Prophet Muhammad Pioneer of the Green Movement pdf

Prophet Muhammad Pioneer of the Green Movement

PROPHET MUHAMMAD PIONEER OF THE GREEN MOVEMENT

Book’s Conclusion

There has been a devastating increase in environmental pollution in modern times, owing to industrialization and experimentation with nature. Land, air, water and noise pollution are only a few examples.

 In addition, vast expanses of forests are being cut, soil erosion is increasing, and climate changes appear likely.

At the same time, some groups have come to realize the gravity of the consequences of environmental pollution, and have started taken steps to correct what the previous generations have been doing for decades.

In recent times there have appeared environmental pollutants resulting from wars and conflicts breaking out in the Middle East as in the Gulf War and there have been oil leaks from super-tankers or as a result of sinking of oil transporting vessels, etc.

 Being less dense than water, oil stays on the surface of the sea and is fatal to living organisms such as plankton which float on the surface.

Plankton is the main source of food for fish and other marine life. It also plays a vital role in extracting carbon dioxide from the air – an important factor in maintaining the proportion of gases in the atmosphere.

 In the event that a large number of plankton was killed by pollution this proportion would be disturbed, and could lead to a grave disaster for all life.

There is also the dangers of chemical weapons, radioactive materials and waste which are spreading at present to an extent which threatens the environment, mankind and animal and marine wealth. Scientists have begun to raise their voices demanding that man halt his wanton activities which will only harm himself in the end.

They want research to be restricted to what is beneficial to man and to concentrate on the seas and oceans as important sources of vast wealth which have not yet been properly exploited.

After taking note of this, and of the components of the environment and Islam’s care thereof, thus linking care to faith, man has to be aware of the world upon which Allaah The Almighty has made him His vicegerent.

He should meditate on the universe and its laws, and understand how to make sustainable use of the resources that have been bestowed upon him. He should deal with it according to the rules and ethics of the vicegerent of Allaah The Almighty, who deserves to be made responsible for the earth and honored with knowledge.

Allaah The Almighty put the earth and its resources for the benefit of man; man should understand this and make wise and efficient use of those resources, shunning wastage and profligacy. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {Indeed, the wasteful are brothers of the devils, and ever has Satan been to his Lord ungrateful.} [Quran, 17:27] 

Modern man must also relinquish his arrogant and selfish attitude; if Allaah The Almighty willed, He would replace the whole of humanity with another that was more grateful and compliant to Him.

 The whole of creation is subject to the Authority of Allaah The Almighty; this is what we have been stressing from the beginning.

Above all, one should seek to follow in the footsteps of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, who taught us invaluable lessons in what would today be called ‘environmentalism’ or ‘conservation of resources’.

He and his Companions, may Allaah be pleased with them, lived simple, austere lives – unlike many of us today – and certainly the level of pollution in their times was close to nothing compared with what is occurring today at a global level.

 Yet, he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, still encouraged people not to be wasteful, not to be greedy and acquisitive (for the life of this world is transient and its pleasures fleeting), not to inconvenience or harm others, and not to cut down trees without necessity.

He, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, also told us to love for others what we love for ourselves, to think of the interests of the whole community, and to live frugally, for we will take nothing of this world with us when we enter the grave. ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Umar, may Allaah be pleased with him, said, “The Messenger of Allaah took hold of my shoulder and said: ‘Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a traveler.’” [Al-Bukhaari]

The life of a stranger and a traveler is one where one carries along only what is necessary, thus shunning materialism and pomp, and following the shining example of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.