Our Eco Responsibility

When referring to how valuable the universe is, Allah (‘azza wa jal; The Possessor of Complete Glory and Majesty) says in the Glorious Quran: “We have not created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them carelessly. We have not created them but for truth.” [Surah Ad-Dukhan; 38-39]

Our beloved Prophet (ﷺ; peace be upon him) said: “The world is beautiful and verdant, and verily Allah, be He exalted, has made you His stewards in it, and He sees how you acquit yourselves” [Saheeh Muslim]. He also said: “Whoever plants a tree and diligently looks after it until it matures and bears fruit is rewarded” [Musnad].

When many of us borrow something from others, we are extra careful in looking after it to ensure that we return it in the state that it is in. Rather the Islamic etiquette is even better than this, which prescribes that you should try and return the item in at least an equal, but preferably an even better state than what you received it in. Similarly, we are only temporarily on Allah’s Earth for a fixed period of time as part of humanity before we return this to Him one day very soon. So how is it that we so easily forget our responsibility towards maintaining it?

As far as sustainable mindsets and systems are concerned, this has existed from the time of the Prophet (ﷺ; peace be upon him). The Prophet (ﷺ; peace be upon him) recognized that natural resources should not be overexploited or abused. In order to protect land, forests and wildlife, he (ﷺ; peace be upon him) created inviolable zones, known as Haram and Hima, in which resources were to be left untouched. Haram areas were drawn up around wells and water sources to protect the groundwater from over-pumping. Hima applied to wildlife and forestry and designated an area of land where grazing and woodcutting was restricted, or where certain animal species (such as camels) were protected. Similarly, Prophet Muhammed (ﷺ; peace be upon him) established a hima to the south of Madina and forbade hunting within a four mile radius and destruction of trees or plants within a twelve mile radius.

As Muslims we often perceive our duty to Allah to be restricted to obligatory actions of worship and our common responsibilities towards other people. But quite clearly it is all of Allah’s Creation that has a right over us, including the Earth that we live on. It is a tragedy that while Muslims should be the first in protecting the Earth and environment, often a large amount of cities with the worst air pollution in the world are all in Muslim countries, or those with significant Muslim populations (India, Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh, Ghana and Afghanistan etc).

It’s time we changed our mindset as a community towards our eco-responsibility, and the change needs to come from each one of us. If Allah (‘azza wa jal; The Possessor of Complete Glory and Majesty) states clearly that He was not careless in creating the Earth, then how can we afford to be careless with this amaanah of His?...

Suggested good deed

Give sadaqah…by planting a tree. The Prophet (ﷺ; peace be upon him) said: “If a Muslim plants a tree or sows seeds, and then a bird, or a person or an animal eats from it, it is regarded as a charitable gift (sadaqah) for him.” [Al-Bukhari]