Amid all the discussion about how peaceful or violent the world's second-largest religion is, I thought I would take the time to learn more about how environmentally-friendly Islam is - or tries to be.
After my introduction to Islam, I wanted to know more about what the religion teaches about how humans should treat the natural world. So I sat down with a former student of mine who was kind enough to send me some Quranic verses and Hadith sayings and discuss them with me.
I'm confident that many of us could write for hours on how we interpret the verses and sayings below (as well as all other verses and sayings within Islam), but that's not my style. I'm going to keep it simple - short and sweet. So I've organized the post like this:
First, the English translation of the verse or saying. Second, my (extremely brief) interpretation of it and how it relates to environmental science.
This is by no means an exhaustive list. I left some verses and sayings out for the sake of time and space. However, this does nothing to change my conclusion: that Islam has good intentions for the environment :)
Quranic Verses
“And [they are] those who, when they spend, do so not excessively or sparingly but are ever, between that, [justly] moderate.” (25: 67)
Don't use more than or less than what you need. Moderation is key. I believe that this rule applies to everything in life, especially renewable and non-renewable natural resources that we use to survive and thrive. Take what you need to improve your standard of living but leave some for the people who will come after you.
“And when he goes away, he strives throughout the land to cause corruption therein and destroy crops and animals. And Allah does not like corruption.” (2:205)
Man does a good job of "corrupting" the land. We pillage the earth to make money and improve our lives. But God doesn't like this. He doesn't like when we "corrupt" the land by unnecessarily depleting resources and creating waste.
“And it is He who sends the winds as good tidings before His mercy, and We send down from the sky pure water. That We may bring to life thereby a dead land and give it as drink to those We created of numerous livestock and men.” (25: 48-49)
It will be windy before a storm or rain event. And when the rain comes, the water will bring life to the plants and animals below. Sounds about right.
Prophetic Sayings (Hadith)
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "You should not pass urine in stagnant water which is not flowing then (you may need to) wash in it."
Don't go #1 in standing water in case you need to bathe in it afterwards. This is still a huge issue in developing countries around the world. People bathe in water that was previously used as a bathroom and/or trashcan and get sick and/or die.
A Bedouin came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) to ask him about Wudu' (ablution), so he showed him how to perform Wudu', washing each part three times, then Prophet said: “'This is Wudu. Whoever does more than that has done badly, done to extremes and done wrong.”
Again, don't use more than you need. Conservation is key - especially when it comes to water in an arid region.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “A woman got into Hell-Fire because of a cat whom she had tied, and thus it could not eat, and she did not let it free so that it could devour the vermin of the earth, until it died.”
Treat all living things on earth the way you would yourself or your loved ones, including not killing them. Live and let live. Also, be nice to kitties!
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "If the Final Hour comes while you have a palm-cutting in your hands and it is possible to plant it before the Hour comes, you should plant it."
If you have a chance to plant a tree - plant the tree. They're important. We need them. They serve an important role in ecosystems and for humans.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "When a man was walking on the road, he found a thorny branch and removed it. Allah appreciated his action by forgiving him."
Better to leave the natural world as untouched as possible. It knows what it is doing - the epitome of sustainability.