Allah has created the universe in all its diversity, richness and vitality: The stars, the sun and moon, the earth and all its communities of living beings. All these reflect and manifest the boundless glory and mercy of their Creator. All created beings by nature serve and glorify their Maker, all bow to their Lord’s will. We human beings are created to serve the Lord of all beings, to work the greatest good we can for all the species, individuals, and generations of God’s creatures.
In the Quran, Allah is depicted as the controller of nature, gently driving clouds, merging them, and allowing rain to fall as He wills. The Quran emphasizes the importance of not spreading corruption on earth, which includes theft, fraud, and environmental degradation. As global warming and environmental issues increasingly affect our world, Islamic teachings underscore the need for environmental stewardship, reminding us to respect and care for our planet.
The Quran and Sunnah provide significant lessons on the relationship between humans and the environment, highlighting the moral responsibility to preserve natural resources. Severe weather events, such as storms and hail, are acknowledged but are not overtly tied to apocalyptic signs in Islamic texts. Verse 11 in Surah Az-Zukhruf emphasizes that rain is sent down in measured amounts, reflecting Allah’s control over the environment. There should be no doubt about this.
Islam cautions against wastefulness in resource usage, using terms like ‘Tabdhir’ (squandering) and ‘Israaf’ (extravagance) to convey the importance of balance and conservation. The Quran offers timeless guidance on living harmoniously within our ecological limits, promoting the thoughtful use of natural resources for the benefit of all creatures. This speaks to the flaring of gas in our oil fields.
The Quran explicitly advises against wastefulness, with verses reminding believers of the importance of using resources thoughtfully. Allah says in the Quran: “, but do not waste; verily, He does not love the wasteful.” (Quran 7:31)
By embracing these principles, Muslims can positively impact the environment. The Quran reminds us of Allah’s provisions, such as the creation of the ozone layer, which protects life on earth. Additionally, weather forecasting is viewed as an informed practice based on observing nature. In summary, the Quran provides profound insights that advocate for environmental awareness and responsibility, urging believers to act diligently in caring for the earth.
However, we should be cautious when discussing the issue of climate change in abstraction. The world and the universe were created by an All-Knowing God who apportioned with precision the provisions he has made. “Do not those who disbelieve see that the heavens and the earth were a closed-up mass, then We opened them out? And We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?” (Quran 21:30)
Knowing that we would one day transit from one energy source to another in order to maintain the growing population which he had commanded to ‘be fruitful and multiply’, Allah in His wisdom buried hydrocarbon in the soils of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Nigeria, Angola, United States, Venezuela, Russia and many other countries. God was not stupid; He was provisioning us with sources of energy.
However, in the course of its usage, these gifts of fossil fuel are now turning into our albatross as a result of global warming. Allah has warned us in the Quran to use whatever we were given judiciously without committing excesses.
The Quran sets forth key principles of eco-consciousness that resonate with us as believers. Concepts such as responsible consumption, avoiding wastefulness, and nurturing the land highlight our role in environmental protection. The teachings encourage us to view nature as a divine trust, prompting us to respect and preserve the ecosystem as part of our spiritual obligation.
The Quranic perspective on the environment is not merely a set of guidelines but a comprehensive framework that shapes how Muslims interact with the natural world. These teachings are deeply embedded in the concepts of stewardship, balance, respect, and conservation.
With this in mind, we have a significant role to play in addressing climate change through the lens of Islam. Our faith encourages stewardship of the Earth and making choices that reflect a commitment to sustainability. By incorporating environmentally-friendly practices into our daily life, we can fulfill this Islamic responsibility and contribute to a healthier planet.
According to Islamic teachings, humans are Allah’s vicegerents (khalifah) on Earth see Quran 2:30. The theology of creation emphasizes that humans have a responsibility to manage and protect the environment and to use their abilities in accordance with divine guidance. This stewardship is integral to fulfilling their role as vicegerents on Earth.
The greatest contributor to climate change, if truth must be told, has been the phenomenal industrial and socio economic development of the First World. From coal fired energy sources to oil and gas, the climate effect cannot be overemphasized. There is also the need for heating fuel during winter, without which people in the cool temperate regions would freeze to death.
The People’s Republic of China, the United States, India, the European Union, Indonesia, the Russian Federation, and Brazil accounted for half of all global greenhouse gas emissions. This is an inevitable corollary of industrial development.
The US military is the single largest institutional consumer of fuel in the world. Credible estimates place it in the range of 80 to 90 million barrels of fuel per year. This staggering figure highlights the military’s dependence on fossil fuels and the significant logistical challenges involved in supplying forces around the globe.
Beginning during the second half of the twentieth century, fossil fuel consumption by the world’s militaries grew substantially. As warfare has become increasingly carbon intensive, military aircraft and other large war machines have continued to guzzle massive amounts of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. Today’s modern armies, air forces, and naval fleets are consuming fossil fuels at unprecedented rates. In addition to using fossil fuels to power machinery like tanks and battleships, weapons manufacturing also guzzles a significant amount of energy and fossil fuels.
Former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and retired United States Army General David Petraeus once famously said, “Energy is the lifeblood of our war fighting capabilities” (Crawford, 2019). As the world’s largest military power, the U.S. military is the single biggest consumer of fossil fuels and producer of greenhouse gas emissions in the world. In addition to concerns about climate change, American military officials continue to highlight the national security implications of being overly dependent on fossil fuels.
Since the 1800s, human activities have caused shifts in weather conditions, chiefly because human activity has increased exponentially as a result of the quantum leap of world population.
Burning fossil fuels can cause global warming as it releases large amounts of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas into the air, which can trap the sun’s heat and increase temperatures. These however cannot be helped. The burning of fossil fuel as coal, oil and gas are corollary of human population development. More than half of the current world population depends on firewood, coal and other fuels for their livelihood.
The pace of Global climate change today is of a different order of magnitude from the gradual changes that previously occurred throughout the most recent era, the Cenozoic. Moreover, it is human-induced: we have now become a force dominating nature. The epoch in which we live has increasingly been described in geological terms as the Anthropocene, or “Age of Humans”.
Our species, though selected to be a caretaker or steward (khalifah) on the earth, has been the cause of such corruption and devastation on it that we are in danger of ending life as we know it on our planet.
This current rate of climate change cannot be sustained, and the earth’s fine equilibrium (mīzān) may soon be lost. As we humans are woven into the fabric of the natural world, its gifts are for us to savour.
But the same fossil fuels that helped us achieve most of the prosperity we see today are the main cause of climate change. In the brief period since the Industrial Revolution, humans have consumed much of the non-renewable resources which have taken the earth 250 million years to produce – all in the name of economic development and human progress.
We note with alarm the combined impacts of rising per capita consumption combined with the rising human population. We also note with alarm the multi-national scramble now taking place for more fossil fuel deposits under the dissolving ice caps in the arctic regions. We are accelerating our own destruction through these processes.
Excessive pollution from fossil fuels threatens to destroy the gifts bestowed on us by Allah – gifts such as a functioning climate, healthy air to breathe, regular seasons, and living oceans. But our attitude to these gifts has been short-sighted, and we have abused them. What will future generations say of us, who leave them a degraded planet as our legacy?
Our planet has existed for billions of years and climate change in itself is not new. The earth’s climate has gone through phases wet and dry, cold and warm, in response to many natural factors. Most of these changes have been gradual, so that the forms and communities of life have adjusted accordingly. There have been catastrophic climate changes that brought about mass extinctions, but over time, life adjusted even to these impacts, flowering anew in the emergence of balanced ecosystems such as those we treasure today. Climate change in the past was also instrumental in laying down immense stores of fossil fuels from which we derive benefits today. Ironically, our unwise and short-sighted use of these resources is now resulting in the destruction of the very conditions that have made our life on earth possible.
Rabbana atina fid dunya hasanatan wa fil Aakhirati hasanatan waqina ‘adhaban-nar: Our Lord, give us in this world [that which is] good and in the Hereafter [that which is] good and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.
Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend
