carry out their life functions. The environment also includes other living organisms, temperature, wind, rainfall, etc. Man has always inhabited two worlds. One is natural world of plants, animals, air, water and soil of which man himself is a part; and other is the man-made world of social institutions and artifacts which he has created for himself by using science and technology . Thus environment includes everything around the organisms, i.e. non-living and living things. Non-living environment consists of air, water and land, while the living environment is built up of other organisms. Any external force, condition which affects the organisms in a way is known as factor and sum of all such factors constitutes environment.

Man’s effects on environment

Every living species of animals or plants influences its environment and in turn gets affected from it. The magnitude of influence done by plants and animals is limited to a certain extent due to natural barriers, further they cannot modify their environment. But man is an exception; he can modify his environment to satisfy his needs. From the start of human civilization, man started interfering with the environment. He destroyed forests for wood, bringing land for cultivation and to have soil which has eroded by natural processes.

He killed animals - the gentle ones for food and fierce ones, for safety. He polluted water, air and soil by chemical garbage from their houses and factories. However all these activities did not affect the environment in a serious way for a long time, because population was not so high and nature’s self cleansing and purifying ability kept the environment recycled. After the scientific and industrial revolution in the past, man started to affect his environment in a more serious way. Man’s effort to control the nature, leads to imbalance in the ecosystem. Large crowded cities, huge industrial installations every year, more and more comfort requirements all these leads to what is called environmental pollution. Primitive man used natural resources to satisfy his basic needs of air, water, food and shelter. These natural and unprocessed resources were readily available in the biosphere, and residues produced by their use were generally compatible with, or easily assimilated by the environment. But as the acquired needs of man increases, it increases the complexity of recourse production chain, and mass and complexity of the pollutants generated.

All the above mentioned activities of man raised problems like ecological imbalance, environmental degradation, disruption of earth’s natural ecosystems, depletion of protective ozone layer, global warming and sick environment.

World Environment Day (WED) is a day that stimulates awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and public action. It is on 5 June. It was the day that United Nations Conference on the Human Environment assigned. The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was from 5–16 June 1972. It was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972.[1] The first World Environment Day was on 1973. World Environment Day is hosted every year by a different city with a different theme and is commemorated with an international exposition in the week of 5 June. World Environment Day is in spring in the Northern Hemisphere and fall in the Southern Hemisphere.

“Stockholm was without doubt the landmark event in the growth of international environmentalism”, writes John McCormick in the book Reclaiming Paradise. “It was the first occasion on which the political, social and economic problems of the global environment were discussed at an intergovernmental forum with a view to actually taking corrective action.”

Theme 2012

Green Economy: Does it include you? The UN Environment Programme defines the Green Economy as one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. In its simplest expression, a green economy can be thought of as one which is low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive.

Practically speaking, a Green Economy is one whose growth in income and employment is driven by public and private investments that reduce carbon emissions and pollution, enhance energy and resource efficiency, and prevent the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. These investments need to be catalyzed and supported by targeted public expenditure, policy reforms and regulation changes.

But what does all this mean for you? If the Green Economy is about social equity and inclusiveness then technically it is all about you! The question therefore asks you to find out more about the Green Economy and assess whether, in your country, you are being included in it.