with Particular Reference to Islamic Approach
By ASIF AHMED
Environmental Education refers to organised efforts to teach how natural environment functions and, particularly, how human beings can manage their behaviour and ecosystems in order to live sustainably. The term is often used to imply education within the school system, from primary to post-secondary. However, it is sometimes used more broadly to include all efforts to educate the public and other audiences, including print materials, websites, media campaigns, etc. Related disciplines include outdoor education and experiential education.
Environmental education is a learning process that increases people’s knowledge and awareness about the environment and associated challenges, develops necessary skills and expertise to address the challenges, and fosters attitudes, motivations, and commitments to make informed decisions and take responsible action (UNESCO, Tbilisi Declaration, 1978).
Environment is considered a composite term for the condition in which an organism lives including both biotic and abiotic substances. It was during 1950s and 1960s that people all over the world became more concerned about the quality of their environment. Environmental tragedies like the case of mercury poisoning in Minamata (Japan), severe smog in London in 1952 and massive oil spillages caused by the Torrey canyon accident reinforced the people’s belief the sense that quality of air, water and other environmental resources was being seriously degraded.
These devastating incidents swept a wave of concern across the developed countries in the sixties and the developing countries including India in the late seventies. A large number of things and services provided by Nature to life on earth are known as natural resources. But fast developments in science and technology which resulted in substantial benefits to mankind have also contributed to the degradation of environment more severely in past several decades. Such environmental change may jeopardise the very existence of life on the planet earth. This has caught the attention of scientists, policy makers, academicians, social scientists and the common citizens to raise their voice against such injustice done to environment.
Environmental protection is now being openly discussed at various national and international forums. Talks are progressing in the direction of sustainable development not simply development. The cause of sustainable development can be achieved only by people’s participation at the grassroots level. The rapidity with which our environment is adversely changing is alarming and as one of the steps to halt and to reverse this trend our future generations should be made aware of environmental problems and their enormity.
ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS AND ISLAM
“When the earth is shaken with a (violent) shaking, and the earth reveals what burdens her, and man says: What has befallen her? On that day she shall tell her story….” (The Qur’ān 99:1-4)
If traditional Islamic values are to be reasserted in the process of developing the man-built environment, educational efforts must be directed at the politician as decision maker, at the public as clients, and at the professional as a technician. There is also a need to document Islamic cultural heritage; to understand the evolution of architectural forms in response to changing social conditions; to assess current relevance of past technical solutions; and to examine how different architectural solutions have responded to climatic requirements. Education of professionals, politicians, and the public should be based on the values abstracted from this systematic analysis of Islamic achievements as a means of reaffirming Islam’s ability to treat man with dignity.
Despite the apocalyptic premise of Samuel Huntington’s book, The Clash of Civilizations, Islam and Christianity have much in common. In their view of the world of nature, both the Bible and the Qur’ān share many of the same stories, heroes and ethical concepts. But there are some differences. The Qur’ān might even be said to be the “greener” of the two holy books. The world “Earth” (ard) appears no less than 485 times in the Qur’ān. Shari’ah, the word for Islamic Law, literally means “source of water.” The Prophet instructed the faithful that any Muslim who plants a crop that feeds another person, animal or bird, will receive a reward in Paradise. Cutting down trees is seen as an abomination. How important is the planting of trees? In the words of the Prophet: “When doomsday comes, if someone has a palm shoot in his hands, he should plant it.”
ISLAMIC APPROACH
A distinctly Islamic approach to environmental education is pinpointed as a result of identifying, listing, sorting, and grouping the verses in the Qur’ān related to environmental education such as learning, exercising, and mind and knowledge development, and finding connections and relationships between groups according to mutual meanings. The approach is formulated in a tripod-type structure.
Islam, as a way of life expects human beings to conserve environment for several reasons. Its concern for environment appears in many Qur’ānic verses. The Islamic attitude of duty towards environment is not merely derived from the fact that God is its creator. There are other reasons as well. One is that humans act as the agents of God on earth. This agency is not blind and mechanical but is creative in its own way and moreover it must be fulfilled by operating according to God’s instructions.
Another reason why, in Islam, humans are expected to protect environment is that no other creature is able to perform this task. Humans are the only beings that God has “entrusted” with the responsibility of looking after the earth. This trusteeship is seen to be so onerous and burdensome that no other creature could ‘accept’ it. It is impermissible in Islam to abuse one’s rights as khalifa (agent or trustee), because the notion of acting in “good faith” underpins Islamic law. The planet was inherited by all humankind and “all its posterity from generation to generation. Each generation is only the trustee. In other contexts, the concept of khalifa refers to the fact that waves of humanity will continuously succeed each other and inherit planet earth.
ISLAM AND ENVIRONMENT
One big goal of Islam is to make life easy for humans and to contain damage done to nature. The Islamic attitude toward nature and environment is far-reaching. This is demonstrated by a host of Islamic rules and values toward environment and life as they relate to God’s representatives. Islam in general is built upon an ethical philosophy, with ethics being its heart and soul. According to the Qur’ān, humans are responsible for and have a duty toward nature and toward the world as a whole. And above all, man is responsible before his Creator (God). Humans do not have an absolute licence to do whatever they want and whatever they can to benefit themselves. Rather, they have to look after and take care of their environment for themselves and for future generations (Al-Masri, 1992).
For these reasons, environment may be regarded as a wide and open field for testing humans and their obedience to God. Environment is holy and has its role in this world, as it was not created in jest. As humans, we are keepers of all creations, including soil, air, water, animals and trees. Thus Islam encourages right ethics and values to benefit the entire universe. Islam further clarifies the concept of life in the hereafter (life after death).
The Holy Qur’ān reminds us of the wealth of Islamic wisdom regarding environmental ethics. It also points to the unity between humans and other creatures. According to the Islamic values, a bond of friendship, mercy and brotherhood between humans and their environment exists, much like the relationship between mother and baby. No one single creature is without importance in this life, and each creature has a duty to fulfil. It is a must for any human to keep and respect the life of a creature, and he has no right to stop the life of this creature without a reason.
The discussion of caring for environment is an important one from the religious point of view. There are many shades of this topic and all are important. Definition of environment, status of mankind in it, mankind’s relationship with environment, problems threatening environment, such as pollution, desertification and extinction of species. From an Islamic perspective, these all are examples within an all-encompassing frame, as environment plays host to humans. It should be clean and a host to all living creatures, offering them what they need for their existence. The problem of keeping environment clean and productive is affecting developing countries more than other parts of the world.
“Environment” in the Arabic language literally translates as “home of man” or “house of bees”, “place of camels” and “place where the baby lives in his mother’s womb”. It also means the place where one stays and lives. The modern definition of environment encompasses more than what is mentioned above. It consists of everything surrounding us: soil, air, water, etc. No doubt that the earth is our largest environment in the widest sense and that it is not a silent island in a vast universe but an island full of life and activities to support human life for which God created soil, water, air, sunshine and food. Islam dictates that humans must live in harmony with environment.
ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY
A religious and Islamic principle holds that “what is necessary for a religious duty is a must “. Therefore, environmental literacy is a must in Islamic religion and demands a crucial and vital activity of all Muslims. Environmental literacy is the gate leading to a clean and healthy environment. All Muslims must develop environmental literacy in accord with the Holy Qur’ān, its commandments, and the Prophets’ traditions. Achieving this literacy will surely help protect environment from damages and promote the right feeling among humans towards their environment. It is a positive thing to have a clean and healthy environment, as this will affect all economical, social, political and agricultural areas. As a result of a healthy environment, it will be easy for countries to offer a healthy lifestyle and enough food and water for all its peoples at all times. This, in turn, will reduce medication and other health care costs. Finally, we can conclude that the big goal of Qur’ānic verses and Prophetic traditions is to build and maintain a healthy and clean environment free from any source of pollution and misuse. Also, not one Muslim’s faith would be complete unless he/she acted to his/her best knowledge to do good deeds, among them protecting environment.
SANCTITY OF PLANTING TREES
The beneficial nature of trees to our ecosystem is now widely known. It may be noted in this regard that the planting of a tree is regarded in the classical Islamic tradition as an act of continuous charity, the most desirable sort of good deeds. Prophet Muhammad, on whom be peace, said that if one plants a tree then whatever is eventually eaten from it whether by humans or animals counts for the planter as an act of charity. The importance of planting trees as a good deed is highlighted in another tradition which says that if one has in the hand a sapling ready to be planted and the Day of Judgment arrives, one should go ahead and plant it. This divine notion, which came more than 1400 years ago, reinforces the scientific concept of ‘chain of life,’ with each species depending on another and together maintaining the balance of life on earth.
A CALL FOR CHANGE
Failing to follow the Qur’ānic injunctions, we have, of course, upset the ecological balance. And it is up to us to set it right once again. This will require great effort, and courageous personal change. We need to do our best to restore and preserve the balance in nature; to take up our responsibility as viceroys of God and hence as custodians, stewards, and trustees in whose trust God has placed the resources we enjoy. We need to maintain the ecosystems that harbour the dazzling array of life forms God has created, including animals, birds, insects, and plants. But the required personal changes are sometimes simple and manageable. We can easily reduce, reuse, and recycle waste. We can to a large extent conserve our use of water and other natural resources. We can in some small way reverse the process of deforestation by planting one tree at a time. It is time to pay better attention to the principles set forth in God’s message, including this one: “Man shall have nothing but what he strives for” (Quran 53:39). We have caused corruption on land and sea, and it is up to us to mend our ways. Our present crisis calls on religious leaders to find faith-based messages that will inspire the faithful towards a heightened environmental awareness. We have seen that there is ample content in the sacred traditions of Islam to meet this need. What remains to be seen is the extent to which we will rally to this call for personal change.
When Islam encourages all good for both the human and natural environments, it imposes many penalties for misusing or damaging it in any way. This constitutes a permanent control over human behaviour and directs it towards doing good, being generous and making sacrifices, and draws it away from sin and evil. This forms one of the pillars of environmental protection in Islam. Knowledge is the right entrance to education in general and to environmental education in particular. That is why Islam commands Muslims to seek knowledge to discover the laws of a sound environment and earn the fruits of closeness to, and love by, God.
All this is for us to discover the laws controlling natural environment and human psyche so that myths and superstitions should not prevent humans from knowing the facts and laws of this universe. Thus, humans will understand their environment in all its aspects and be able to adjust to its order to protect it from any harm. Since Islam is concerned with both the physical and spiritual sides of human beings, it urges them to make a balance between their components — the body, mind and soul — and to live and cherish all of them without any transgression or preference for one over the other.
(to be concluded)