Islamic Response to Ecological Crisis New Cultural Paradigm Shift from Machine Model to Garden Model

Professor Abdul Majid, Professor Fazli Karim

Abstract: Islam gives important responsibility to human being as protector of nature. Islamic world view  is based on the  core  idea of Oneness of Allah (Tawhid)- sole Creator of the worlds . Within such perspective the whole universe is considered as originating from God and  centered  around Him. The human being and nature are God's creations. Man's duty as Allah's Vicegerent (Khalifa) is to care about nature, to protect it and at  the same time enjoy its beauty and bounty. In doing so man ultimately acknowledges the sacred dimension of nature full of God's signs (Ayat), and thus nature acquires its highly spiritual expression, insofar as mankind is able to discover meaning in the cosmic environment that surrounds it. The Quran, deems man as custodian over the created order. The subjugation of nature (Taskher) does not mean domination or exploitation of nature. On the other hand, it means living in harmony with nature revering life in all its forms , seeing earth as a whole  alive and nature  as supreme expression of God's wisdom .Therefore, a Muslim's relation to nature is to acknowledge the wisdom of God everywhere and to care for His noble creation as He cares for us and for His creation Himself. This paper  seeks to deal with  some of these  ideas  of the Islamic view regarding  the environment and detailing the Cosmic Mercy Model as an  Islamic perspective for the preservation and caring of all the species of animals and plants for the  balanced ecosystem.

Corruption has appeared on land and in the seas, an outcome of people’s misdeeds;   and so He let them taste ( evil of ) some of their deeds,  so that they might return(The Quran , 30: 41)

Mother Earth is  moving speedily towards ecological disaster. Man is destroying and depleting earth resources at an alarming speed. It can no longer sustain the rate of his   lavish use of its  limited resources.  Man’s  relationship with the rest of creation is ruthless. This careless behavior of  man  resulted in  air, water and soil pollution ,deforestation, soil erosion,  loss of biodiversity, climatic change , global warming , and rise in sea levels. If this process is not controlled effectively, the succeeding generations of living beings will inherit  unlivable earth.

There are various responses to the growing ecological crisis. Experts from various  fields   of natural and social sciences are responding  from different perspectives to tackle the crisis. The various responses to ecological crisis are important because they address various aspects of the crisis. In fact, experts from various disciplines  have to play their role  in protecting the earth ecosystem   as the very  survival of all creatures is dependant on that.

Perceiving nature as created by God or as self-originating entity ,shapes the  attitude of people towards nature. If nature is understood as created only to serve human beings and considered lifeless, exploitation of nature without any limitation is the outcome. On the contrary, if  nature is understood as having its own value, full of diverse and beautiful life, all glorifying its Creator ,  then it may command  respect and  judicious use. This is the time for change in our perception of nature.¹

May be spirituality needs to be called on to lend a helping hand in the mitigation of the grave situation. Scholars like Lynn White Jr. blame religion for  ecological crisis. White argues that as Man is considered  ,in the Biblical tradition ,  above nature and has been commanded to have right  to exercise  dominion over the rest of the earth ². So religion is held responsible for that. It can be argued that  it is not religious influence but the lack of it that has led man to destroy the earth ecosystem. The banishment of God by modern secularism has made it possible for rationalism, humanism, and scientism to rush in and fill the void ³. Also runaway greed, industrialism, individualism, nationalism, belief in unlimited economic progress, massive poverty caused by unjust distribution of wealth, militarism, consumerism, over-population and gross-materialism  are more likely to be  the real causes  of ecological crisis ⁴.

Some people blame science for that but the scientific approach to the world is not inherently and inevitably tied to the premises of materialism, pessimism , and the secular myth of progress. It is the conflation of science with ideologies and beliefs  that has led to our drainage the earth of its substance. Perhaps the most important of these assumptions is that the earth has enough resources to fuel our secular obsession with limitless economic growth. The secular myth of economic progress has corralled and exploited scientific expertise and technology, as well as some aspects of religious messianism, to produce a climate that is inherently inimical to the earth’s own well-being.  Also it is  not science  but  scientific materialism– a belief system built on the assumption that all reality , including life and mind, is reducible to and completely explainable in terms of lifeless matter ⁵ – which is at the base of ecological crisis ⁵. If every thing is destined for “absolute nothingness,” could we truly treasure it? And since materialism views the universe as ultimately a “final wreck and tragedy” how can such philosophy ever motivate us to care for the earth’s beautiful treasures? ⁶

We agree with Dr. Egbert Schuurman  when he says that the current situation needs shift in cultural paradigm. In the old cultural paradigm, nature is seen as lifeless and, given that framework, is exploited by unbridled manipulation. Thus, if until recently nature,man, environment, plants and animals were viewed from a technical perspective—the so-called “machine model”—, now the overriding viewpoint in cultural formation will have to be the protection of life. Science and technology and economics should no longer destroy life in all its multiplicity and rich variety of shapes and forms but, on the contrary, stand in the service of it. When that is done, technology and economics will be able to answer better to their intrinsic meaningfulness. The Garden Model suits both Christianity and Islam. Both seem to concur with this confession: “We love all creation because of the Creator.” Christian and Islamic culture, each in its own way, can contribute to a globalizing culture in which life is not threatened but enriched and in which greater justice and righteousness is done to ease tensions.⁷

In  this paper we will highlight   how Islamic teachings  and their inferences favor garden model  and  how they   address the current issue of ecological crisis .

1-         Nature as God’s Creation

In the Islamic perspective  there is a definite relationship between God and His creation. The doctrine of Tawhid , the belief in the oneness of God is cornerstone of the Islamic faith. It recognizes the fact that there is one absolute Creator  of the whole cosmos and that man is accountable to Him for  his actions. 

The holy Qur’an  says:

“To God belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth, for God encompasses everything.” (4:126)

Therefore abusing one of his creations, whether it is a living being or a natural resource is a grave  sin. Tawhid also affirms the wholeness and holiness of the creation and thus it brings value to creation.

According to the Qur’an,  inhabitants of the heavens and the earth –animals, plants, hills, the sun , the moon , the stars ,  and the great number among mankind – praise Allah (22:18). There is nothing, but celebrates His praises (17: 44). Thus the whole creation is regarded alive  and “to destroy any species or  for that matter  creatures in general without reason condoned by God is to destroy voices that reach God in  hymning His praise” ⁸. It perfectly obeys the will of God and behaves in accordance with the laws established by Him. But today in materialistic and secularistic perspective, nature is treated as dead object only to serve human beings. This attitude justifies exploitation and domination of nature.

2-         Nature  Full of Signs  of God

According to the Qur’an the world is full of  signs (ayah) of God. The creation of heavens and earth , phenomena of nature and plants and animals , all are considered as the Ayat (2: 164) .The  Quranic word ayah means a sign or  a mark  by which a person or thing is known or can be perceived. The word ayah is used about  four hundred times in the Qur’an ⁹  and  along with its own verses ,  every creature  of the nature  is referred  to as ayah of God ¹⁰ . This  meaning of ayat is relevant here because if  nature ( with all its creatures)  is ayah of God, then those who perceive it perceive God.   Also  the Qur’an says ,that  all things have their origin by the command of God, "Be" (kun) (36:82). God’s commands are the expression of His will, plan and intention and so it is part of His being. It implies that creation is originated not in accidence but by the definite will of God. He never created anything in vain or in "play" but with a serious purpose (haqq) (44:38)^.  A famous tradition of the prophet Muhammad (blessings of God be upon him) also affirms that fact in which God says: “I was a hidden treasure but was not known .So loved to be known, so I created the creatures, so  that I should be  known to them”¹¹. It brings value and importance to all forms of creation   and negates the superiority or importance of one species over the other.

3-         God as the Real Environment  

The Holy Qur’an begins with the verse : All praise be to God, the Sustainer of all the worlds (1:1). The Sustainer of all the worlds,   may be read as  all  the environments.  Sustainer  of the worlds  embraces and encompasses all environments. The Qur’an describes  this truth as follows:

To God belong the East and the West; wherever you turn, there is God’s countenance. For God is All-Embracing, All-Knowing (2:115 )

God’s one beautiful name  is Muhit, which means all encompassing, all pervading, and that which surrounds all ¹² . This word is  also used in Arabic to denote ‘environment’. So in an even deeper sense , it can be claimed according to Islamic perspective that God Himself is the ultimate environment which surrounds and encompasses man.   Seyyed H.Nasr believes: The environmental crisis  may  in fact be said to  have  been caused by man’s refusal to see God as the real ‘environment’ which surrounds man   and nourishes his life . The destruction of the  environment is the result of moden man’s attempt to view natural environment as  an ontologically independent order of reality, divorced from the Divine Environment without whose liberating grace it becomes stifled and dies. To remember God as al-Muhit  is to remain aware of the sacred quality of nature, the reality of natural phenomena as signs (ayat) of God  and the presence of natural environment as an ambience permeated by the Divine Presenceof the Realitywhich alone is the ultimate ‘environment’from which we issue  and to which we return. ¹³

4-         All Animals are Communities like Humans:

In the Qur’anic perspective, all things that God created are ‘communities’ (ummah) like that of human community (No creature is there on earth nor a bird flying with its wings but they are nations like you.-6:38). Thus God is concerned about all communities and he preserves and provides for all creatures  . As Abdullah Yousaf Ali comments on  this verse as  , "In our pride we exclude animals from our purview, but they live a life, social and individual, like ourselves, and all life is subject to the plan and will of Allah"¹⁴ . So creation has value in itself without reference to human beings.

5-         Human beings as Vicegerents of God:

Human beings are entitled in the Qur’an as vicegerents (khalifa) of God not in the sense that they replace God. They are vicegerents because God subjected everything to him and gifted him with free will, knowledge and power to choose. These gifts made human beings responsible towards other creatures. This power and responsibility of human beings is termed vicegerency on behalf of God and implies the prudent use of things but not their exploitation. As khalifa, human beings are not proprietors or owners of creation, God is the owner and everything belongs to Him. Human beings are God’s vicegerents and God’s servants. Human beings should use their authority as khalifa within the limit of the servants of God. "Nothing is more dangerous for the natural environment than the practice of the power of vicegerency by a humanity which no longer accepts to be God’s servant, obedient to His commands and laws. ¹⁵" So human vicegerency needs to be interpreted in relation to the sovereignty of God, not independently .Seyyed H. Nasr rightly said:

It means the dominion over things which man is allowed to exercise only on the condition that it be according to God’s laws  and precisely he is God’s vicegerent on earth.  He further says: If we do not fulfill that function , then we are not God’s vicegerent on earth ; rather we are trying ourselves  to take the place of God. Having forgotten their vicegerency, today men are trying to act as gods, and they will be punished in the most severe way for this sin…however  powerful we may appear to be as we try to destroy nature , nature will have the final say. Nature has direct contact with God; it is not responsible for us or to us. It is we who are responsible  for its protection… “We are not our own man”,as the American would say ; we are God’s man. And in the same way that God makes the sun rise and set every day , we must try to preserve the harmony of nature instead of destroying it ¹⁶.  

6-         Nature as Trust: 

In the Quranic view, nature is an estate belonging to Allah and it has been given to man merely as a trust(Amanah). Nature constitutes a testing-ground for man’s morality and whatever right man possesses to have dominion over nature is solely due to his make-up and solidly derives from God’s trust in His deputy  and  vicegerent on earth ¹⁷ .

It recognizes the fact that there is one absolute Creator and that man is responsible to Him for all his actions.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him) considered all of God’s creations to be equal before God and he granted rights not only to  animals, but also to  land, forests and water courses ¹⁸.

The Qur’an shows that there is a correlation between the behavior of people and the conditions of the environment. The right and moral behavior (of true trusteeship) yield positive results: If the people of the towns had but believed and feared God, We should indeed have opened out to them (all kinds of) blessings from heaven and earth  (7:96).

7-         Earth  as Sacred: 

The earth is also considered   by Islam  as  a place of worship of God  (sacred place like a  mosque ). God’s Messenger (Peace be upon him) said: The earth is made a place of worship and purification for me ¹⁹ (and Muslims). This implies to a very important fact that  Muslims should keep the whole earth like a mosque , neat and clean and  avoid  polluting it.  Also this means that when water is not available before worship, earth may be  used for canonical ablutions (tayammum) in its place ^20-a .The earth is also granted a sacred status when God says: 

And on earth there are signs of almighty Creator to all  who are endowed with inner certainty .( 51: 20)

It is interesting that  the word “earth” (ard) is mentioned 485 times in the Qur’an as a whole and is portrayed as being offered for man’s convenience ^20-b .

8-         Avoid Wasting  and polluting  water:

The Qur’an commands us to eat and drink, but waste not by excess, for God loves not the wasters. (7:31) And do not waste (God’s bounties): verily, He does not love the wasteful! (6:141).

Also God says in the Qur’an: We cause pure water to descend from the skies. (25:48) But it is we  who are polluting it.

God’s Messenger (peace be upon him)  attached great importance to water, and forbade the excessive use of it even when taking the ablutions. Even if you take the ablutions in a flowing river, do not waste the water ²¹. He thus prevented people using too much water even for something like ablutions, when they are preparing to enter the Divine presence and worship. The Prophet ( PBUH) also forbade polluting moving or stagnant bodies of water by urinating it  or bathing  in it, when a person is  junub ²² (i.e. either had intercourse or a wet dream), or  throwing faeces or other types of dirt in it. From this, by analogy, one can draw inference that   putting sewerage   and factory outpours (having toxic  fatal chemicals and  other hazardous elements) to fresh or marine water should be forbidden at priority basis as   their harm is greater than individual acts.

 9-        Planting Trees is a Noble Task:

Ahadith (Sayings) of the  Prophet Muhammad speak of the nobility of planting trees and gardens from which birds, animals and humans can benefit.

There is none amongst the Muslims who plants a tree or sows seeds, and then a bird, or a person or an animal eats from it, but is regarded as a charitable gift for him. ^23”

Whoever reclaims and cultivates dry, barren land will be rewarded by God for the act. So long as men and animals benefit from it. He will record it for him as almsgiving .²⁴

Even in times of war, Islamic law orders that trees, crops, vegetation and animals are to be given the same protection accorded to civilians ²⁵.

Planting trees is so important that the Prophet Muhammad said (upon whom be peace) Even if one sees the Hour coming, he should plant the sapling which is in his hand .²⁶

On migrating to Madina, God’s Messenger (peace and blessing be upon him) organized the planting of trees and of date groves. He made the forests and green spaces conservation areas, where every sort of living creature lived. These were called sanctuaries (hima).For example, a strip of land approximately twelve miles wide around Madina was proclaimed a sanctuary and made a conservation area. We know that he proclaimed other areas, similar to this, sanctuaries.

All these show the paramount importance - as a religion - Islam gives to nature conservancy and protection of all nature’s living creatures .²⁷

If we look at the Qur’an, we see that the word “tree” is mentioned with various meanings. Despite containing no direct command to plant trees, it speaks of trees and gardens and orchards so frequently and descriptively that it is not possible for any attentive reader of the Qur’an not to grow in awareness of them. For when creating this world, God adorned it with trees and gardens and offered them for man’s use. The word “tree” is mentioned 26 times in the Qur’an, and the word “paradise” in the sense of garden around 146 times^28-a.

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, a contemporary scholar reflects on such  verses as follows:

“Glory be to the One who made the garden of the earth an exhibition of His art, a gathering of His creatures, a place of manifestation of His power, the means of His wisdom, the flower-bed of His mercy, the tillage of Paradise, a place of passage of creatures, for the flood of beings, a funnel for His artefacts ^28-b.

10-       Cosmic Mercy Model  of Islam–Protection  and caring of   plants ,  animals and showing

mercy  to all creatures

Islam is a  message  of  peace and  mercy  for all creation. Islam’s scriptural sources stress that mercy—above other divine attributions—is God’s hallmark in creation and constitutes his primary relation to the world from its inception through eternity, in this world and the next. The Qur’an designates the Prophet Muhammad “the prophet of mercy”.

Islam enjoins its followers to be merciful to themselves, to others, and the whole of creation, teaching a karma like law of universal reciprocity by which God shows mercy to the merciful and withholds it from those who hold it back from others.

The Prophet Muhammad said:

“People who show mercy to others will be shown mercy by the All-Merciful. Be merciful to those on earth, and He Who is in heaven will be merciful to you²⁹.”

The verse  “In the name of God, the All-Merciful, the Mercy-Giving”, occurs  repeatedly one hundred and fourteen times in the Qur’an at the beginning of all but one chapter and twice in another. The phrase is central to Islamic ritual. In Islam, the All-Merciful (Al-Rahman) and the Mercy-Giving (Al-Raheem) may be said to be the greatest names of God after Allah. Of all his names, they are most descriptive of his relation to the world and emphasize his will in salvation history and throughout eternity to benefit creation and ultimately bring about the triumph of supreme good over evil. The Qur’an states: “It is the All-Merciful who assumed the Throne,”(20: 15  ) meaning that God designs the world and rules the universe in his aspect as the All-Merciful. Consequently, mercy is the stamp of creation and the ontological thread that runs through everything. “God ordained mercy upon himself,” ( 6:12 ) again emphasizing that mercy is a universal law (sunna), the dominant theme of the cosmos, and the fundamental purpose of the creative act. Two prophetic Traditions reveal God as saying: “My mercy has vanquished my wrath ^30”and, in the second: “My mercy takes precedence over my wrath ³¹.” Because we live in a universe bearing mercy’s imprint, harmony and beauty permeate all things. According to Islamic revelation, Muhammad was the last and greatest of God’s messengers, fulfilling the legacy of the Biblical and extra-Biblical prophets and confirming the teachings of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.³² As the All-Merciful’s chief emissary, he was fittingly called the “prophet of mercy” (Nabiur Rahmah). The Qur’an says of him: “We did not send you but as a special mercy to all the worlds. ³³ As in English, “mercy” in Arabic is tied to compassion and closely linked with the act of forgiveness and pardon ³⁴. Theologically, Islamic tradition defines ‘Mercy’ as the intent to bring good to others and cause them benefit . As such,being merciful implies the desire to avert evil and harm.  The thread of proactive mercy ran throughout the fabric of the Prophet’s life. Indeed, the Tradition of Primacy promotes a doctrine of universal, all-embracing mercy. Commentators emphasize this point, clarifying that the Muslims are commanded to show  mercy  is not exclusively for themselves or the righteous amongst them. It extends to all human beings: Jews, Christians, the believing and unbelieving, the upright and the immoral, and it goes beyond the human family to include both the  animate and inanimate: birds and animals, even plants and trees. The Prophet said: “Whoever shows no mercy will be shown no mercy. ³⁵ ” 

The Prophet narrated a story of a sinful man Who provided water to a thirsty dog. God loved the man’s humane act, showed him mercy, and forgave all his sins. When Muhammad’s companions heard the story, they asked: “O Messenger of God, will we be rewarded for being good to animals?” He answered: “Yes, there is reward in showing good to every living creature. ³⁶” In another Tradition, the Prophet emphasized the atrociousness of merciless behavior in God’s eyes and told of a woman condemned to hell for intentionally starving a cat to death.³⁷

 Islamic ethics of universal cosmic   mercy (model) guides human beings  to a very different way of doing science ³⁸ , that not only respects and reveres life in all its forms but to preserve  and  take care of them in the perspective of the  broader mercy model. God created the earth and earth resources for all living things. Earth is like a garden having all types of bounties , diversity of life– flora and fauna – , balanced global ecosystem. God is the Supreme Creator  and the Owner   of that  garden and Man  can be taken, by analogy, the gardener. The Creator’s supreme attribute is being  Merciful and has commanded his gardener and  vicegerent to be merciful to the rest of creation.  In the  past few centuries  ,  man has shown negligence, arrogance  and careless attitude towards the natural garden  , as a result,  the garden is now at the verge of disaster, as the Creator of the nature  says: 

Corruption has appeared on land and in the seas, an outcome of people’s misdeeds;   and so He let them taste (evil of ) some of their deeds,  so that they might return.

(Al-Qur’an, 30: 41)

As the creator is merciful and His mercy has taken precedence   over His wrath,  so evil of some our deeds we are testing is not His wrath but also a manifestation of His cosmic mercy,   so the humans may return  and desist from  corrupting and  polluting the earth – the natual garden–  before we have no point of return and total annihilation is the fate. Before we reach   that point  we have to listen  to the call of the Creator of the worlds  and the sole Sustainer of the cosmic order . This is the call of urgency and  awakening from the materialistic oblivion of God and God’s message. As  a leading French Philosopher Jacques Ellul warns :

Despite the choices still possible  and the options still available, despite the path still open to be taken , despite of the warnings of the prophets  and sentries, despite the outcries of the poets and the weak, this blindness is now leading  men to will… their own destruction ³⁹.

This is the eleventh hour in the context of pollution of the environment  which is actually   “the externalization of the pollution within us ⁴⁰ ” as the Theodore Roszak  aptly puts it .

We all, from the East, the West,  the North and the South, from all disciplines  and from  all  races  and  religions , have to focus on the global environmental crisis within and without  before the collapse of our beautiful ecological system.

Again the call of the Almighty Merciful   Creator is echoing in our ears for deliverance from existing perilous  and dreadful situation. These are  the  words which were said , according to the Qur’an ( in the form of a promise) when Adam , Eve  and their progeny were commanded to go down  to  the earthy garden leaving heavenly garden (paradise) :

“Get ye down all  together; and if, as is sure , there comes to you Guidance from Me, whosoever follows My Guidance , on them shall be no fear , nor shall they grieve.

 (Al-Qur’an, 2 :38)

REFERENCES AND END NOTES

1. Jose Abraham  2001 :Bangalore Theological Forum, Vol. XXXIII, No. 1, the Untied Theological College, also  accessible on line on   www. Religion-online.org.

2. Lynn White, Jr. 1967. “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis”. Science. 10 March, 1967. Vol. 155. No. 3767, pp. 1203-1207.

3. John F. Haught (1995).Science and Religion: from Conflict to Conversation. (New York: Paulist Press), p.187.

4. Ibid; p188.

5. Ibid; p.33.

6. Ibid; p.188.

7. Egbert Schuurman:  The Challenge of Islam’s Critique of Technology – Paper presented as ex-augural address in the Auditorium of the University of  Wageningen, Netherlands  on Sept. 20, 2007.

8. Seyyed Hossein Nasr  in Conversation with Muzaffar Iqbal: Islam ,Science,  Muslims and Technology (  Kuala Lumpur :Islamic Book Trust & Sherwood Park: Al-Qalam Publishing, 2007),p.133.

9. Sachiko Murata and William C Chittick. The Vision of Islam. (New York- Daragon   Home, 1994) ,52.

10. Ibid.

11. Seyyed Hossein Nasr: Science and Civilization in Islam (Lahore: Suhail academy,1987),P.345.

12. Soumaya Perrilla Ouis. "Islamic Ecotheology  Based on the Qur’an" Islamic Studies 37 (Summer, 1998): p.163.

13. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, "Sacred Science and the Environmental Crisis: An Islamic Perspective " in  The Need for a  Sacred Science,( Lahore: Suhail Academy,2001),p.131

14. The Holy Qur’an: Text, Translation  and Commentary by A. Yousaf Ali, ( Lahore : Sh. Muhammad Ashraf)  Vol.1,  P.303.

15. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, "Islam and the environmental crisis, p.22.

16. Seyyed Hossein Nasr  in conversation with Muzaffar Iqbal: Islam , Science,  Muslims and Technology (  Kuala Lumpur :Islamic Book Trust & Sherwood Park: Al-Qalam Publishing, 2007), pp. 147-148.

17. Muhammad Muinul Islam: Towards a green Earth: an Islamic perspective Asian Affairs, Vol. 26, No. 4 : 44-89, October-December, 2004 and  accessible online       www.cdrb.org/journal/2004/4/mainul.pdf

18. Shibli Nomani and  S. sulaiman Nadvi: Seeratun Nabi ,( Lahore: Maktaba Madania)  Vol.6, pp.162-166.

19. Sahih Muslim  quoted in Qazi M. Sulaimam Mansoori :  Mercy for the Worlds-Rahmatul   lil Alaameen  ( Karachi: Darul-Ishaat, 2002), p.539.

20. a) Ibrahim Ozdemir, Ph.D ,An Islamic Approach to the Environment , accessible on line www.crescentlife.com/spirituality, b) Ibid

21. Abu-Dawud.

22. Sahih Muslim and  Tibrani Awsat. Another hadith ( saying ) of the prophet Muhammad Peace & blessing be upon him): God is beautiful and He loves the beautiful; He is generous and loves generosity; He is clean and loves cleanliness.”

23. Sahih Al-Bukhari, Vol 3, Number 513.

24. Haythami, Majmau al-Zawaaid, Vol. iv, p.67-8.

25. Abdur Rehman: The Peace ( Muscat, Oman:  Batna Printing Press, 199), p.128.

26. Al-Munawi, Fayd al-Qadir, iii, 30.

27. Muhammad Muinul Islam , op.cit, p.74.

28. a) Ibrahim Ozdemir, op.cit. b) Ibid.

29. Tirmidhi.

30. Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.

31. Ibid.

32. Al-Qur’an,   3:3-4;  5: 48 ;  2: 136; 2: 285.

33. Al-Quran ,21:107.

34. Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah : Mercy : the Stamp of Creation, accessible on line       www.nawawi.org.   The last section of our paper is based on the concept enunciated in the  Nawawi Foundation’s Paper & we are grateful to  the foundation  for that.

35. Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.

36. Sahih Bukhari. Full text of the story :A traveller felt a great thirst as he went on his way, so stopped at well and drank of its water. As he came up from the well he saw a dog licking the damp soil with its thirsty, lolling tongue. Saying to himself: ‘This animal is thirsty like I was,’ he went back down to the well and filled his shoe with water. Then holding it firm returned and held it for the dog to drink. God praised that servant of His for his act and forgave all his sins.”  His Companions then asked him:  “So are we rewarded for watering animals?”  God’s Messenger replied: “There is a reward for giving any living creature to drink.

37. Sahih Bukhari and   Sahih Muslim-  Full text of the hadith is :  A woman was sent to Hell because she tied up her cat and neither gave it food nor allowed it free to hunt the insects.

38. a) Adi Setia: Three meanings of Islamic Science in Islam &  Science ,(Sherwood Park:Center for Islam & Science , Canada, Summer 2007, ), V. 5, No.1, p.47.

38. b)The French lawyer Guer, who travelled in the Ottoman Empire in the 17^th century, mentioned a hospital in Damascus where sick cats and dogs were treated. While Prof. M. Sibai gives the following details about the pious foundations for animals.

In the old tradition of pious foundations, areas were allotted for the grazing and treatment of sick animals. The ‘Green Mar‘a’ (the area now covered by Damascus sports stadium) was a place that at one time had been made over to the grazing of helpless animals, which were no longer fed by their owners since they had lost the power to work. Such animals grazed here till their deaths. Among the pious foundations of Damascus there were also places where cats could eat and sleep and wander about. There were hundreds of cats here which, having no difficulties in finding their daily provender, were like the permanents fixtures of the place.

Birds have always had a special place in Muslims’ lives. They have felt particular affection not only for songbirds like nightingale, but for others such as chiefly the pigeon, and storks, doves, and swallows. This affection has been manifested in various ways: the defence of birds’ rights, establishing pious foundations for the feeding of birds, founding hospitals to tend to sick birds, the taming of some species and keeping them in cages, as well as the opposite of this, setting them free from captivity. Just as many people have released them from their cages out of love for them, so many others have kept them in cages.

The famous French poet Lamartine recorded the following observations:
Muslims have good relations with all creatures, animate and inanimate: trees, birds, dogs, in short, they respect all the things God has created. They extend their compassion and kindness to all the species of wretched animals which in our countries are abandoned or ill-treated. In all the streets at specific intervals they leave bowls of water for the dogs of the district. Some Muslims found pious foundations at their deaths for the pigeons they have fed throughout their lives, thus ensuring that grain will be scattered for [the birds] after they have departed.How profound are Yunus Emre’s, the Turkish poet of 13^th century, words:
“We love creatures for the sake of their Creator”!

See for further details Ibrahim Ozdemir ‘s article  accessible on line   www.crescentlife.com/spirituality

39. Jacques Ellul: Betrayal of the West  ( New york: Sea bury Press, 1978), pp.195.

40. Theodore Roszak :Where the wasteland Ends: Politics, and transcendence in  postindustrial Society(Berkely: celestial arts, 1989)  quoted in Islam , Science,  Muslims and Technology ,op.cit. p.141. Acknowledgement  :Special thanks for all the authors    and their valuable contribution from whom we have benefited , sought insight and inspiration.