The Muslim Declaration on Nature

The Qur’an is the primary revelation in Islam, held to be the direct Word of God given to the Prophet Muhammad. The Qur’an affirms that God is the one Creator and Sovereign of the universe, has willed its right order and balance, and that all beings (not only humans) praise and glorify God. God has entrusted the care and guardianship of Earth, Khulafa, to human beings to be good stewards caring for God’s creation, which we must not damage or waste. 

 

The Muslim Declaration on Nature 

Unity, trusteeship, and accountability, that is tawheed, khalifa, and akhrah, the three central concepts of Islam, are also the pillars of the environmental ethics of Islam. They constitute the basic values taught by the Qur’an. It is these values which led Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, to say, “Whoever plants a tree and diligently looks after it until it matures and bears fruit is rewarded,” and “If a Muslim plants a tree or sows a field and men and beasts and birds eat from it, all of it is charity on his part,” and again, “The world is green and beautiful and God has appointed you stewards over it.” Environmental consciousness is born when such values are adopted and become an intrinsic part of our mental and physical makeup. The notions of unity, trusteeship, and accountability should not be reduced to matters of personal piety; they must guide all aspects of life and work…They furnish us with a worldview which enables us to ask…what we can do within the ethical boundaries established by God, without violating the rights of His other creations. If we use the same values, the same understanding in our work as a scientist and technologist, economist or politician as we do to know ourselves as Muslims – those who subject themselves to the Will of God – then, I believe, we will create a true Islamic alternative, a caring and practical way of being, doing, and knowing, to the environmentally destructive thoughts and actions which dominate the world today.  

~ The Muslim Declaration on Nature: Dr. Abdullah Omar Nasseef, Secretary General, Muslim World League, Assisi 1986.  

 

Meet the Reader: Imam Saffet Abid Catovic is a United States Muslim environmental leader of Bosnian-Anglo descent, founding board member of the Green Muslims of New Jersey and the Islamic Society of North America’s Links to an external site. (ISNA) Green Masjid Task Force (Green Initiatives), and consultant to the 2015 Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change Links to an external site., serving as the Imam and Muslim Chaplain at Drew University, Madison, New Jersey.