Village Journals
Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
A Pioneer Of Environmentalism
The idea of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) as a Pioneer of Environmentalism will initially strike many as strange.
Indeed, the term ?environment? and related concepts like ?ecology?, ?environmental awareness? and ?sustainability?, are modern-day inventions, terms that were formulated in the face of growing concerns about the contemporary state of the natural world around us.
However, a closer look at the Prophet?s life reveals that he was a staunch advocate of environmental protection.
One could say he was an ?environmentalist avant la lettre?, a pioneer in the domain of conservation, sustainable development and resource management, one who constantly sought to maintain a harmonious balance between man and nature. From all accounts of his life and deeds, we read that the Prophet had a profound respect for fauna and flora, as well as an almost visceral connection to the four elements: Earth, Water, Fire and Air.
He was a strong proponent of the sustainable use and cultivation of land and water, proper treatment of animals, plants and birds, and the equal rights of users. In this context the modernity of the Prophet?s view of the environment and the concepts he introduced to his followers is particularly striking; certain passages of the Hadith could easily be mistaken for discussions about contemporary environmental issues.
Three Principles
The Prophet?s environmental philosophy is first of all Holistic: it assumes a fundamental link and interdependency between all natural elements and bases its teachings on the premise that if man abuses or exhausts one element, the natural world as a whole will suffer the direct consequences. This belief is nowhere formulated in one concise phrase; it is rather an underlying principle that forms the foundation of all the Prophet?s actions and words, a life philosophy that defined him as a person.
The Prophet?s environmental philosophy is holistic
The three most important principles of the Prophet?s philosophy of nature are based on the Qur?anic teachings and the concepts of tawheed (unity), khalifa (stewardship) and amana (trust).
By Franscesca De Chatel
Indeed, the term ?environment? and related concepts like ?ecology?, ?environmental awareness? and ?sustainability?, are modern-day inventions, terms that were formulated in the face of growing concerns about the contemporary state of the natural world around us.
However, a closer look at the Prophet?s life reveals that he was a staunch advocate of environmental protection.
One could say he was an ?environmentalist avant la lettre?, a pioneer in the domain of conservation, sustainable development and resource management, one who constantly sought to maintain a harmonious balance between man and nature. From all accounts of his life and deeds, we read that the Prophet had a profound respect for fauna and flora, as well as an almost visceral connection to the four elements: Earth, Water, Fire and Air.
He was a strong proponent of the sustainable use and cultivation of land and water, proper treatment of animals, plants and birds, and the equal rights of users. In this context the modernity of the Prophet?s view of the environment and the concepts he introduced to his followers is particularly striking; certain passages of the Hadith could easily be mistaken for discussions about contemporary environmental issues.
Three Principles
The Prophet?s environmental philosophy is first of all Holistic: it assumes a fundamental link and interdependency between all natural elements and bases its teachings on the premise that if man abuses or exhausts one element, the natural world as a whole will suffer the direct consequences. This belief is nowhere formulated in one concise phrase; it is rather an underlying principle that forms the foundation of all the Prophet?s actions and words, a life philosophy that defined him as a person.
The Prophet?s environmental philosophy is holistic
The three most important principles of the Prophet?s philosophy of nature are based on the Qur?anic teachings and the concepts of tawheed (unity), khalifa (stewardship) and amana (trust).
By Franscesca De Chatel